Identifying What Triggers Your Headache Is Key to Treatment

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Common headache triggers vary depending on the type of headache and on the individual. A sound or smell that serves as a migraine headache trigger in one person, for example, may have no effect at all on another. Identifying your common headache triggers can help you avoid headaches or learn to cope with them more effectively. Here are some common headache triggers for the major headache types:

Stress and Headaches
Stress is a trigger for most headaches, says Dr. Jaime Lopez, assistant professor of neurology and neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine and director of the Intraoperative Neurophysiologic Monitoring Program at Stanford University Medical Center. Stress can also lead to more serious migraine headaches.

Tension-type headaches result when muscles in the neck shoulders and head tense up, limiting blood flow to the area and building up waste products in the tissues. The end result: pain.

Sleep Disorders and Headaches
Sleep disorders are closely linked with tension, migraine and cluster headaches. Fatigue may cause contractions in the head and neck muscles of tension-type headache sufferers. Morning headaches or headaches that occur during the night may be related to such underlying sleep disorders as sleep apnea, in which people stop breathing for extended periods, or insomnia.

Changes in sleep patterns — getting too much or too little — can trigger migraines in some people. Treatment of migraine often includes regular sleep patterns — going to sleep and arising each day at the same time.

Smoking and Headaches
Smoking increases the risk of tension headaches and is a trigger for some migraine sufferers. Many doctors recommend quitting smoking to reduce the risk of headaches.

Alcohol and Headaches
Alcoholic beverages, particularly beer and wine (especially red wine) are migraine triggers. The offending beverages contain tyramine and phenylethylamine, which trigger migraines in sensitive people. Alcohol is also strongly associated with cluster headaches.

Other Migraine Triggers
Triggers for migraine sufferers vary and include:

• Diet Several chemicals found in food trigger migraine in certain people. These include tyramine (found in aged cheese, smoked or pickled foods, nuts and chocolate); monosodium glutamate (a flavor enhancer often used in Chinese cooking); sodium nitrite (found in processed meats such as hot dogs, ham and bacon); and caffeine (found in coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and many carbonated beverages).
• Weather-related Changes Changes in weather systems, barometric pressure and altitude have all been implicated as migraine triggers. In one study, researchers at the New England Center for Headache found that 51 percent of migraine sufferers were sensitive to weather patterns. The largest portion (22 percent) developed headaches during cold, dry weather. Another 12 percent developed headaches during warm, humid weather. Approximately 10 percent were sensitive to changing weather patterns, such as a passing weather front. A portion of participants were sensitive to more than one weather condition. By tracking weather changes in a headache diary and listening to weather reports, migraine sufferers can anticipate triggers and take preventive steps.
• Hormonal Changes Most female migraine sufferers develop their headaches after puberty. Many researchers believe that fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone may trigger migraines. About half of female migraine sufferers associate their headaches with their menstrual cycle.