Imagine yourself in a bubble of light -- purple, violet, or blue are
good ones to experiment with, and then simply imagine that the light
can seep through the skin into the cells of the whole body, lifting
away the pain, and changing temperature to suit the occasion, either
an experience of warmth or cold.

Next. You simply imagine your right hand placed in a bucket of iced
water. Really cold iced water, so of course it will feel as though it
has lost all sensation and gone numb -- without the painful bit of an
actual pail of ice.

When the hand is completely anaesthetized, simply rub it over the
affected headache area and feel the numbing effect transferring from
hand to pain, and the numbed hand restored to normal. This normally
works well with one application, but there is nothing to stop you
repeating it.

This "cold hand" one of the simplest of pain control techniques and
is good for minor cramps, bumps and bruises as well.

There's a variant called the "inner pharmacy" that works brilliantly
for some willing to play what seems to be a nonsense game. To do this
one, imagine going into an old fashioned pharmacy of the mind where
your subconscious stores all its remedies.

Visualize a gorgeous, old-fashioned, dark place that smells wonderful
and has those old mahogany drawers and counter tops and shelves of
brown, blue and green bottles containing different draughts or pills.

You just look over the shelves and pick the bottle that starts
twinkling like a Xmas tree light. Either swallow one -- only one --
of the tablets inside or pour a into the medicine glass thoughtfully
left on the counter for you. You can even visualize a water bottle
there for those who need liquid to swallow a pill! Who says placebo
effect doesn't work?

Your subconscious can't tell the difference, so the imaged medication
will frequently work much faster than a pharmaceutical with no side
effects.

How about another ancient pain control technique? Relaxation
techniques are often useful, especially if you can get hold of one of
those little biofeedback meters that tells you when you're "stressed"
or "relaxed" so you get to feel the difference.

Additionally, you may need to eat something, or get some sleep, or
check your posture and the chairs you are sitting on for extended
periods.

It may sound like a ghastly idea, but a few swift minutes of vigorous
exercise can set up enough biochemical changes to erase a simple
headache.

So there are stacks of ideas that can be tried as an alternative to
taking a tablet.