[tag]Headache[/tag], being the common grievance of everybody including adults, students and children, usually does not indicate a serious health problem. But, headaches even when mild, disturbs one’s day to day activities. Headaches could be mild or chronic, depending on the bearing capability of the individual and the root cause. It is said that individuals with low levels of [tag]endorphin[/tag] (the protein in the body that naturally kills pain) are prone to severe headaches in comparison with individuals of higher endorphin levels.
[tag]Head ache and its causes[/tag]
Several body conditions like common cold, fever, ear infection, flu, tooth infection, sinusitis, Pneumonia, excess cough, dyspepsia, eye conditions, hypertension, thyroid disease, anemia, kidney failure, head injury, muscle tensions, Uremia, Encephalitis and certain long term medications could result in headaches.
Other factors like anger, stress, over excitement, hunger, irregular sleeping habits, vigorous exercise, fatigue, alcohol, smoking, eye strain caused by prolonged reading, prolonged hours of work on the computer etc could also trigger headaches.
According to Ayurveda, headache can be caused due to any of the following factors.
- Changes in diet, like consumption of excess quantities of sour and heavy food, poor digestion which could lead to the undigested food getting expelled to food pipe resulting in headache, drinking cold water etc. could cause headaches.
- Bad life style habits like sleeping during the day and insufficient sleep at night, alcohol consumption, excess sexual activities etc., could trigger headache.
- Environmental factors like pollution, prolonged exposure to hot and cold weather, prolonged exposure to foul odors.
- Finally psychological stress, suppression of natural desires, sudden weather changes, head injury etc are other common causes of headaches.
From an ayurvedic perspective, all these factors could vitiate the three doshas (Tridoshas) i.e., Vata, Pitta and Kapha causing various kinds of headaches.