Treatments for Headaches

Headaches are one of those symptoms of menopause that can disable women not only physically, but also mentally, often leaving them exhausted and impaired for days. Luckily, effective treatments for headaches that target their underlying cause are within reach.

Keep on reading to find out how to reduce headaches with easy and effective approaches so that you can part ways with this debilitating symptom at last!

Three Approaches to Treating Headaches

There are three approaches to reducing headaches that can be considered during menopause: (1) Lifestyle changes, (2) Alternative medicine, and (3) Medications, beginning from the safest, low-risk options and moving to more advanced treatments only if necessary.

Lifestyle Changes for Headaches Treatment

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The first stage of headache relief involves making healthier lifestyle adjustments, which can bring significant improvements in terms of symptom severity. Although it entails the lowest risk, it does demand the most self-discipline. 

Nutritious Diet

When it comes to the role of a woman's diet in the treatment of headaches, there are two key components to consider: the food she eats as well as her eating habits. Keeping up with regular, moderately-sized meals is as important as making sure they contain healthy fats, complex carbs, lean protein, and the following nutrients:

• Phytoestrogens are compounds found in plants that exert mild estrogenic effects in the body, thus helping to promote hormonal balance and relieve symptoms, including headaches.

• Soy, barley, sesame, oats

• Magnesium is an important mineral for brain health; its deficiency has been linked to migraines with aura.¹

• Avocado, raspberries, peas, spinach

• Vitamin B₂, or riboflavin, has shown to improve migraine symptoms and reduce the frequency of its attacks.²

• Asparagus, almonds, eggs, mushroom

• Co-enzyme Q10 has been scientifically proven to reduce the number and severity of migraines.³

• Broccoli, soy, sesame seeds, chicken

Additionally, certain substances in food, such as aspartame or monosodium glutamate, are often reported as headache triggers. As such, it is worth keeping a food journal to identify potential triggers and eliminate them from one's diet.

Regular Exercise

Regular exercise triggers the release of pain-relieving endorphins, thus lowering the severity and frequency of headaches. It also helps control weight gain, release stress, and improve sleep disorders, all of which have been linked to causing migraines and other types of headaches.^4,5,6

• Amount: The general recommendation for middle-aged women is to engage in 150 minutes of moderate physical activity per week, or 75 minutes of intense exercise per week.⁷

• Type: The best results in terms of reducing headaches are seen when a woman combines low-level aerobic workouts, like swimming or dancing, with muscle-strengthening exercises, like yoga or Pilates.

• Useful tips: To avoid triggering headaches, it is key to exercise in well-ventilated spaces or outdoors, evade exercising after big meals, and start slowly in order to safely build up to the recommended weekly amount.

• Precautions: Since engaging in strenuous exercise, such as heavy lifting or endurance training, can cause exertional headaches, it is important to keep exercise at low to moderate intensity.

Wholesome Habits

As a complement to a healthy diet and regular exercise, women can take advantage of various daily practices that can not only help them alleviate headaches, but also prevent them in the first place. Consider the following:

• Lowering stress and promoting relaxation through breathing, meditation, or biofeedback are one of the best ways to manage headaches and reduce their frequency.⁸

• Maintaining posture,including sitting straight, is key to preventing headaches as various postural patterns have been observed in people suffering from migraines and other types of headaches.⁹

• Applying compresses to the head or temple area can serve as quick remedy for headaches. Opt for cold compresses for migraine headaches and warm compresses for tension headaches.¹⁰

• Considering alternative therapies, such as acupuncture and massage therapy, can help as well since they have been scientifically proven to relieve various types of headaches and reduce their number.^11,12

• Quitting addictions to smoking and excessive alcohol drinking can dramatically reduce headaches as well as prevent them altogether.

Alternative Medicine for Headaches Treatment

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The second stage of headache relief involves the use of alternative medicine, most popularly herbal supplements. They cause virtually no side effects, and they relieve headaches by tackling their root cause, hormonal imbalance.

There are two types of herbal supplements that can be included in one's headaches treatment plan: phytoestrogenic and hormone-regulating supplements.

Phytoestrogenic Supplements

Phytoestrogenic supplements, like red clover, contain phytoestrogens, which are plant-based compounds with estrogenic activities. When they enter the body, they mimic estrogen, which helps balance its levels as well as those of other reproductive hormones, ultimately relieving headaches. However, their extended use is not recommended since they can make the body less capable of producing its own hormones, resulting in a hormonal decline in the long run.

Hormone-Regulating Herbal Supplements

Hormone-regulating supplements, like Macafem, do not supply the body with outside hormones. Instead, they contain beneficial alkaloid compounds that nourish the endocrine glands, stimulating their own hormone production and, thus, relieving headaches. Consequently, these supplements can be used long-term and are considered one of the safest treatments for headaches and other menopausal symptoms.

Women often find that combining lifestyle changes and herbal supplements is a sufficient approach to treating headaches safely and effectively. However, more conventional treatments - such as medications or surgery - might be necessary for severe symptoms.

Conventional Medicine for Headaches Treatment

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The third stage of headaches relief-medications or surgery - involves the highest cost and the highest risks. However, because some of those treatments may cause side effects, their use should be evaluated on an individual basis.

Two types of conventional headaches treatments at women's disposal include medications and surgery:

Medications

There is a wide variety of medications for headaches according to their cause, severity, location, duration, and other characteristics. They are mainly oriented towards relieving symptoms and preventing subsequent episodes. 

• Over-the-counter pain relievers - such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen, or aspirin - are the most commonly reached for medications for acute or occasional headaches.

• Prescription pain relievers - such as triptans or, sometimes, opiates - might be given for migraines and tension headaches treatment.

• Other medications may include antidepressants, anticonvulsants, or calcium channel blockers. They can be prescribed to relieve or prevent various kinds of headaches, including migraines and intense tension headaches.

• Hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) was once the most popular treatment for menopause symptoms, including headaches. It supplies the body with synthetic hormones to promote hormonal balance and alleviate symptoms. While effective, HRT use has been linked to serious side effects and certain health risks, as shown in the studies below. 

Surgery

How to reduce headaches can also consist of surgical interventions, although they are generally considered a last resort option for severe migraines. They might consist of surgical decompression of the nerves that can be the cause of migraines, such as the supraorbital nerve or the occipital nerve.

The aforementioned three stages of headaches treatment may be used separately or in combination as necessary to manage current symptoms. During the menopausal transition, women often relieve symptoms with lifestyle adjustments and herbal supplements without having to rely on conventional treatments.

A Safe Way of Treating Headaches