Everything to Know About Headache Hygiene
Headache hygiene involves avoiding triggers and practicing healthy lifestyle habits to reduce the frequency, intensity, and severity of a headache or migraine episode.
If you deal with frequent migraine episodes, you’re not alone. It’s estimated that up to 5% of people live with chronic migraine.
The symptoms that accompany a migraine, such as pain, nausea, and light and sound sensitivity can be difficult to cope with. You may wonder what steps you can take to reduce migraine frequency or avoid an episode altogether.
Not every migraine is preventable. However, there are some things you can do to set yourself up to have fewer migraine episodes. This is known as headache hygiene.
Headache hygiene focuses on making changes to controllable migraine factors. It involves avoiding common migraine triggers, as well as implementing certain habits and routines that may help prevent a migraine episode.
The goal of headache hygiene is to reduce migraine:
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- likelihood
- frequency
- intensity
- severity
Headache hygiene may also help reduce the reliance on migraine medication.
Follow these steps to help improve your headache hygiene.
Certain triggers are known to bring on a migraine episode. However, migraine triggers can vary from person to person.
Common migraine triggers include:
- stress
- certain foods, like chocolate, cheese, and cured meats
- certain drinks, like alcohol or caffeinated beverages
- dehydration
- changes in sleep schedule
- changes in weather
- bright or flickering lights
- strong odors
- certain medications
Keep a migraine log
In some cases, you may be able to identify when exposure to a known trigger brings on a migraine episode. Other times, you may have no idea why you’ve been hit with a migraine. In these cases, there may be patterns that you’re not yet aware of.
Keeping a migraine diary may help you identify all of your migraine triggers. Next time you experience a migraine, take notes on:
- what you ate and drank
- timing of meals and snacks
- stress level
- your sleep
- what else was going on that day
- timing of migraine onset
- symptoms and severity
Do your best to write down as many details as possible. Depending on how often you experience a migraine, it’s smart to keep records for at least a few weeks or up to a few months.
It can be helpful to review your migraine diary with a healthcare professional. Together, you can look for patterns. The more you know about potential triggers, the more you can focus on strategies to manage them.
Certain foods are more likely to cause a migraine episode than others.
Alcohol
Any kind of alcohol has the potential to trigger a migraine episode. This may be from the ethanol content or other compounds in alcoholic drinks.
Research suggests that red wine is most likely to cause headaches and migraine symptoms.
Caffeine
Caffeine is another known migraine trigger. You can find caffeine in:
For some people, too much caffeine may trigger a migraine episode. However, if you’re used to consuming a certain amount of caffeine, caffeine withdrawal may also cause an episode.
Tyramine
Another compound associated with migraine is tyramine. It’s naturally present in several foods.
Common foods that contain tyramine include:
- aged cheese
- processed meats
- chocolate
- fermented foods
Tyramine may not trigger a migraine episode for everyone. Keeping a migraine diary can help you figure out if any of these foods are migraine triggers for you.
