Health Answers

1. Do not read when you are lying down. The lying down posture is clearly not the best position to read. It is a very common thing for a person to flop down on the bed with a book and read it while lying down. In fact, many people make it a habit to read for a few minutes before going to sleep. Let us say it once and for all; it is not good to read while you are lying down.

2. If you must read, prop up your head with at least two pillows. If you find it impossible to read while you are in bed, the best thing that you can do is prop up your head with a couple of pillows. Pillows give support to your head and neck so that your head is in a partially raised position. This will cause less harm to your eyes and your head in general.

3. You need a well lighted room to read. The lighting of your room too is very important. A properly lighted room is what is required if you want to read, do needle work or any other such fine activity. Again too much light is just as bad as a dimly lit room.

4. The source of light must preferably be behind your head. The source of light should not come in front of your eyes but must be behind your head. This is also true in the case of a computer as well. The source of light should be from behind.

5. Do not hold the book too close to your eyes. This is some thing that happens when you lie down to read. The book tends to move closer to your eyes than intended. This is something that is bad for your eyes. Your eye muscles have to strain a lot in order to focus on nearer objects. The book should ideally be at the level of your chest.

6. Do not hold it too far away either. Holding the book too far away is just as bad as holding the book too close. Remember to keep it at chest level. Many bookstores have reading stands that will enable you to keep your book position at the right level.

7. If you find it difficult to read, get your eyes tested by an oculist. If you find yourself squinting or your eyes watering while you read or do any fine work, then you might need glasses. So do not waste time, consult a doctor at the earliest time possible. Faulty vision is a major cause of headaches.

8. Be careful of the print size of the book you are reading. If the print of the book is too faint, or if the font size is too small, just toss away the book. Most libraries have large-print versions of books. If this is not available, use a magnifying glass or wear magnifying glasses.

9. Do not read in moving vehicles. Many people try to read while traveling by car to kill time. However, curves and bumps in the road can cause headaches and even motion sickness.

No matter how smooth the road is and no matter how good the shock absorbers of the car are, there is bound to be jerking motions. This will force your eyes to adjust and readjust to the print and this continuous adjustment and readjustment is very bad for your eyes. At the end of the journey you are bound to end up with a headache.

10. The light from your T.V or P.C monitor is not enough to read. Some people tend to read in the light that comes from a turned on television set or a computer. This light is not enough for your eyes to pick out what is printed, and should be combined with lamplight or overhead light.

The next post will give you several tips for preventing work-related or computer-related headaches. My daughter was experiencing headaches from using the computer, and we found that she needed to wear glasses with glare-resistant material whenever she looked at a computer screen or at TV.

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Sinus Headache

Sinus problems, too, give rise to headaches. The sinuses are small spaces in the facial bones just below the facial skin. The spaces are concentrated in the nasal region, temples and around the eyes. Sometimes, due to infection, these spaces get inflamed with mucus and infected as well.

This leads to the headache that is the result of sinusitis. There are many causes for sinusitis which are allergy, a deviated nasal septum, and severe cold, enlarged parts in side the nose, and acute ongoing infection.

Tension Headache

Tension headaches are also common in many people. Stress and anxiety are causes for tension headaches. The moment such a person gets tense about something, the person develops a tension headache. Insufficient sleep, anxiety, problems, and worries give rise to the tension headache.

Now whatever is the cause or whatever be the nature of the headache, most headaches are preventable. There is no need to endure the pain when you really have an option. Starting in the next post I will list a number of ways to prevent headaches.

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A migraine is a splitting headache that just seems to set in apparently due to no reason at all. The reasons for a migraine are mainly vascular. That means that certain changes in the blood vessels that supply blood to the brain trigger of the pain. Of course, the causes for the changes in the blood vessels may vary from person to person but this is generally how it starts.

Migraines are easily the most common headache syndrome. It affects 10 to 15 percent of the global population. One peculiar feature of a migraine is that it usually starts in childhood or adolescence and is most common in young and middle-aged adults.

The only good thing about a migraine is that it usually stops as people get older. Migraines have nothing to do with a person’s background, upbringing, or social class. Migraines do not discriminate.

Migraines have a strong impact on the quality of a person’s life. It affects not only the person but also the lives of those who move in close contact with he person. Migraine attacks can some times be so severe that person may have to abandon his or her routine activities for three or four days at a stretch.

Once the pain of a migraine sets in, it is sheer agony. It is almost as if one side of your head is being ripped off. There is very little a person can do to stop this pain.

The good thing about a migraine is that it is transient, that is the pain will go away after some time. This usually happens after the person gets a few hours of sound sleep. The worst thing about migraines is that they recur. But migraines too can be prevented to a very large extent. I will tell you how in later posts.

There are two main types of migraine, the classic migraine and the common migraine. Both the classic and the common kind can occur as often as several times a week or as rarely as once every few years.

Both types can occur at any time. But for some people at least, it is possible to predict the occurrence of the migraine. For example there is a greater tendency for a migraine near the days of menstruation or every Saturday morning after a stressful week of work.

Although many sufferers have a family history of migraine, the exact hereditary nature of this condition is not known. People who get migraines are thought to have an inherited abnormality in the regulation of blood vessels. The following factors often act as triggers that set of the migraine.

Stress is one of the major factors that can contribute to the onset of a migraine. Now it may not be possible for you to get away from the cause of stress, particularly if it is something connected with your job.

Anger can trigger of a migraine as well. It would be good for short tempered people to learn ways of controlling their anger. The best method is of course the one to ten method. The next time you get angry count to ten very slowly before you really blow your lid. By the time you get to ten you should have cooled down.

Both physical and mental fatigue can lead to a migraine so do not push your self too much. Enough is enough and when your body starts giving you signals that it has had enough, take heed and stop whatever you are doing. Just bear in mind that a little more productivity on one day is not worth the productivity of the next couple of days.

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