Smart Strategies For Taming Headache Triggers

Sometimes you know exactly what’s causing that pounding in your skull -- like a too-loud TV or that jackhammer outside your office. Other times, you’re blindsided. Was it something you ate? Too little sleep? A change in the weather? The answer could be any of the above. Headaches -- whether debilitating migraines or less-painful-but-still-annoying tension headaches -- are often set off or made worse by a key trigger, says Brian Grosberg, M.D., director of the Inpatient Headache Program at Montefiore Headache Center in New York City. Here, the seven most common pain provokers, and how to head off the hurt. (See your doctor if these DIY fixes don’t do the trick; for those plagued by headaches, prescription meds may help.)

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You're Stressed

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Stress accounts for 80 percent of all migraines, according to a study in the journal Cephalalgia. That's because it causes fluctuations in cortisol and adrenaline -- the fight-or-flight hormones -- which can lead to pain and nausea, says Sheena K. Aurora, M.D., medical director of Seattle's Headache Center at the Swedish Medical Center. Stress can also make you clench your jaw and neck muscles, causing neck pain that, in turn, can set off tension headaches. Trigger Tamer: Meditation, deep breathing, yoga and massage can help. Or consider a mind-body technique called biofeedback. Get more information from the Association for Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. More from Health.com: 11 Surprising Headache Triggers 5 Types of Headaches Top Migraine Triggers

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Stress accounts for 80 percent of all migraines, according to a study in the journal Cephalalgia. That's because it causes fluctuations in cortisol and adrenaline -- the fight-or-flight hormones -- which can lead to pain and nausea, says Sheena K. Aurora, M.D., medical director of Seattle's Headache Center at the Swedish Medical Center. Stress can also make you clench your jaw and neck muscles, causing neck pain that, in turn, can set off tension headaches.

Trigger Tamer: Meditation, deep breathing, yoga and massage can help. Or consider a mind-body technique called biofeedback. Get more information from the Association for Psychophysiology and Biofeedback.

More from Health.com:

11 Surprising Headache Triggers
5 Types of Headaches
Top Migraine Triggers

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Doesn't bother me Gets me every time!

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Comments

[truly moderate]

05:56 AM on 06/01/2011

A little bit of caffeine and tylenol (or a T3 if you have a script on hand) can really help......along with about 400 mgs of Ibu and LOTS OF WATER and a multi vitamin.

That sounds like a lot but I'm not advocating taking huge amounts of any of these things (except to make sure you drink a lot of water).

Take the tylenol, vitamin, ibu, and water, wait an hour, then lay down.

Also allergies can cause migraines, so if its sinus related, you might want to consider tylenol PM, which has benadryl in it.

[Dr Debrup Chatterjee]

09:17 PM on 05/29/2011

Altered power of accommodation of our eyes , gastroenteritis

[Ayla87]

08:01 PM on 05/29/2011

Cigarettes do it for me. Before my stepmother quit smoking I would get headaches after a visit to my dads house.

Also weed. The only time I ever had significant exposure to weed I walked away with both an epic contact high and a massive migrane. You'd think they would cancel each other out but they don't.

[rivergirl301]

12:47 PM on 05/28/2011

Some old geezer soaked in Old Spice (the formula from 10 years ago and before, not sure if they even make it any more but if not, it seems a lot of people have it stockpiled) can make me sick for 2 weeks. I have been known to literally run away from people in public--at the grocery store or an event at my son's high school--in self defense.

[doglove]

10:29 PM on 05/31/2011

For me it is fragrance also. I could have a $200 theatre ticket and if it is perfumey, I'm out of there.

[shuffleoff]

11:38 AM on 05/28/2011

Great piece here and pretty much spot on. However there is one other thing not mentioned and it's not common. If you tend to get migraine in one eye and or above the brow, check with an ophthalmologist. You could something called narrow angles in your eyes which in turn can cause narrow angle glaucoma. Very dangerous and important to diagnose...and the symptoms are exactly the same as migraine...

[vaygollybum]

10:21 AM on 05/28/2011

I have never understood how someone can wear half a bottle of perfume. And those same people are offended if you ask them to please not to wear it. I have told ladies that it can give terrible head aches, and they act like I have offended them. It's really bad if you have to sit next to someone like that on a plane. And in a resturant. I can actually taste it. It ruins my dinner. Funerals and Weddings are bad too!

[saskatoonie]

01:25 AM on 06/27/2011

People are vry inconsiderate!

[Terri Lorz]

08:05 AM on 05/28/2011

Thanks for the insight Dr. Weil - Terri Jo Lorz

[cinemaven]

01:02 AM on 05/28/2011

Barometric pressure is my trigger.. as someone said below, I'm more accurate than the weatherman at predicting a storm.
Perfume isn't a trigger for me but it is a symptom. I'm extremely sensitive to strong scents when I'm pre-migraine so perfume or an egg salad sandwich make my stomach turn and the pain gets worse. At the moment, I have lily of the valley on the table beside me and every once in a while, their lovely scent breezes over me and I love it. If I were pre-migraine, it would be an overwhelming and disgusting smell that would make me feel ill.

I use relaxation and biofeedback techniques to push the pain away but if I get to the stage of hypersensitivity to scent, auras or numbness in my fingertips, I take tylenol 1 with codeine and caffeine (over the counter in Canada.. I think they're prescription in the US?) and get into a dark room for an hour. If I get into a full blown migraine, I'm incapacitated for 3 days and have had to go to emerge a few times for a shot. Between the ages of 4 (when I was first diagnosed with migraines) and 27, I would get about 8 full blown episodes a year but since learning the biofeedback and relaxation techniques, I'm down to 1 a year so it's really helped.

[susanestes]

11:40 PM on 05/27/2011

Attention Halsey: No joke, I'm allegic to Eternity also. Most of Calvin Klein's perfumes give me a massive headache. It must be certain ingredients in his fragrances!

[Jasmine Tokuda]

01:55 PM on 05/30/2011

Most of the Calvin scents have irritating chemicals, some can make people very ill. It's the cheap ingredients they use. I buy high end vintage fragrances off of Ebay. Ivoire by Balmain is my favorite, It is still made with real essences rather than the petrochemicals of most modern formulas.

[cyarex1]

07:25 PM on 05/27/2011

Cluster Headaches are another severe type of headache. Sometimes confused with sinus headaches but the headache clusters usually above the sinus cavity in the frontal lobe of the brain. These headaches can be debilitating just like a migraine. High doses of caffeine can help alleviate some of the symptoms but sometimes a drug like "imitrex" is required. Consult with your doctor if these types of headaches persist. A major headache can also proceed a pending stroke seek out medical help immediately. Ice directly to the area helps sometimes, avoid sugars.

[mrainier8]

07:24 PM on 05/27/2011

I've had migraines for over 40 years. They are mainly triggered by weather change. Storms 3 days out in the Pacific trigger them. I'm better at this than the tv weatherman! My first migrain med was Immetrex by shot. Sort of felt like you could feel your blood running thru your body. Next pill form. Made stomach really upset, my heart race and my eyes hurt. Have to pack my head in ice. Sometimes in bed for 3 days if I did not catch it in time. Two years ago at GNC we got talking to the owner and he told us about a study on PHOSPHATIDYLSERINE that might help relieved headaches. It took a few weeks of taking two 300mg capslules per day and taking up to 8 capsules on migrain days. This is just my interperation of the dosage. It has been a miricle for me. Not to mention far less costly then drugs. Some time ago, they pulled immetrex because of it causing heart attacts. I am so glad I had found something to replace it. And in a natural form. Now, instead of 3 days out, most of the time it is only 1 day out. And the great thing is the severity of the migraines has demished greatly and there has been times I have not even gotten a migrain! Thank you Jesus, thank you God! Don't know if it will help you, but it did for me. Best of luck to all migrain suffers.

[te67close]

06:24 PM on 05/27/2011

to the moderator- yet again, the type color is the same as the page, and impossible to read. Please tell me how I am expected to see the posts ?

[washingtonwin]

05:46 PM on 05/27/2011

My brother was getting migraines real bad for 18 years and it was so bad that the last 10 years he was in bed 5 to 7 days a week no joke , and no one could figure out what was wrong with him not even the doctors could figure it out . Then we found out that his migraines were coming from not enough protein in his diet so my mother fixed him a protein shake { the protein shake was called WHEY PROTEIN SHAKE } and you can get it at like wal-mart but anyway after he started drinking it 1 glass a day his migraine headaches started going away , so if your not eating enough meat or anything with protein in it it can cause you migraines so if you have a migraine and can not figure out whats triggering it try a WHEY protein shake no joke .

[Amy E Baggott]

03:45 PM on 05/27/2011

It's all very well to say "use incandescent bulbs instead of compact fluorescents," but it's going to be hard to do in a few years when they are outlawed. Currently, you cannot legally buy an incandescent bulb in California.

Most of my headaches are weather-related, so I've learned to keep Excedrin and Sudafed on hand and take them at the first sign of a headache. The worst is when one sneaks up on me in the middle of the night because then it has a good couple hours head start by the time I wake up and takes forever to get rid of.

[Dee Amschler]

11:51 AM on 05/31/2011

This is why a growing number of us wear shades or at least tinted lenses all the time. Some of us have even gone to the length of Irlen Testing or similar. (I'm in a rush, so you'll need to google Irlen Testing if you're interested).

I will say that at least FOR ME using an LCD monitor instead of a CRT (the old kind that looked like a TV) has been a life safer. The picture is clearer and it doesn't flicker at least not perceptibly.

[pressedapples]

02:56 PM on 05/27/2011

The thing about my migraine triggers is that it feels like EVERYTHING is a trigger. There are some times when I can smell a perfume and I get an instant migraine and some times when I can smell the same perfume and it wouldn't bother me one bit. Light and smells can do it for me, but rarely a noise can give me a headache. There are times when I take extra strength Excedrin (Tylenol

[pressedapples]

03:00 PM on 05/27/2011

(Tylenol and Advil have never worked for me) before I get a migraine and I still get one. SMH My doctors have no idea why I get them so often, 'cause sometimes I can get them everyday or have one for days (go to sleep and wake up with 'em). It really sucks. I've been through all kinds of sites that name off triggers and I still find it hard to pinpoint. Ugh..

[bouvdoggie]

04:36 PM on 05/27/2011

Check the barometer...mine are triggered by any downward and fast upswings in the readings. There isn't a darn thing that helps if you have that kind but swallow a pill and avoid anything that causes a light source to flicker.