5 Tips to Avoid Headache and Migraine Triggers

About 6.2% of women and 2.2% of men in a 2021 US survey said they’d suffered a headache or migraine attack in the past three months. The severity of headaches seemed to decline after age 65.

Headaches have a number of subtypes, depending on the type of pain and where it’s located. Migraines, too, aren’t uniform in their presentation. However, migraine attacks often create warning symptoms beforehand and may also be accompanied by:

• Sensitivity to light, sound, or touch
• Nausea and vomiting
• Lightheadedness and dizziness

When you suffer from headaches or migraine attacks, you want to prevent them or at least reduce their severity. Headaches and migraines tend to share some triggers, and you can design lifestyle changes to avoid them. 

Our team of experienced neurologists at Advanced Medical Care can help you learn to minimize your risk for your next attack. Here are five tips to help you avoid your headache and migraine triggers.

1. Keep a headache and migraine diary

Start a journal — even if it’s just notes on your phone — to help you recognize the environmental and internal events that may bring on your headache or migraine attacks. These could be everything from food to stress. The most common triggers include:

• Extreme temperatures
• Stress
• Exercise
• Beans or nuts
• Chocolate or other caffeine
• Citrus
• Cheese or other dairy
• Food additives
• Alcohol

Focus on eating a whole-foods diet with plenty of hydrating vegetables and fruits. Drink water throughout the day. Eat protein with every meal to keep your blood sugar stable. Avoid extreme temperatures.

2. Get plenty of sleep

Stress tends to trigger both migraines and headaches, and not getting a full and restful sleep each night is highly stressful to your body. Sleeping is an active phase in which your body detoxifies and rebuilds and replaces damaged cells. 

Improve your sleep hygiene by:

• Going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, even on weekends
• Keeping your room dark
• Turning down the temperature
• Avoiding caffeine past 2 pm
• Not eating a large meal before bedtime
• Turning off screens one hour before bedtime

If these changes don’t help you feel refreshed and reduce your headaches, see us for a sleep medicine evaluation. You may have an undiagnosed case of obstructive sleep apnea. 

3. Don’t stress about stress

It’s not just the lack of a good night’s sleep that can stress you out. Stressing out about stress — or anything — also can trigger a headache.

When your body is stressed, you may unconsciously flex and tense the muscles in your shoulders, neck, jaw, and face. Unalleviated tension in these muscles can lead to a headache. Investigate different stress-management techniques that can help your body relax, such as:

• Deep breathing
• Meditation
• Prayer breaks
• Leisurely strolls
• Stretching and yoga
• Me-time, such as a warm mineral bath

Giving yourself permission to take care of yourself can do a lot to alleviate stress. You may also benefit from talking to supportive friends or finding a good therapist or counselor.

4. Check your hormones

If you’re a woman, you may notice that your migraines or headaches tend to appear at regular intervals during your menstrual cycle. In perimenopause, the sudden drop in estrogen could also start migraines — even if you never had them before. 

Your doctor may be able to help control hormone-related migraine with hormone therapies.

5. Get enough exercise

Even if one of the triggers for your own migraines or headaches is exercise, there’s still a place for physical movement in your self-care and prevention routine. In fact, if you have headaches and migraines, exercise may be more important than ever.

Exercise promotes the production of beta endorphins, which can keep your body relaxed and stress-free. Beta endorphins also minimize pain. Aim for a healthy 30 to 50 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, three to five days a week. 

Exercise-associated migraines tend to be related to becoming overheated. Take steps to avoid overexertion or overheating by carrying plenty of water and using a cooling towel during your workout sessions.

Take control of your headache and migraine attacks by knowing and avoiding your triggers. Get support and pain relief when you need it by contacting Advanced Medical Care in Queens or Brooklyn, New York.