headache trigger
Headache trigger
Determining your personal headache triggers is the best first step to preventing headaches. While in this article we will list known headache triggers, keep in mind that triggers can vary considerably from person to person. Try keeping a headache diary for a month a record sleep patterns, stress levels, food eaten, skipped meals, etc to help you spot the pattern to your headaches.
Headache trigger: Stress
Common wisdom regarding stress and headaches is that stress can cause tension headaches and migraines. Many headache specialists are now saying that stress actually makes it easier for you to develop a headache or migraine. What does this mean? If you are under stress, do your best to avoid other factors which may increase the odds you develop a headache (like skipping meals, drinking alcohol…) Also, if possible try doing what you can to reduce stress. This is probably the most hated sentence of everyone currently under ongoing chronic stress, but regardless try to adopt a healthy exercise program to help release emotional tension, and make time to do the things that make you happy.
Headache trigger: Changes in Weather
Many people get headaches within a few days of a weather change. Why? Unknown. Maybe its the change in barometric pressure. Either way, if you find you are getting headaches when the weather changes, do not think this is merely your imagination. Also, if weather changes are a trigger for your headaches, there isn’t much you can do to prevent them. Instead, try your best to plan ahead and add a couple days to a vacation if you think you could be sidelined for a couple of days with a migraine.
Headache trigger: Strong scents and/or Chemicals
Many people get headaches triggered by exposure to strong scents such as fragrances, as well as chemicals including pesticides, paint, and cleaning products. If you find that strong scents or chemicals are trigger for you, the lest tactic is avoidance. If cleaning headaches are a problem, try natural or organic products as these may get your home just as clean but not give you a chemical induced headache.
Headache trigger: Smoking
A migraine attack is thought to be brought on by nerve excitability in the brain. Sometimes the cause of this nerve excitability is unknown. Other times, there is a clear trigger that can be identified such as a certain food, or in this case smoking. It appears that smoking directly stimulates nerves in the back of a smoker’s throat, leading to the beginning of a migraine attack.
Under even normal conditions, the nicotine in cigarettes causes blood vessel constriction. This is bad news for migraine sufferers. Once nerve excitability in the brain begins a migraine attack, blood vessels begin to constrict leading to symptoms such as dizziness and visual disturbances, and then later – the pain of a migraine attack – and this is in a nonsmoker. Nicotine actually increases blood vessel constriction and for this reason smoking can make your headaches and migraines more severe.
