Migraine attacks can be prevented by avoiding triggers, such as dehydration and skipping meals. Furthermore, keeping a migraine diary may help track symptoms and identify patterns.
Avoid taking pain-relieving medicines too frequently as this could lead to medication overuse headaches. Your healthcare provider may suggest exercising, acupuncture or stress reduction as alternative solutions.
Avoiding triggers
People suffering from migraines are able to pinpoint triggers like foods, caffeine or changes in weather as possible aggravators for an attack, but stress may also bring on headaches which exacerbate migraines further. Attacks may also be worsened by medications like painkillers or sedatives which further exacerbate an attack.
An essential step for those suffering from frequent migraine attacks is to identify and avoid their triggers as much as possible, as migraine attacks can be debilitating. A headache diary that chronicles symptoms and triggers can help lower migraine incidence rates significantly.
Avoiding migraines requires getting sufficient rest and staying hydrated, including going to bed at the same time every night and drinking water rather than caffeinated beverages such as coffee or soda. Stress reduction techniques like biofeedback or meditation may also help.
Getting enough sleep
Migraines and sleep are inextricably linked, often manifesting through insufficient restful REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, leading to headaches and migraines as a result of poor quality zzz’s. Studies have demonstrated how lacking quality REM sleep increases proteins linked to chronic pain conditions including migraines.
Migraine brains don’t like changes to routine, which means if your usual wake up time is 7am Monday through Friday but then sleep in until 10am on Saturday this could trigger a migraine headache. Or getting five hours instead of eight can have similar ramifications.
Avoid taking too many naps during the day and set an alarm at a regular time each night for optimal rest. In addition, try hiding clocks out of sight to ensure maximum effectiveness in sleeping well. Keeping an eye on time may make falling asleep more challenging!
Staying hydrated
Consuming enough fluids throughout the day to avoid dehydration, which is one of the primary sources of headaches. Try drinking water, unsweetened iced tea, coconut water sports drinks or homemade electrolyte solutions regularly throughout the day.
If you suffer from migraine headaches, drinking fluids may help ease their pain. However, excess hydration could create an imbalance of electrolytes within the body, worsening your headache further.
As well as drinking enough fluids, regular exercise is another proven method for relieving migraine headaches and can also help manage stress-induced headaches and migraines. But be careful: too much exercise may increase muscle tension leading to migraine-inducing headaches.
Avoiding certain weather conditions
Although large fluctuations in barometric pressure cannot always be avoided, you can attempt to plan ahead. Create a migraine diary so that you can identify patterns associated with different weather conditions and learn how to adapt your activities accordingly.
If the sun triggers migraines for you, try staying indoors as much as possible on sunny days and when venturing outside wear a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses with FL-41 tint to provide extra UV ray protection.
If the heat triggers your migraines, do light exercises in the morning or evening when temperatures are cooler instead. Be sure to drink enough water during hot weather in order to stay hydrated; staying properly hydrated is one way of helping avoid headaches caused by extreme heat or sun glare.
Avoiding certain foods
Diets that limit certain foods may help prevent migraine headaches. These foods include aged cheese (especially brie, bleu, cheddar and Swiss), chocolate and alcohol containing tyramine and histamine which can aggravate migraine symptoms; excessive caffeine may also contribute to migraine attacks.
Maintaining a food diary can help you identify which foods exacerbate migraines, and then try an elimination diet to see which are triggering. Once identified, gradually introduce them back into your diet over time until you see how they affect you individually.
Noticing loud noises or bright lights as well as lack of sleep are common triggers of migraine headaches, while foods high in sodium or beverages with caffeine could also play a part. You can avoid these triggers by staying hydrated and taking medications designed to decrease migraine attacks.
