You experience the pain of a headache then immediately rush to get your usual painkillers. You take them and begin to feel some relief. But have you ever wondered about the cause of headaches that afflict you?
It could be something more serious than you think. As you know, headaches are sometimes a sign of high blood pressure or other infections in your body system.
Therefore, ensure you first establish the cause before reaching out for that ibuprofen. You can effectively do that by keenly monitoring the trend of your headache. Monitor them from the time they set in, to their final lapsing moments.
A headache may set in suddenly and become severe almost immediately. Others may appear mild but become persistent. Regardless of the case, always remember to see your doctor for advice if they persist. If needed, you should seek treatment.
COMMON CAUSES OF HEADACHES
Here are some of the common causes of headaches and tips on how to manage them:
1 – Stress and Anxiety
Headaches are prone to occur when you’re stressed up owing to the fact that stress or anxiety is one of the major triggers of anxiety/tension-related headaches. Therefore, taking deliberate steps to manage stress is an effective way to ensure that you keep the headaches at bay.
Tip: Start by letting go of the things that you don’t have control over, decongesting your work schedule, and also developing a can-do attitude to various life aspects. Avoid unhealthy habits like smoking and begin embracing healthy ones (like regular exercising and meditation) to live a stress-free, and of course, headache-free life.
2 – Hormonal Imbalances
It’s completely normal to experience headaches as you enter perimenopause. This is because of the decline in your estrogen and progesterone levels. In this case, the hormonal imbalance is purely the cause of the headaches.
Though most women experience hormonal imbalance headaches during ovulation, some may end up battling such headaches only at menopause.
Tip: Several hormonal health programs have been put in place to help restore hormonal balance in women. This is especially true for those who’ve hit the menopause bracket. However, eating a healthy diet is among the easiest ways to keep your hormones in check and hence preventing the occurrence of headaches.
3 – Too Much Exposure to Light
It’s believed that people exhibiting a lighter eye color are more vulnerable to light sensitivity issues (including headaches) when exposed to bright sunlight or computer screen-generated lights. This is contrary to their counterparts with dark-colored eyes—which helps protect them from extreme lighting effects.
Tip: Nonetheless, consider avoiding bright sunlight or any other unfavorable lighting sources as they can easily trigger headaches. But if you have to be outdoors, then wear sunglasses and a wide-brimmed hat to protect you from the light.
4 – Exposure to Excessive Noise
Noise is a commonly known headache trigger—it causes both migraines and tension-related headaches. Keeping off noisy environments can sometimes be a challenge, for instance, staying away from your playing children. In such a case the noise is inevitable.
In as much as earphones help to reduce the intensity of noise getting to your ears, desensitization remains one of the most effective ways to deal with a noise-triggered headache.
Tip: To offset this, try to gradually immerse yourself into the established headache trigger (in this case noise) so that the body’s system can get used to it. This helps reduce your susceptibility to headaches even when exposed to similar noisy environments in the future.
However, if possible, try to avoid noisy places as this will greatly save you the pain.
5 – Physical Activity
Engaging in regular exercise is a great way to ensure the sound state of your health. However, vigorous physical activities can sometimes leave you battling with body pains (such as headaches and joint pains). This occurs when you exert too much pressure on the muscles.
Tip: So, this doesn’t mean that you should completely abandon your routine exercise (as this may also render your body unfit thus causing another headache). Instead, have limits when it comes to what you can do. To be precise, moderate everything you do.
Final Thoughts on Finding the Cause of Headaches
Begin by establishing your headache triggers and then proceed to explore the possible preventive measures.
Today, she also serves as a content producer and sometimes editor. Her vast (and often surprising!) skillset enables her to conquer any challenges.
She loves writing about gardening, wellness, and raising healthy children. As a full-time author and parent of two children, Maureen knows a trick or two on these topics.
After gaining valuable experience in blogging and content production with the DIY Home & Garden team, Maureen branched out and started her own publication, as well. Now, she proudly publishes the website: The Perfect Parenting Place.
