| Once upon a time, when you got a headache, you | | | | Just once, don't reach into your desk drawer and |
| looked around for the cause. Some causes were | | | | extract your pain pills and swallow them |
| very obvious. On Sunday mornings, my husband, | | | | unthinking. Realize that your body is in knots and |
| known to imbibe a few gin and tonics Saturday | | | | it's trying to tell you so. Listen to it. Get up. |
| nights, would wake up clutching his head and | | | | Stretch. If you're in a commercial office, walk to |
| moaning "I knew there was something wrong | | | | the outside door. Take a few breaths. Walk to |
| with that tonic water".....Right! So that's one very | | | | the water cooler. Drink two cups of water. |
| obvious cause. | | | | Stretch five times before returning to your desk. |
| It's when the cause of your headache is not | | | | See how that works? Rocket science! The world |
| obvious, or you don't have the time or inclination | | | | didn't end because you took a five minute break. |
| to figure out where it came from that the | | | | But the synapses firing off your headache |
| problem arises. | | | | subsided. Your eyes cleared. Your shoulders |
| You know the drill. Have a headache? Pop a pill or | | | | dropped from around your ears. A neck rub is |
| four or so! Preferably a brand name pill, heavily | | | | great too, but a bit difficult to get at the office. |
| advertised on TV. Pills where the cost of | | | | If you work from home, oh lucky you! Take all |
| manufacture is zero and where marketing costs | | | | the above steps but, if you have a garden, go |
| are in the millions. | | | | outside. Admire your glorious plants. Have a few |
| Big drug can afford lavish TV advertising for its | | | | words with them. Do a little weeding. Return to |
| products. To sell one pain pill it will spend more | | | | your desk refreshed. |
| than the GDP of many small countries. And the | | | | So, what just happened? We ignored the siren call |
| TV ads work. You see a beautiful woman | | | | of lethal chemicals and we soothed our tortured |
| clutching her head, in obvious pain. The weight of | | | | limbs and muscles all by ourselves. This actually |
| the world is on her shoulders. What can she do? | | | | works for tension and stress headaches. And it's |
| Take a pill of course! The bottle is right there in | | | | so much healthier than ingesting chemicals passed |
| the foreground, brand name carefully highlighted. | | | | as safe by the Keystone Cops in the FDA. |
| She takes the pill and voila! Headache gone! She's | | | | There are other headaches, of course, not |
| practically dancing. Wow! Those pills really work! | | | | succeptible to these particular natural remedies |
| Right! | | | | and I'll cover them in later articles. But, for now, |
| In the real world, what happens? We get a | | | | there is one instance I want to highlight: |
| headache. We take the pills so heavily advertised | | | | If you get a blinding headache, out of the blue, no |
| on TV. The pain of the headache is temporarily | | | | warning at all, your first instinct is to lie down and |
| alleviated. The headache is actually just sitting in a | | | | hope it passes. Don't. Call your PCP or the |
| corner doing its knitting. The temporary effect of | | | | emergency services. You need to be examined |
| the pills wears off. We take more. Then we need | | | | right away. Remember. If you get a blinding |
| stronger pills and heavier doses. Soon, we need a | | | | headache without warning, act immediately. Get |
| prescription for pain medication. Luckily for us, we | | | | help. Now. |
| know exactly what to ask our doctor for. It's | | | | The sheer pace of our lives today causes all sorts |
| another heavily advertised prescription medication. | | | | of unease in our bodies. Big Drug has a panacea |
| Is this the answer? Of course not! The answer is | | | | for all the ills the befall us. But it's not a panacea; |
| a lot simpler, cheaper and healthier than that. | | | | it's not even a Band Aid. It's a false fix and we |
| You feel a headache coming on. It will not hit you | | | | need to get away from it. Thanks to TV |
| like a sledgehammer. You feel it coming; a general | | | | advertising, we're conditioned to think we should |
| unease. Where are you? Crouched over your | | | | take a pill every time we feel less than on top of |
| computer, maybe? Neck tense? Shoulders | | | | the world. Not so. Let's start with small natural |
| knotted? Tension everywhere? Well, yes. Right | | | | steps and see if we can bring our bodies back to |
| there, is the major cause of headache in the | | | | the glorious ease we had as children. |
| modern world. | | | | |