Dealing With Headaches

Computer headaches can happen to anyone who has to stare at some sort of print for at least eight hours a day. You can get computer headaches working as a cashier or a college student cramming for an exam. These kinds of headaches are usually triggered by a combination of tension and eyestrain. The bad news is that they hurt. The good news is that they can be prevented, or at least not hit your head so often. Here is a checklist you can do before your shift starts for reducing computer headaches.

Clean Your Glasses

When you wear glasses, you get so used to them that you don’t realise how dirty they can get. You can’t at first see a speck of dirt on your lens because it is so close to your eye that it becomes invisible. However, this speck can cause light glare on your tired eyes, which leads to eyestrain and computer headaches. Make a habit of cleaning your glasses before you get to work and this will help reduce your frequency of computer headaches.

Check For Glare Where You Stare

Ever watch television when the sun is setting, throwing a glaring patch of light that crawls across your screen? Perhaps you want to try and save money by keeping the window shades open instead of turning on a light, but be careful. That glare off of screens, books or terminals can trigger computer headaches. Notice where the light is coming from and see if you can adjust your computer screen or whatever to avoid the light spots.

Take A Deep Breath

Whenever you can, take a deep breath. When you get tense, your breathing tends to become shallow and your body hurts from lack of oxygen. You may also feel panicky or have trouble concentrating. Taking a deep breath not only helps get oxygen to your body, but helps to relax tense muscles. Relaxing tense muscles can lead to less of the tension that causes computer headaches.

Go When You Can

It’s not always possible to get to the bathroom once your shift starts. Make sure your bladder is empty before shift. This saves on stress that causes the tension that triggers computer headaches. If this means getting to work five minutes early, try and do so, if possible.

Carry Medicines With You

There are very discreet pillboxes which can esily slip into your purse or pocket. Put any kind of portable medicine — pill or alternative treatment — in there. Just touch the pill box before shift, even if you’ve forgotten to restock it. Over time, this becomes a reasurring feeling to the subconscious. And even if you have forgotten to bring your meds, the chanes are good that co-workers have remembered theirs. Some businesses keep bottles of over the counter painkillers with their first aid kits.

Rolling A Golf Ball In Your Hand

I’ve never personally tried this out, but many people have claimed this is a great way to ease computer headaches or tension headaches. The golf ball triggers accupressure points that help realx the muscles in your body. This is what you do:

*Get a golf ball
*Place on the palm of one hand (doesn’t matter which)
*Clasp both hands together, interlocking the fingers
*Move your hands so the golf ball massages your palms and below your thumbs

You don’t have to do this entire checklist before every shift (obviously, if you don’t wear glasses!) Do what you can and feel free to adjust thise sugestions to suit your unique working or studying enviornment. Hope this helps.