6 Things Headache and Migraine Sufferers Should Change

These are the most common suggestions I offer to patients, but it is unlikely that one of these alone will relieve anyone of all headaches. It is going to take a combined effort of making these small changes in your life before you start to see significant changes. The beauty of these recommendations is they cost next to nothing to apply. And believe me, I am not ignorant of the difficulty it will be to consistently follow them. Don’t try and do them all at once. Instead, just add one every week or month until they become a regular part of your lifestyle. Remember, health isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.

Sleep Schedule

Sleep is something I bring up with every patient that I treat who suffers from headaches. Sleep schedules are so important to maintain. Many of us will sacrifice our sleep to squeeze in a little extra time at night to binge our favorite Netflix show. While you may really want to watch that next episode, I highly recommend you create a sleep schedule that you stick to 7 days a week. And I know that you really want to sleep in on the weekends, but inconsistencies in sleep cycles keep your body guessing and don’t allow for that proper sleep cycle to be established or maintained. Sleep cycles allow your body to recover from your day and process everything that happened throughout the day. Without proper recovery your body will reach its breaking point, and an unfortunate side effect can be a headache or migraine.

Exercise

You are probably thinking, “How in the world can exercise help with headaches?” Well according to the American Migraine Foundation, “There’s evidence to suggest regular exercise can help reduce the frequency of headache attacks: not only does exercise reduce stress, a common migraine trigger, but it also helps regulate sleep, elevates painkilling and mood-elevating endorphins, and can combat obesity—all of which can contribute to migraine frequency.” That is a five birds one stone solution that future You will thank you for starting!

Caffeine Intake

Don’t worry! I am not going to tell you to give up your coffee. However, caffeine can be a trigger when it comes to headaches and migraines - Or more accurately, excessive amounts of caffeine can trigger a headache. The all-too-common flip side of that is finding yourself in a situation without coffee on a stressful day that causes an unfortunate next-morning headache. So, what do you do? I suggest enjoy your coffee without having a dependence on it. This can be done by weaning yourself down to one cup a day and then sprinkling in days where you don’t drink coffee. bonus Perk - you save money and get more bang for your buck when it comes to consuming caffeine in the future.

Stretching

This one can positively affect all areas of your life as well! Similar to the last suggestion, stretching helps reduce stress levels and gives you a much-needed break from your day. If you are a sufferer of tension headaches then this is going to reduce tension throughout your entire body and decrease the frequency of your headaches. Typically, people carry a lot of tension in their posterior chain(back, hamstrings, neck, shoulders) which in turn leads to increased odds of developing tension headaches. I highly recommend stretching a couple times a week and seeing how you feel.

Ease Into Your morning

This one can be tough for a lot of parents out there, but we have an important decision to make every day. Do we let the events of the day dictate our mood or do we prepare for the day and crush it? This can look different for everyone, but some examples are: waking up earlier to go through a morning ritual, making a to-do list, setting intentions, and just enjoying some peace and quiet before the craziness of the day begins. The result can mean less stress, a greater feeling of accomplishment and a lower chance of developing stress related headaches throughout the day.

Limit Blue Light Exposure

If you are someone who works on a computer all day, then you know all too well about the strain it can cause your eyes and in turn the occasional headache or migraine. I have good news! There are ways to limit your blue light exposure. The first option I recommend is changing your computer’s display settings to dark mode. This is a free and easy way to reduce your blue light exposure. Second, there are plenty of blue light blocking eye glasses on the market. These are fairly inexpensive and there are plenty of options to choose from. I personally have a pair that I wear when my eyes start to feel strained from long bouts of screen time.