Do you ever feel that your headaches control your life? Are you self-conscious of people thinking that you fake headaches to get out of work? Or sometimes other people don't understand that it isn't your fault that you get frequent headaches? Well they are right, it is your fault. Because there are ways of preventing headaches!
I Am Strong I am Invincible I am Woman
Statistics show that women suffer migraine headaches more than men do. One reason for this is women can get menstrual migraines, where as men cannot. What spawns headaches during a womans period is the withdrawl of estrogen. Similarly so, this also happens during the first trimester of pregnancy. However during the second and third trimesters the expecting mother very rarely gets headaches because her estrogen level is higher than when she is not pregnant.
Food for Thought
Well you cannot control being a woman or not, but you do have control over what you eat. Foods that contain nitrates, nitrites and monosodium glutomates (MSG) are known to cause migraines. What happens when these substances enter the blood stream is they cause blood vessels in the brain to swell (vasodilation). Monosodium glutomates are often found in chinese food (highly in wonton soup). Processed meat (hot-dogs) often contains nitrates and MSGs.
Eating more protein and carbohydrates can aid you when suffering a headache. Often times people will get headaches due to the additives in foods. Try eating a healthy meal the next time you need rescuing from a throbbing headache.
In planning a headache-free diet its also a best to stay off the booze. This also includes your glass of wine at dinner. As a matter of fact studies have shown that Red Wine causes more headaches that White wine and vodka. The phenolic flavonoids is a headache trigger in red wine.
And finally, some believe that it truly doesn't matter what you eat, as long as its in moderation and balance.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............
Everyone loves to sleep, no doubt about it, but the majority of our population are sleep deprived zombies. Getting a enough sleep has been proven to help any headache conditions you may have. However, the solution is not to sleep as much as possible. Because excess sleep has also been proven to worsen our headaches. The best thing to do is to keep a regular bed and wake-time, and that includes weekends!
Sexercise!
Regular exercise decreases frequency is headaches. In Dr. Wolff's book on "Headaches and Other Pain," Dr. Wolff stressed that sex as exercise can help some get rid of their headache because of the release of hormones. So when your partner says "Not tonight honey, I've got a headache," reply with "But I just wanna cure you...!"
Where Am I?
Be aware of whats around you when you have a headache. Is the room very bright or filled with any disturbing odors. Also if your very high up in altitude or if the weather suddenly changes a headache can come to attack.
Stressed Out?
If your doing all of the things mentioned thus far, your reducing your level of stress already. But having an organized life with routine and balance will do the trick of keeping away both stress and headaches.
By Maggo Loppin
Undergraduate Student at UHEAD
