When your head is pounding the last thing you want to do is analyse how or why you have a headache. Painkillers are probably the fastest strategies to remedy the pain but they aren’t the only solution.

Holistic medicine is preventative medicine. It is this form of medicine that is truly the best way to cure what ails you. The best solution is to determine how and why you have the headache in the first place. Perhaps you had a big night and are simply recovering from excessive alcohol or perhaps you’re just really dehydrated. Obviously holistic medicine would discourage excessive alcohol but I am a realist – not everyone wants to live life without it.

Curing a headache holistically is considering all causes. Maybe you should see an osteopath, physio or chiropractic and ensure that your back and neck have no postural or structural issues. Perhaps your diet is to blame – yellow cheese, chocolate, wine and citrus fruits are notorious triggers for headaches and migraines. You never know, maybe your perfume or a strong odour you’re around is triggering the headache. Working it out means you cannot only cure it, but you can prevent it as well.

One of the quickest ways I know to cure a headache is to drink water. Dehydration would have to be one of the most common causes especially with the amount of air conditioning, heating and pollution we are exposed to and the amount of coffee and tea people drink.

Above all painkillers are a quick way to cure a headache but they are certainly not the only way. Headaches are multi factorial and need to be considered holistically. Determining the cause means that you can prevent headaches, which is ultimately the best cure. Just because the painkiller can relieve the headache does not mean it won’t come back again. Wouldn’t you prefer to fix the problem?