7 Headache Triggers You Should Know About
I’m sharing #Advil in my life as part of an Advil® sponsored series for Socialstars™
Believe it or not, I went the first half of my life never experiencing a headache. I would often hear people talking about their headaches and remember asking them, what it felt like exactly to have one. As I have gotten older, that has surely changed, and now I have headaches almost every week.
As much as I like being part of the in-crowd, I have to admit that this is one I’d rather not be included. Headaches stomp your creativity, make you irritable, and just suck overall. It perplexes me that I went so long without experiencing a single headache, and now I get them frequently.What gives?
As it turns out, there are several self-sabotaging things you could be doing every day that can contribute to frequent headaches. Check out my list below of the possible culprits.
1. Your Work Environment
The work environment being a cause of headaches may be a no-brainer, but stress does lead to headaches. If you start stressing out at work, you may just trigger a headache, so take a deep breath and try to relax a little. Since stress increases muscle tension, it means pressure in your brain too.
2. Dehydration
Did you know that if you feel thirsty, you are already severely dehydrated? Not drinking enough water is an easy way to get a headache. Drink your eight glasses a day and quit fooling around! Or if that proves to be a bit taxing, I know it is for me, I just eat watermelon or other fruits to get more water in during the day and extra nutrients of course.
3. Skipping meals
Your brain needs food to function just as it needs water. If you skipped lunch, I am not surprised if you are feeling that headache right about… now. Even if you do not have time to take a full lunch, try to get a few healthy snacks in like almonds, fruit or greek yogurt.
4. Too much caffeine
I love my coffee in the morning! But if you have those after coffee jitters, chances are a headache could soon follow after. Watch your caffeine intake if headaches are a major problem. A little caffeine can actually help with headaches, but when you have too much, it can turn into a headache trigger. Crazy right? But its the world we live in I guess.
5. Inactivity
Not getting enough exercise can also lead to a massive headache. We have natural stress relievers in our body when we exercise, so it’s nice to get at least 20-30 minutes of cardio exercise in per day. That way we are preventing the headache, relieving stress and getting our endorphins going to make us feel even better.
6. Not enough sleep
Getting enough sleep is a tough one for me. If your sleep has been poor lately, you are also, you guessed it, more likely to get a headache. Getting enough sleep means you are giving your body and your brain adequate recovery time. And when your brain does not get enough recovery time, it starts kicking and screaming, aka your headache.
7. It’s Something You Ate
Your diet could also be causing you grief in regards to headaches. Here are a few foods that can cause headaches:
- Red wine
- beer
- MSG
- chocolate
- aged cheese
- sour kraut
- processed meats like pepperoni, ham, and salami to name a few
How to solve it?
Once I learned about these triggers above, I realized that I have been guilty of them all at one point or another. I will try to watch what I eat, get more sleep and drink enough water. But when my day gets ramped up, it’s hard to make sure I am doing everything I should be doing to prevent the headaches.
When a headache does come, however, I am glad to know that Advil film-coated is right in the medicine cabinet when I need to keep going. I have had some days where a headache could mean the difference between me having a productive day and a non-productive day.
The new Advil film-coated tablets go to work in minutes to stop pain before it gets worse. Fast acting Advil® Film-Coated tablets has a Rapid Release Formula that dissolves quickly and absorbs fast. In fact, nothing is proven to work faster.*
I have often felt the urge just to get in bed and let a headache pass when they get terrible. But thanks to Advil, I can keep on with my day, without an issue. Because nobody has time for that, amirite?!
It’s important to stay aware of what causes headaches but also important to know what to do when you get them. Because when they are bad, they can keep you off your game and hold you back from accomplishing your goals. Now that you know, make sure to get your own Advil® Film-Coated Tablets to be ready when your next headache comes your way.
*Among OTC pain relievers.
Sources:
11 surprising headache triggers
Headache and Stress
I totally get a headache if I’m dehydrated. I try to make sure to drink enough every day throughout the day. Advil always takes care of my headaches quickly!
I had no clue about some of these headache triggers … thanks for sharing!
This is so imformative! I definitely will keep an eye out for these!
i have gotten headache my whole entire life, and migraines. right now I find my headaches are always from lack of water and sleep. its awful.
I dont get headaches very often but when I do it’s a doozy. Mine are related to stress mostly and it doesnt happen often but if I go to long without eating, i definitely will get a headache.
Not enough sleep is definitely a trigger for my headaches. I also make sure I get enough to drink and I never skip meals!
This is helpful. I need to start thinking about the possible causes when I get headaches. I may not always be getting enough rest or water.
This is a good list, I’m guilty of a lot of these things. I’ve been working on them though and getting better. I’ve set a solid bed time so that I get a decent amount of rest. I need to not skip meals.
Very helpful. I did not even think about how dehydration affects my body. I will have to pay more attention to the factors that lead up to my headaches.
I know I don;t hydrate enough during the day so I know the majority of my headaches come from dehydration. Ugh.
Super helpful post! I get headaches a lot but all I drink is water – so it’s difficult. The chiro helps a lot though – and I think I have a mild food allergy, but not sure to what. Great post!
This is really great information regarding headache triggers. I get headaches a lot and really hate the caffeine w/d headaches.
I have heard about Advil before I need to see if I can get some here. Though I usually try changing my environment or drink water if I get headaches
I don’t get headaches as often as I used to. I had no idea that too much caffeine was a trigger – I always drink more to try and get rid of them.
I’ve experienced terrible headaches over the years so Advil is my friend. Being super hungry or super tired is the cause most of the time for me.
It is always crazy to me to think that too much caffeine can spark a headache but it’s true. I have experienced that first hand.
Not enough sleep and skipping meals are always the culprit for me. I never take anything other than Advil. It’s a life saver!
Nitrates and lack of sleep are common for me!
Definitely learned some new causes of headaches with this. I didn’t know some of the foods you eat could be the cause of headaches.
I get chronic migraines and wonder is that what causes my migraines
I also get headaches from the smell of gas fumes or sometimes when I’m ou TTY in the heat and can’t cool down.
Headaches are also caused by misaligned bones in the spine. A visit to my friendly chiropractor will sometimes relieve my headaches.
I experienced my first week long migraine in Oct of 2015. I’ve never in my life felt anything like it. I ended up going to emergency room twice that week. When I was starting to feel relief it seemed like advil helped to get me to feeling like me again.