1. Water
Drinking enough water may help prevent headaches or reduce their severity.
Dehydration can be an underlying cause of many simple headaches. It may also alter how a person feels, acts, or thinks.
As a study in the journal Antioxidants notes, even slight dehydration may alter how people think and function, making them feel worse, with or without a headache.
Water may help make someone in this situation feel better, although some studies are more cautious.
A critical reading of one study published in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice noted that drinking water did not reduce how long people had their headaches, but it did make them subjectively feel better.
Staying hydrated may be as simple as carrying a water bottle around and sipping on it throughout the day. Eating foods high in liquid, such as fruits, smoothies, or soups, may also improve hydration.
2. Cold compress
A cold compress may be a simple headache solution that many people have on hand. Applying an ice pack or another cold item to the head or neck may help constrict the blood vessels and reduce inflammation in the area. Doing so could temporarily relieve headache pain.
A study in Hawai’i Journal of Medicine & Public Health found that applying ice packs to the neck for 30 minutes significantly reduced pain in people with migraines.