Whether it builds up over time or comes on all at once, the excruciating pain of a headache can leave you unable to function. While treating a headache once it arrives is certainly a viable option, the saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is especially relevant when it comes to headaches. After all, if a headache never comes, it won’t be able to slow you down nor require the use of medication to alleviate. Here are a few ideas to help keep headaches from ruining your day.

Though stressful situations, to a certain extent, can’t be avoided, reducing the stress you can control in your life can help you reduce the number of headaches you get. Whether it’s a stressful relationship, stress from too much clutter, or stress from an overbearing boss, it’s important to do all you can to minimize the causes of your stress so you can enjoy a headache-free day. After all, stress can cause numerous other health problemsin addition to headaches, so it’s a great idea to reduce it as much as possible.

Another easy way to avoid headaches is by drinking plenty of water. If you start to feel the tension in your head, downing a large quantity of water can potentially help ease it away. Since high blood pressure is a common cause of headaches, reducing that blood pressure, in this case by drinking extra water, is a great remedy. Again, staying hydrated is important to the proper functioning of your entire body, so you can expect to see many benefits by practicing this tip on a regular basis.

Many times, headaches have an underlying cause that is difficult to treat simply by changing your lifestyle. In cases like this, consulting and utilizing a chiropractorcan help bring relief from your headaches. Problems like a misaligned spine, a mis-adjusted neck, or out of balance shoulders can twist your muscles and veins in such a way as to cause frequent headaches. With these problems corrected, you can reduce your headaches and find other potential causes if any headaches remain.

So much of how your body performs is related to what you eat. If you regularly eat foods high in fat and especially salt, you can expect to get frequent headaches, as well. Cutting out fatty and salty foods allows your body to operate as it’s designed, rather than being impeded by high blood pressure caused by the high salt content or clogged arteries. Of course, eating healthy will also help improve your overall health, so the benefits of this lifestyle change are numerous.

As you may have noticed, the steps you can take to avoid headaches are intimately tied to steps you can take to improve your overall health. This is because headaches are almost never a condition that occurs on their own. Instead, they are typically a symptom of an underlying condition that needs to be treated. In other words, when you get a headache, it’s your body’s way of trying to tell you something’s wrong, so it’s important that you listen to this warning and figure out what needs to change.