You may or may not know what causes it, but pain, intense, excruciating and severe, takes you to the point where nothing else matters. And yet there is no easy way of eliminating pain

HEADACHE

• Squeeze the area under the back of the neck.

• Wear a headband; it helps in migraine.
• Avoid strong perfumes, noise, too much caffeine, chocolates and cheese.

• Try ayurvedic remedies: a paste of mucked flowers should be applied on the head. Kwatch or a decoction of fruits of chebulic myrobalan, along with nine other herbs, helps piercing headaches. Sirah suladri vbajra rasa, made of four minerals and 20 herbs, is good for all kinds of headaches.

• Some general homeopathic remedies: ignatia, natrum mur, aconite and arnica. The red variety of rice, vegetable soup, milk, drumstick, grapes, pomegranate, curd or yogh hurt prepared from skimmed milk, and coconut water, are recommended to be taken during a headache.

• Analgesics should only be taken under medical supervision and not made a habit of.

• Keep a 'pain diary' in which the nature of pain, its frequency and duration can be noted down. This helps you to understand the emotional, psychological and physical aspects of the pain.

• Yoga and meditation are also helpful to reduce stress, which is a major cause of headaches. Learn to relax. If you are prone to tension headaches, exercise regularly. Deep breathing also helps to relieve tension. Ninety per cent of headaches are tension-related. If it is a throbbing one-sided pain, then it is likely to be a migraine.