A migraine is a severe throbbing headache that frequently results in nausea and sensitivity to light. According to studies, women are around twice as likely to suffer from migraines but they can be experienced among people of all ages, and often significantly impact the lifestyle of sufferers. Fortunately, since migraines usually have specific triggers, it is possible to steer clear of those precipitating factors and therefore avoid most migraines. In this piece, we have covered everything you need to know about the most common migraine triggers and how to take care of them.
Avoid Stress
It is impossible to always avoid stressful situations. However, you can control how you react to them. If you encounter a stressful event, try some relaxation techniques such as biofeedback, meditation, or even yoga. These methods can help you avoid stress and hence reduce the chances of suffering from common migraine.
Irregular Sleeping/Eating Schedule
To avoid an increased risk of migraines, you need to sleep and eat on a regular schedule. If you skip meals, fast, or embrace an irregular sleep pattern, you might enhance the chances of suffering from migraines. To be safe, you need to eat something within an hour of waking up. After that, eat after every three to four hours. Migraines might be caused by both hunger and dehydration, but these are things you can avoid easily.
Make sure that you stay hydrated, and that you do not skip a meal. If you do not get enough sleep, you might get a migraine. Therefore, ideally, you should get between seven and eight hours of quality sleep each day. Unfortunately, too much sleep might also lead to a headache, so you should not sleep too long to compensate for any lost sleep.
Hormonal Changes
Hormones play a key role in causing migraines. Most women tend to encounter severe headaches a few days during or after their period. Women are advised to keep a close eye on their diet and exercise at least once a week to avoid hormonal changes in their bodies. By maintaining a healthy diet and lifestyle, women are less likely to get symptoms of migraines before, during, and shortly after their periods.
In some cases, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and oral contraceptives might cause severe headaches among women. However, there are many different forms of birth control to choose from, so women need not suffer from migraines for this reason. By using alternative birth control techniques, some women can get migraine relief. In fact, some women find that their migraine symptoms are less severe when they use birth control. It helps to know what works best for you, especially if you have not reached menopause.
Caffeine Consumption
Though most individuals enjoy caffeine, it might be something that triggers a common migraine. Scientists have found that abstaining from caffeine is associated with better migraine treatment, but if you can’t give it up completely, you need to take it in moderation.
It is not clear how much risk caffeine might cause in triggering a headache. To be on the safe side, you shouldn’t drink more than two cups of coffee every 48 hours. If you exceed this limit, you will learn that your headache becomes severe, thereby limiting your productivity, especially in the workplace.
Conclusion
It is possible to get your migraines under control by understanding your triggers and planning ahead. If you can catch your migraines early, you will know what to do to avoid severe symptoms. In case your migraines do not go away within a few days, even after using the pointers mentioned above, it would be best to consult a medical professional. Note that to get migraine relief, you must embrace a healthy lifestyle by all means.
