By Dr. Arianna B. Coe, CATP, CTT, DSNM

Know anyone who talks about “doing a detox” or cleanse? Many things can make one feel the need to detoxify their body, and big contributors to that feeling are over the counter (OTC) and prescription pain medications. The two most common reasons people reach for these medications are headaches and migraines.

You’ll be better off if you avoid taking these common contributors to a “toxic body feeling”. Your organs will not be overworked from trying to eliminate the foreign chemicals in these medications, and they’ll be stronger and more capable of keeping you healthy when unavoidable stressors of life occur. So how do you avoid needing the headache/migraine medications?

According to the Mayo Clinic some of the common causes of migraines are:
­-h​hormonal changes in women
­-c​certain foods
­-f​ood additives​­: aspartame, monosodium glutamate (MSG), and many more ­
-c​certain drinks
­-s​tress
­-s​ensory stimuli​­ bright lights, loud noises, strong smells
­-i​ssues with wake/sleep pattern
­-m​edications​­ (another reason to avoid them if possible)Some of the things on this list may seem unavoidable and too commonplace to avoid.

Short of becoming a macrobiotic hermit there are other ways to deal with these common headache triggers instead of reaching for a bottle of pills. Clinical studies comparing the effectiveness of Thai Yoga Therapy for pain management vs. OTC and prescription pain meds show that a period of regular Thai Yoga Therapy treatments were significantly more effective than the medications, with lasting results, and not only did they have n​o ​s​ide­effects,​they had unexpected benefits aside from just pain relief. Some of these “side ­benefits” included improved sleep, improved general mobility, and a noticeable improvement in s​ense of well being.​This last one I mention is especially significant when you consider how many people these days are on one or more antidepressant medications.