Do

1. Eat a balanced diet. Be sure to include headache-preventing nutrients such as magnesium (a mineral found in foods like fish, seeds, and avocados), calcium, riboflavin, and vitamin B2

2. Apply an ice pack to your forehead to constrict swollen blood vessels and relieve tension headaches. Suffering from a sinus ache? Try a hot compress for 15 minutes, three to four times a day.

3. Avoid flickering or bright lights. Even a television or computer screen can cause trouble. If the pain persists, take breaks or put a tinted screen over your computer monitor.

4. Take a deep breath. Diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing helps you relax, reduces tension, and brings more oxygen to blood cells. Not sure if you're doing it right? Lie on your back with one hand on your abdomen and inhale deeply. Your hand should move up and down with each breath.

5. Massage your neck and shoulders to relieve tension. Do it yourself or enlist a friend or professional massage therapist.

6. Stretch for a minimum of five minutes every day to improve your flexibility and minimize tight muscles. Begin with your feet, ankles, and legs; move up to your arms, torso, neck, shoulders, and face.

7. Keep a headache diary. Record when your headache begins, how it feels, any foods you ate that day, and other notable events that may have triggered the pain.

8. Exercise regularly to reduce tension and improve blood flow. Besides helping your heart, your brain's release of mood-boosting endorphins will help minimize headache pain.

Don't

1. Don't miss meals. Your brain depends on glucose to function. Keep blood-sugar levels steady by eating at regular intervals, at least three times a day.

2. Don't eat aged cheeses, nuts, luncheon meats, chocolate, hot dogs, or other foods containing amino acid tyramine, thought to trigger migraines by signaling blood vessels to constrict, then expand.

3. Don't take too many asprin or other analgesics. Your body adapts to these over-the-counter pain relievers - when they wear off, they can trigger even more intense rebound headaches.

4. Don't skimp on sleep. Excessive fatigue is a prime trigger of both tension and migraine pain. Sleep at least seven to eight hours nightly.

5. Don't sleep on your stomach or in awkward positions that could cause muscles in your neck to contract and create a tension headache. If possible, sleep on your back.

6. Don't overdo it. If you suspect that a headache is coming on, reduce your workload and give your body plenty of time to catch up on sleep and exercise.

7. Don't assume all herbs are safe. While some, like feverfew, show promise in treating headache pain, they can be dangerous if used incorrectly (feverfew, for example, should never be taken by pregnant women), Tell your physician about any herbs you're taking, to avoid potential drug interactions.

8. Don't put off seeing your doctor if you have any of the following: more than three headaches per week; headaches severe enough to require taking an over-the-counter pain reliever daily or exceeding the recommended doses; stiff neck and/or fever; headache accompanied by shortness of breath, dizziness, slurred speech, weakness, confusion, or drowsiness. Any of these symptoms could signal a serious problem.