Can The Weather Be A Trigger Factor For Migraines?
Posted: Tuesday, February 03, 2009
by William Hazelhurst
Help Me To Sleep
The hunt for things that may trigger migraine headaches is a continuing quest for those working hard to stay away from the often unbearable pain that follows the onset of a migraine attack. Possibly the most obvious of all migraine headache triggers is stress and sufferers from this neurological condition work hard at either avoiding stress altogether or mitigating the effects as far as possible. Some other triggers to try to avoid are alcohol, nicotine, chocolate, and even nuts.
Chronic back pain and also arthritis sufferers recognize that the their pain is significantly affected by changes in the weather and this lends some belief to the claims of chronic migraine sufferers that the weather also adversely influences their ability to steer clear of a migraine headache.
The announcement of a forthcoming pressure system may be an indication of the arrival of a storm to most of us but for migraine sufferers it usually spells trouble. The weight of the actual air is changed and this weight affects the ease with which oxygen is breathed and moved around the body through the blood vessels. Capillaries may for instance constrict more as a result of the change in pressure and this might be the trigger event for a migraine headache. Counteracting this effect with caffeine is normally one of the fastest and best remedies.
Windiness is another weather pattern that has migraine sufferers on edge. Even when the pressure changes accompanying windy conditions are negligible the fact that airborne pollutants which may be triggers for migraine sufferers are swirling all around and cannot be avoided makes this another clear migraine trigger.
Occasionally a migraine headache may be secondary to a different sort of headache like a sinus headache. This may present with difficulty breathing, a fever, and aches and pains. If this is taken alongside the increasing pain of a migraine headache the effect may be not only severely painful but debilitating.
If allergens are the root cause of the sinus headache there might also be a later infection that the body will have to fight off. During this period there is a good chance that migraine headaches will be triggered by the weakened body and its heightened susceptibility to stress.
A change in the weather not only heralds the possibility of one migraine headache trigger, but it actually serves as the starting point for a host of such trigger events that may cause numerous migraine attacks. Unluckily, weather related triggers are unavoidable and even staying indoors has only a partial effect on the overall avoidance of a migraine trigger event.
As a result, it is wise to use a variety of preventive measures to avoid trigger events. Sometimes this involves the use of medication while at other times you might like to try holistic means of migraine trigger avoidance. These could include such things as stress relief, cardiovascular exercise, relaxation techniques, aromatherapy, biofeedback, massage therapy and also acupuncture or acupressure.
TheMigraineHeadacheCentre.com provides information and treatment advice for a variety of headaches including tension headaches, sinus headaches, cluster headaches, ocular migraines and migraine headaches.
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