How to Get Rid of a Headache or Migraine Attack Fast
Quick pain relief for headaches
When your head is pounding, you just want it to stop. Learn how quickly common medications work and what you can do to feel better faster.
Anyone who’s experienced the splitting pain of a bad headache or migraine attack knows how difficult it can be to work, drive, or even carry on a conversation while your head is pounding.
But when a headache strikes, you can do more than just crawl into bed and wait for it to go away — although resting or sleeping may indeed help. There are other effective headache treatments available and ways to find quick relief.
12 Foods to Help Get Rid of a Headache or Migraine Attack Naturally
Know What’s Causing Your Headache
The best way to get rid of a headache quickly may depend on what’s causing it, or what type of headache it is. Some common and less common types and causes of headache include the following:
- Tension-type headaches are the most common headaches. They tend to cause a dull, pressure-type pain on both sides of the head.
- Migraine is also common, affecting nearly 40 million Americans. Migraine attacks tend to cause throbbing pain on one side of the head, often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, dizziness, tingling or numbness, visual disturbances, and sensitivity to light, touch, smell, or sound.
- Consuming too much alcohol results in a hangover, or a headache that’s accompanied by thirst, fatigue, or nausea.
- When a sinus infection is the cause of a headache, it typically occurs alongside nasal congestion, nasal discharge, decreased sense of smell, and a feeling of pain, pressure, or fullness in the sinuses. Many so-called sinus headaches are actually migraine attacks.
- COVID-19 can cause headaches with migraine-like or, more commonly, tension-headache characteristics, research published November 11, 2021, in Current Pain and Headache Reports found. Headache can be the first symptom of a COVID-19 infection, and the pain can persist for days or weeks.
- Cluster headaches, which are rare, cause severe pain, usually on one side of the head, that lasts from 15 minutes to three hours when untreated. They are accompanied by a runny nose and tears in the eye on the same side of the head as the headache. For most people, cluster headaches occur in a series, or in “clusters,” lasting weeks or months, separated by remission periods of months or years.
