Dealing With Headaches

This isn’t the best YouTube clip in the world, but it does have a certain amount of charm and is (probably) unintentionally quite funny. I’m not a big fan of the slide-show style of YouTube clips, but in this case, it works. “Home Remedies for Migraine Headaches” pairs some stock photography and cute clip art with some easy-to-read information on folk remedies for migraines. I don’t know what the music is playing behind it, but sadly, it cuts off. It sounds a bit like Deep Forest.

This was posted by YouHerbal.com (which sounds a little like name-calling — “Hey, you! You herbal, you!”) which is a site that sells (ta da) herbal and food-related remedies for various ailments, as well as a lot of bottles of capsules. Keep in mind that just because something is natural, doesn’t mean that it’s good for you. You can get side effects from herbal remedies just as you can with prescription medicines. And never slam back an herbal remedy without talking to your doctor first. (However, aromatherapy you can tinker with without a doctor’s supervision.)

Also, as an English major, I couldn’t help but notice some capitalization and grammatical errors. If that gives you a headache, then you’d best skip this clip and check out one of my older posts on folk remedies for headaches. Otherwise, enjoy!

Yesterday, Mom and I went to one of my favorite museums in the world, the Brandywine River Museum at Chadds-Ford, on the Philadelphia Main Line. It’s the main museum of the Wyeth family (including Andrew and Jamie). Today, they had a special exhibition of work by English equine and canine artist Sir Alfred Munnings. Although I do not condone horse racing, I do still admire the horse racing and foxhunting paintings of Sir Alfred, which only make up a small part of his overall work.

But, as anyone prone to chronic headaches knows, museums can be a potential trigger for massive pain. You have to prepare in advance to thwart a headache to not end your day hunched in the road by the side of the car moaning in pain and nausea. I don’t know about you, but that always spoils my museum trips a bit.

Be Ruthless

My best advice to avoid headaches at museums is to not try to see everything in the museum. Don’t even try to scrutinize every single detail on one floor. This leads to severe eye-strain that can and usually does trigger severe headaches, if not a migraine. Plan in advance which exhibit or floor you want to concentrate on and then take all the time you want there. If you’re not sure which floor to concentrate on, just let your instinct take you to the floor.

One of the reasons the Brandywine River Museum is so close to my heart is that it is small enough not to trigger a migraine. The Philadelphia area is thick with museums, including the world famous Art Museum in center city (most famous for the steps Slyvester Stallone ran up in Rocky.) However, the Art Museum is a definate migraine or headache trigger just for the visual overload. Pick one type of art or a specific exhibit and leave the rest alone.

Eat Breakfast

Going to a museum is exciting and mind-expanding (or, at least, it is for me). You will use up a surprising amount of energy going through the museum, even though you are going at a snail’s pace. It could be the senosry overload that wears you out. You need to eat a good breakfast (or lunch, depending on the time you visit) in order for your body to have the calories to get you through.

Otherwise, you will get a bad headache from being so darn tired.

Pack Painkillers With You

Keep them in your pocket, your purse or wherever, but be sure to take them. I also take a dose right before I leave the house. I use an over the counter painkiller to take the worst of the pain off, but you might need to take a nasal spray or other kind of medication, depending on your headache history.

Get Somebody Else To Drive

You might not be able to avoid this one, but if you can, it takes so much stress off of you. You don’t have to tense up worrying if you have the strength to drive safely home — thus, triggering a headache. Take public transportation if you can and trains over buses, since trains tend to swifter and smoother.

If you have to drive yourself, then pack a light lunch in the car and leave it in a thermal lunch box in the car. That way you can relax and recharge in the car. A car is your own little territory, which is easier to realx in than a public space like a cafe. And take all the time you need driving home.

Hope this helps.

Right up front, let me say that if you don’t like yourself swearing, then don’t worry about it. Do whatever you have to to help yourself through migraine pain. But there are those of us who find swearing a great relief when we are in great physical pain.

Your Thoughts Affect Your Health

I am aware that, to some extent, your thoughts greatly affect your physical health. When you think or shout swear words, you tend to work yourself up into becoming even more tense, with your heart pounding harder. However, that might happen to you. The opposite tends to happen for me. I let out a good string of profanity and I suddenly can heave a tremendous sigh of relief. Granted, this only happens when I am in physical pain. Otherwise, swearing gets me even more upset than I was before.

Think Good Thoughts

I’m all for alternative healing. I think there is an amazingly string mind-body connection that has a potential not yet fully explored. However, I can’t jive with the “think happy thoughts” approach to migraine pain management. This is especially prominant in EFT, where you are encouraged to repeat, “Although I have this migraine, I fully accept myself.”

I’m not able to do that when in the grips of a migraine, like the one I had on Wednesday. It came out more like “I am a $(^&%HB:ing person and I HATE this ^$@@*&^$%ing migrane!!!” The paint peeled off of the walls. On seeing that, even my dog knew to leave me alone.

And it helped. Of course, the Zolmig sample, curling up into a feotal position and being able to lie down also probably helped, too. But I never would have been able to lie down if I didn’t swear so much I could’ve fried an egg with my words.

This approach isn’t for everyone, granted. But if swearing helps you when you are in the grips of pain, it sounds wonderful.

Since I keep banging on about how important it is to keep a headache journal, you might want a quick review of just what you’re supposed to write in the journal. This video is quite helpful. Keep in mind that it’s a guide and not Gospel. You don’t have to follow it’s suggestions exactly. For example, you can get a journal with lined paper rather than the blank paged version shown.

Also, I have no idea why it’s flanked by a bunch of sex-related videos. I see they are all put out by Illumistream (which sounds suspisciously close to Illuminati, doesn’t it?)

Then again, sex and headches just seem to go together, don’t they? Just thinking about sex can give many a headache. Any coincidence that this tip went onto YouTube of Valentine’s Day? Anyway, if you watch this on YouTube instead of here, try to ignore the thumbnail images of sexy couples groping and just concentrate on the Headache Journal video.

Since we don’t know what exactly causes migraines (despite what the doctor in the bright white coat says in the tape), we do know that if you are observant and keep a headche journal, you often can avoid some of the most common triggers unique to you. Hope this helps and have a pain free weekend.

Swallowing a pill is a very personal thing. When you have chronic headaches or migraines, you better get your own system down fast and stick with it. Throughout my life, I have been told and lectured of various ways of swallowing a pill that are all better than mine (at least, that’s what I’m told). But I can only get the pills down my throat in my way, so it’s the best system for me.

What I Do

I swallow only one pill at a time. This saves me from gagging, choking or getting the inside of my throat scratched (which is a misery from the first layer of Hell).

I drink a couple of swallows of water or whatever liquid in my cup. I never dry swallow.

I curl my tongue back.

I place the pill behind my lower front teeth.

I take another large gul of liquid.

I let the liquid swirl around the pill and lift it.

Then, I toss my head so the liquid and pill go up over my tongue and start to position itself to my esophogus.

Then I cross my fingers and swallow.

What Normal People Do

There are various other methods used by other, presumably normal people to swallow a pill, including:

• Dry Swallowing: Hugh Laurie’s character House does this a lot. Tough cops in murder mysteries seem to do this a lot, too. Perhaps they get special training. I’ve never been able to manage it. This is where you stick a pill in your mouth and (without any preamble) swallow. I noticed Hugh Laurie tosses his head back when he dry-swallows the fake pills on “House” (or, at least, the clip shown on “Ellen”). This is advanced pill-swallowing. You need years of training and severe migraines to get this maneover down pat. Either that, or youhave to become a committed drug addict (neither of which is recommended).
• On the tongue: You take a swallow of water, then place the pill directly on the middle of the tongue, take another drink and swallow the lot down. My Mom is able to do this. I can’t.
• Back of the tongue: This is just a variation of the above method, only you place the pill as far back as you can on the tongue without gagging.
• Pretend it’s all a milkshake from Heaven: You take the pill and water, but pretend it’s a thick, creamy milkshake and suddenly the pill is down and your taste buds are saying, “Oi! You lied to us!”
• Stick the pill in the center of a tiny meatball or lump of cheese and swallow whole. Oh wait — that’s how I give pills to my dog!

So, how do you swallow pills? Or do you not bother with solid pills and insist on liquid medication? I’d write some more in this article, but I have to go take an Excedrin now.

See what you can accomplish when you focus on a problem? This seems to be the result from an Italian study of office aches and pains — namely headaches, neck and shoulder pains. Results of this interesting study were published in this months’s issue of Cephlalagia. This was called an “employee initiative” program, but apparantly, none of the employees were given any incentive to participate, except for the slim chance that they wouldn’t have as much pain when at work.

That seemsed to be enough.

Roll Out The Numbers

In case you let your subscription to Cephalalgia lapse, here is a really quick round up of the main points:

• 384 office workers in Turin volunteered, with about half beign a control group. 80% were women. The average age of a volunteer was 46.
• The study lasted eight months
• The employees in the non-control group kept a daily headache journal and did relaxation exercises every two to three hours of their work day. They also had twice dailt 10-15 minutes rest breaks just “sitting in an armchair with warming pads placed on their cheeks and shoulders”.
• Incredible results: 51% reported that they took less painkillers at the end of the study than when they began
• Also, 41% less headaches at the end of the study than at the beginning

• “Our study clearly shows that workplace interventions can reduce headaches and neck and shoulder pain. The methods adopted were relatively simple and the positive response from the employees, including the low study drop-out rate, suggest that it would prove popular in other workplaces. We also believe that employers would support this low-cost initiative as it would improve productivity in the workplace.” — Professor Franco Mongini of the Headache and Facial Pain Unit at the University of Turin

The Practical Upshot

If you get headaches, neck aches and shoulder pains iat work, move to Italy.

No, seriously — this is a very promising study with results to make people’s lives just a wee bit less stressful. This study centered on office workers, but I imagine it could also be used for food service, retail and teaching jobs. It would take a big mind-shift in the attitudes of employers to let their employees get up and stretch — which looks like goofing off. But, quite frankly, the managers probably need to do the stretching exercises as much as much as their underlings.

Following the study’s journal, heating pad and stretching regimen would be much cheaper (and a lot more legal) than giving your employees meth, which is what some Asian employees reportedly do to get intense (but breif) workloads from their new employees (at least, that’s what National Geographic says).

Hope this helps.

I hate horse racing because I love horses. I used to be the nation’s biggest horse racing fan — I could quote stats and bloodlines in my sleep. And then I saw too many horses die needlessly, so I’m now sickened by the whole thing. This is the weekend that twenty years ago I longed for in the way a five year old longs for Christmas. It’s the weekend of the Kentucky Derby, the annual parade of lambs to the slaughter.

My relationship with horse racing was committed, but horse racing cheated on me and I still sting from the betrayal. So the time of the year I used to look so happily upon is now my most dreaded weekend of the year. Perhaps there is a day in yor life which is the anniversary of something you dread to recall –the death of a friend, the wedding day of a disasterous marriage, or Black Friday.

In other words, I have a dreadful headache and it’s all my fault.

Stress And Sinuses

It’s probably no coincidence that I’ve been having such incredibly bad sinus and headache problems this week, as well as a lot of nausea. The pollen level has been incredibly high around the greater Philadelphia area (where I live), buit I have never had trouble with seasonal allergies until the last couple of years. If I follow the pattern of the last couple of years, the allergy symptoms will suddenly decrease sharply after the Triple Crown is over and done with on the first Saturday in June.

I know I should get over it. Hell, I’ve gotten over breaking up with my ex-es better than I’ve been handling my break up with horse racing. But knowing it and doing it are two differnt things.

I’m hoping that by naming my demon (by owning up to being stupid enough to be a horse racing fan for so many years and then getting sick every first week in May ever since), I can look back at what I’ve written, laugh at it and the pain will go away.

After Reading What I’ve Written So Far

Nope. Pain still is with me. I think my best bet is to get as numb as I possibly can this weekend.

It’s amazing what you can find on YouTube, although it does takes shoveling through a lot of fertilizer in order to find a rose. This little do-it-yourself acupressure instructional video has a funky Indian soundtrack of the musical combo of sitar and complianing baby. I’m more inclined to beilieve in the instruction from this lady rather than a formal instructor or doctor as she has to take care of kids. She must have a lot of experience with headaches. Her YouTube moniker says it all — “Warriorofcompassion”.

I wasn’t able to fully undertand where on the top of the head I was suppossed to press down on, but I did certainly get relief today’s sinus pressure just be taking the time to breathe in and out deeply for a couple of minutes — including a series of yawns which sure poppped open the cloggged ear canals.

Another acupressure home remedy is to roll a golf ball around your hand (although that doesn’t seem to work for me, personally).

Hope these help.

I love YouTube. It’s even more entertaining than going through the auctions on eBay (where in 1999 I once found for sale a kid brother, a false leg and turtle models with human genetailia molded on. Not all from the same seller, though). I slog through YouTube in order to benefit you, Gentle Reader.

Today, I finally found something that might help with headches. I haven’t tried it myself and — as I’m suffering from bad allergies and thus have severe balance issues — but it’s as natural a headache relief solution as you can get.

I like My Yoga with Granola — How About You?

It’s a yoga pose (shown in the image with this post). Actually, there’s a whole series of yoga poses, breathing exercises and prayers for headache sufferers. However, I don’t think a lot of people with severe headaches are going to have the patience to breathe in a prescribed manner or take the time to do a prayer that they actually want a Deity to hear.

The videos are brought to you by ExpertVillage and are only a couple of minutes long, so you won’t drop to sleep during them.

Before you do any yoga poses, wear clothing that allows you to bend and have firm footing. Preferably, you should do any yoga poses that involve bending with the use of an exercise mat (like those sweaty ugly mats used in gym class — only a smaller, better version).

Down dog pose is only recommended for tension-type headaches. They also recommend you take deep breaths and loosn your arms up before doing the down dog. One stretching pose they recommend is sitting cross legged on the ground and put your hands together in the traditional prayer position — but with your hands behind your back. You need to do this with your spine as straight as possible.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

Here’s a book I highly recommend for everyone, especaily people who go through chronic often-misunderstood ailments like cluster headaches or migraines. The author, Viktor Frankl, survived two Nazi concentration camps (including Auschwitz) and writes a bit about life in the camps, but them mostly about how anyone can find the will to survive when they think there’s a point to life. (The original German title translated to Saying Yes to Life Reguardless instead of Man’s Search for Meaning).

Get rid of all those self-help or thinking positively Louise Hay crapola. I mean, seriously — who do you think knows more about handling the sucky areas of life — an Auschwitz survivor, or someone who chats with Oprah?

Ok, A Migraine Ain’t Auschwitz, But…

Those of us with chronic pain often feel like we are helpless under totalitarian figures. Our pain tortures us at whim, no seems to believe us and getting any relief costs a fortune, which means we often have to choose between healthcare and necessities like food and the rent. There are many days when I think, “What’s the effing use? No matter how hard I try, I’m still gonna fail.”

Frankl’s book isn’t full of self-pity or rage against the Nazis. He’s a bit like a twentieth century Job. Bad things happen because bad things happen — end of argument. Get on with getting through the bad times instead of railing at the injustice of it all. Frankl reasons that he and all other concentration camp survivors manged to live because they thought there was a greater meaning to their lives. Everyone found their own meaning.

Viktor’s meaning was to survive long enough to write a book and teach others about logotherapy in which by finding a meaning to our lives, we can become healthier (or at least be able to get on with life).

Perhaps yours is to put food on the table for your family. Both are equally noble purposes.

Granted, there are many medical conditions which are the patient’s fault, in a way (especailly those who choose to smoke and drink), but chronic pain and migraine disease aren’t among them. If you are tired of all the self-help books which blame you for all your medical migraines and depression (such as You Can Heal Your Life by the afore-mentioned Louise Hay) and want some REAL comfort, then I recommed Man’s Search for Meaning.

Hope this helps.

Now, you might look at that headline and think “I do that anyway”, but I don’t mean swearing at your headache or migraine. I mean using EFT (Emotional Freedome Technique), developed in the 1990’s by Gary Craig. It’s very similar to acupuncture — only no needles are involved. It’s even more similar to acupressure, where you press down on acupuncture points. The only difference is that you tap.

Oh, and you’re suppossed to think about certain emotions, but quite frankly, that seems optional. (But proponents of EFT will argue otherwise. But how can we be sure that someone is REALLY thinking about certain emotions when they are supposed to be thinking about certain emotions? You can’t. So there.)

What You Do

I’ve seen some varations on a theme, but basically it looks like EFT for migraines or headaches goes something like this:

• Rub your most painful spots, saying “Although I have this migraine, I fully accept myself” (Now see, this is where I would lose it)
• Then you start to tap on all of your acupuncture points, or at least twelve of them. However, according to Tappingman on Squidoo, you only need ten points. Tapping is described as “drumming your fingers on a desk”.
• Along with the tapping, you are suppossed to focus on a phrase like “Although I have a blinding pain behind my eyeballs, I accept myself.”
• Continue until the mapin goes away (which EFT proponents claim will be ten to fifteen minutes — if you are using the technique properly).

Don’t Expect Miracles

Although I think you can get a lot of genuine help from some alternative therapies like acupuncture and acupressure, I remain highly skeptical of EFT (”No way!” you say). The technique is far too new to be reliable. So far, it could very well be acting like a placebo (which is pretty effective in helping the body believe firmly it will get better just because something new is being tried).

Also, when looking at EFT web sites, you hear a lot of rah-rah and not a lot about the actual technique. Most of the pages seem devoted to anectotal acounts (which could be faked). And, I’ve also read some questionable medical advice. In Tappingman’s Squidoo thingy, he mentions “Something like 80% of headaches and migraines are caused by dehydration…” (and no source for this statistic is mentioned.)

Bull. NO ONE knows the exact cause of migraines (a fact I keep hammering on about). This is one of the reasons why migraine disease is such a nasty problem. And I have heard about drinking a glass of water when I felt a bad headache or a migraine come one. All that happened was that I had to drag myself to the bathroom more often.

Although I am not a doctor nor do I play one on TV, I do let a hell of a lot of headaches and migraines. I’m also trained by The School of Hard Knocks of how to discriminate advterising ploys from actual helpful medical evidence.

If you want to try EFT for migraines, go for it. But don’t expect miracles. Most likely, it’ll work for the first couple of times (like any good placebo would) and then eventually won’t. And there doesn’t seem to be any known negative side effects.

But I’m not gonna try it. Saying “Although I have this migraine, I fully accept myself” would drive me bonkers. Saying, “I have a migraine and I want to bite heads off” is more my style.

This isn’t a reflection on the fine people at Prada — just a joke, folks (albeit a very small one).

But finding the right sunglasses is often no joke when you are migraine or headache prone. If you don’t have the right ones, then you will be more likely to trigger a migraine or headache than if you wore ones better suited for your eyes. Don’t just wear any old pair or sunglasses or any sunglasses that look cool. You need to be as selective about your sunglasses as you are about your shoes (if you care about your shoes fitting comfortably).

Who Turned Out The Lights?

Some sunglasses are just too dark for you to safely get around. This puts more strain on your eyes that is necessary. Squinting or trying to make out dim shapes can also make you tense for a long period of time, which leads to headaches.

However, really dark sunglasses are superb when you have a migraine and can lay down for a while. They should only be worn in those situations — not for driving, working, walking the dog or shopping for more sunglasses.

Distortion

All sunglasses or sport goggles are going to have some distortion in them. They make your eye focus differently than how they are used to focusing. This will give you a whopper of a headache. By trying several on, you can usually find a pair that makes your eyes focus more naturally. The sunglasses industry is aware of this problem and markets a lot of sunglasses now as “distortion-free”. You usually have to try them to see if they live up to their claims.

Glare

Since I wear glasses, I have to have large wrap-around sunglasses that fits over my regular eyeglasses completely. I suppose I could get prescription sunglasses, but I don’t make enough money for that. Also, they probably would not help me.

I have tried those clip-on things that hook over your regular glasses. My Dad loves them. But, for me, they’re crap. The reason is that sun glare pokes through the top of the sunglasses. This is enough to cause me a migraine.

Put your current sunglasses on and see if any light peeks over the top or around the sides. This can potentially trigger migraines or headaches. You either need to always wear a wide-brimmed hat with these sunglasses — or get a new pair.

Those prone to headaches or migraines need to get polarized sunglasses to cut down on glare.

You should also get sunglasses that are coated to block out the sun’s UVA and/or UVB rays. Normal dark sunglasses let these rays in, which means your pupils will eventually dilate as if they were under bright light and the pain will soon set in.

Although it’s great to get sunglasses as gifts, the odds are that you’ll have to wind up regifting them as they won’t be right for your eyes. It’s better to risk insulting the gift-giver rather than be stuck with a fashion accessory that can trigger migraines or severe headaches.

Hope this helps.

Quick — how many pills do you take? What over the counter medicines do you take? Prescription? Vitamins and/or supplements? Alternative pills? Tell us now!

That’s pretty much what it can be like during an office visit, especially for chronic headaches and migraines. Your doctor or specialist will most likely want to pull out the Almighty Pad, but needs to know what your current pill intake is — including vitamins, herbal supplements and over the counter remedies.

Anyway, this is crap you need to know anyway. And it’s hard to keep it all in one place. So you need to write it down. And there are some templates or forms you can print out in order to not only help you know what you stick in your mouth, but when you need to stick them in your mouth.

Medicine Checklists

My ParenTime offers a few medicine checklists. These are geared more for parents to know when to dose their kids — or for kids to know when to dose their parents — but they can be altered to suit your situation. Worse comes to worse, print out the form, cross out the title and add your own.

Another medicine checklist for an over the counter medicine you might be taking anyway is offered from Ecotrin, made by the Evil Emporer of Big Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline. You do have to resgister with GSK in order to download the medicine tracker, just as you would to join a forum. Or so they say….MWUU HOO HA HAH.

What’s My Pill?

Another thing to help you keep track of your medicines (just prescription here) is to figure out what family your prescriptions are classified in. Ever read warnings on your prescription and they warn you away from certain large words like benzodiazepines or analgesics. These kinds of medicines may not play well with others.

Worse Comes To Worse

Once a year, get yourself a really nice treat like a cake or ice cream. But, you can’t eat it until you get a pen and paper and go through all of the medicines you take. Add these subheadings to help you get organized:

• Daily Prescriptions
• Other Prescriptions (some pills need to be taken as needed or weekly)
• Over the Counter drugs
• Vitamin pills (single vitamin or multi)
• Supplements
• Alternative medicines like herbs, tinctures, homeopathic remedies, illegal street drugs, etc.)
• Anything else you think your doctor needs to know

Now, have your treat. Update this list when you can.

Hope this helps.

One of the most debilitating things about getting migraines or chronic headaches is the nausea. This sometimes accompanies vomiting, sometimes not. The nausea could trigger the dry heaves, which can be quite painful as well as annoying. It also can be quite alarming to everyone else around you.

“Oh, my God, you’re gonna throw up!”

“I wish.”

Treat the Head First

Although the nausea might be the most pressing issue for you at the moment, you won’t be able to ease it effectively if you don’t try to treat your migraine or headache first. If you get auras before migraines, assume you are also going to get very nauseasted. Take any pain killers you would normally take for a bad headache or a migraine as soon as you can. If you take painkillers that are usually rough on your stomach (like ipuprofen), then at least drink some milk to help cushion the blow to the stomach.

If you can get a hold of an ice pack for your head or for your eyes, then get it or plan to get it. For example, if you work at retail and begin to get a migraine, ask if you can take your break now (or even just sit down in the break room for ten minutes.) Wet a paper towel with cold water and put it over your eyes.

That Head-On stuff gives a nice feeling of having an ice pack on your forehead. Ben-Gay gives a similar cooling and soothing sensation, but tends to smell a bit more than Head-On. Ben-Gay is a lot cheaper than Head-On, though!

If you can get a hold of sunglasses, put them on. Usually, migraines bring on extreme sensitivity to light, which aggravates an upset stomach.

Now, the Nausea

Easing nauesa, even from migraines, is happily one of things that responds well to home remedies. Personally, my tummy is soothed by anything flavored with peppermint. Even just the smell of peppermint essential oil (the kind used for aromatherapy), is of great comfort.

Some people can’t tolerate peppermint but candied ginger, ginger tea or even the smell of ginger essential oil calms their nausea.

Also, try to think of something else other than your nausea. If you have to, close your eyes and think of a really sturdy tree or the Rock of Gibralter or something solid and generally immobile. This mental trick is used by ice skaters. They really should be throwing up all the time, but they train themselves to quell the reflex, usually by thinking of getting a great score and applause for their skating.

When as a kid, just nibbling on a cracker or Saltine helped ease my stomach. It sometimes still helps.

Some over the counter medications like Pepto Bismal works great for some people (but not me — the taste of the stuff tends to triger my gag reflex).

Flat soda is another anti-nausea home remedy that works in kids as well as adults. Remember the big bottle of Coke syrup your school nurse had in her office? That’s why.

If nausea becomes a constant problem — with or without migraines or really bad headaches — please see your doctor.

Hope this helps.

A little while back, I wrote about what I called computer headaches – headaches you get when working on the computer for hours at a time. I just made the name up — seemed a logical name to me. Apparently not.

It’s now officially called Computer Vision Syndrome (or CVS — I bet one American drugstore chain is smiling at the free promotion there). Doctors (ususally eye doctors or opthamologists) are saying they hear more and more of their patients complaining about CVS — the syndrome, not the drugstore chain.

Whee

Although just naming a particular physical complaint may not sound like much, in some ways it actually is a big deal. Getting an official medical name means:

• You are not the only person in the world that has it
• Your doctor will be more inclined to believe you
• Drug companies take notice and start to research expensive drugs for this particular complaint

And bloggers get yet another topic to write about.

Symptoms

Pain usually starts in the eyes, but not always. If you feel a headache coming on (pressure all over the top of your head, for instance), then take a painkiller as soon as you can. Also, look away from the computer screeen for a few minutes. This might help to abort a really painful bout of CVS.

But usually, pain starts in the eye or eyes. For me, pain tends to be in my right eye, but that may be because I’m prone to migraines. For those not prone to migraines or chronic headaches, your eyes will begin to feel like this:

• Hot to burning
• Gritty, as if something is in it all of the time
• Very dry, making even blinking uncomfortable
• Extrememly sore
• Blurred vision
• Double vision

Longterm Treatment

People with dry eyes (for whatever reason) are going to be more prone to CVS. You need to work on that problem as well as taking whatever painkiller that works best for your headaches. Ice packs also help relieve eye-centered pain, but you might not be able to use them at work. You need lubricating eye drops to help keep your eyes from burning. If you have allergy problems, you need to find out if your eyes are affected by allergies and get treatment for the allergies.

You also need to remember to look away from your computer screen every ten or fifteeen minutes just to give your eyes a break.

Are there any glare spots on your computer screen? They can certainly cause computer headache or CVS. You can tile your computer screen or try adjusting your light source to remove the glarte spots. In my home office, I’ve had no choice but to keep the window shades pulled and keep the overhead light on every single time I’m on the computer. It certainly made a diference in the time I could spend comfortably on the computer (although I don’t think Al Gore will be too happy with me.)

There are also color-tinted sunglasses available to help filter out any really glaring light and help make the word a little softer on the eyes. You need to be a patient patient, but computer headache or CVS is one of the more easily treatable headaches you can get.

Hope this helps.