A headache can bring your day to a screeching halt, and it can be so hard to go through life never knowing when something is going to trigger a painful migraine. If you’re one of the millions of Americans who suffer from migraines, you want to quickly and effectively put an end to them, but perhaps you’re looking to do so without the help of opioids. Effective headache management can often be achieved without medication, but it won’t always come easy. You may need to pursue one or more treatments in order to resolve your headaches or keep them at bay. In today’s blog, we explore some of the more common non-opioid treatments for headaches and migraines.
Managing Headaches Without Opioids
Headaches and migraines are highly unique to the individual, so keep in mind that what works for one person may not work for another. However, a good place to start is with a consultation with a medical professional. A number of different issues could be contributing to your migraines, so it’s important to figure out your individual triggers and root causes. Once identified, don’t be surprised if your doctor recommends one of more of the following treatments if you’re hoping to rectify the problem without relying on opioids.
- Physical Therapy – You likely picture physical therapy as a treatment that is reserved for injured athletes or adults working to recover after a surgery, but physical therapy can be incredibly helpful at treating migraines and headaches. One of the more common triggers of headaches is muscle tension. If you’re regularly stressing muscles in your head, neck and shoulders, this repeated muscle tension can lead to headache symptoms. Physical therapy can strengthen these muscles and help improve your movement patterns so that these muscles aren’t as stressed and they can handle the strain you put on them.
- Posture Improvements – Improving your posture can also go a long way in preventing and treating tension headaches. If we have poor posture at the office or are craining our heads down to look at our phone in our lap, muscles in our neck are working overtime to support the weight of our head. As we touched on above, this prolonged muscle strain can lead to tension headaches. Working to improve your posture can enhance your spinal alignment and reduce tension headache onset.
- Stress Relief – Stress is another major trigger for many people, and while we can’t eliminate all sources of stress in our lives, we can work to mitigate it and manage it in a healthy way when it develops. Find healthy ways to deal with the stress in your life. Some people exercise, others practice deep breathing or meditation techniques, will others try to reframe how they perceive stress to limit its impact on their life. Find a stress relief technique that works for you, and you may notice a decrease in headache severity and onset.
- Connect With HyperCharge – Finally, one of our specialties at HyperCharge Clinic is migraine management. Our rejuvenation techniques help to target the root cause of your individual headache onset. For example, sessions of whole body photobiomodulation can address cellular dysfunction and reduce inflammation, two common triggers of headache onset. Others may benefit from Class IV laser therapy, which among other things has been shown to boost circulation and bring oxygenated blood to structures that need it most, and inhibited circulation is oftentimes a factor in headache development. We’ll pair you with the treatment technique that is most likely to address your root cause of migraine onset.
We want to help you find ways to prevent and treat headaches when they develop, regardless of whether or not you want to do it without opioids, and we believe we can help you find the relief you seek. For more information on our treatment options, or to book your first session with a doctor, reach out to the team at HyperCharge Clinic today.