Migraines may be the third most common illness in the world, but for those who suffer with it, the pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound is more than just discomfort, it is wholly disruptive to life as they know it. Even those that suffer from tension, pressure, or cluster headaches can attest that a headache can ruin your day faster than just about anything. While researchers continue to search for a reason why some people suffer more headache days than others, one theory has emerged that gives patients pause.
Headaches Due to Intracranial Pressure
While 30 to 80 percent of the population suffers from an occasional tension headache, there is a subset of headache sufferers whose pain is linked to something called intracranial pressure. Your brain rests in a fluid called cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This fluid is constantly being replenished throughout our lives. From time to time, the levels of CSF rise, causing increased intracranial pressure. Since our bodies have an amazing ability to regulate themselves, the excess CSF is absorbed into the body and the pressure and subsequent pain subsides.
Preventing Pressure Headaches
The old saying an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure certainly comes into play when it comes to pressure headaches. Obesity is one of the key risk factors of intracranial pressure so maintaining a healthy weight through a whole foods diet and plenty of exercise can go a long way to preventing changes in intracranial pressure. Likewise, limiting your caffeine, sodium, alcohol, and processed food intake can prevent many of the pressure changes in your skull.
Treating Head Pressure
Of course, there are times when your head is pounding and you need relief. Most people reach for either an over-the-counter pain reliever or a prescription migraine medication. However, these drugs often fall short of relieving the pain and pressure inside your head and many carry side effects that are often worse than the nausea, pain, and dizziness that go along with severe headaches. Fortunately, recent studies have found that relieving the intracranial pressure is as simple as a puff of air administered to the ear.
The Science of Zōk
Your eardrum, also known as your tympanic membrane, has an intricate nerve supply. The nerves that controls the sensory information for the side of your head, your jaw, your facial expressions, and your skin all pass through your eardrum. When these nerves become inflamed, whether from migraine, intracranial pressure, or tension elsewhere in the head or neck, you experience a headache. If these nerves can be soothed, the headache will go away.
Zōk introduces small puffs of air into the eardrum, soothing the nerve supply while modulating the pressure in the ear, the part of the head that is most closely connected with balance problems and nausea associated with migraine. Within minutes, the pain and pressure associated with a headache is gone, without side effects or residual discomfort. Best of all, Zōk is affordable and safe to use anytime, anywhere. Visit zokrelief.com to learn more about this revolutionary device.