menstrual-related headaches with a prescription triptan, such as Frova. Your doctor may recommend taking triptans either a couple of days before your period starts or continuously during your period, depending on the severity and frequency of your migraines.
A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory, such as ibuprofen, taken every day for the five to seven days around your period may also help reduce headache frequency. Experts used to believe that the birth control pill made migraines worse, but they’ve since concluded that the higher estrogen content of oral contraceptives a decade ago may have been to blame. Today’s pill may actually help. Research shows that when female migraine sufferers take the pill, about one-third report an improvement in symptoms, one-third a worsening, and the other third no change.
If you’re already on the pill, ask your doctor about taking it every day of the month (i.e., skipping the placebo pills and starting a new pack immediately) to keep estrogen levels steady. A recent study published in the journal Headache found that women who used a continuous method had less severe headaches than those who stuck to the traditional 28-day pill cycle.
4. Built-up anger.
Bottling up your feelings won’t do anyone—especially you—any favors. In fact, according to a study at Saint Louis University, this is the biggest emotional cause of headaches, even more so than depression or anxiety.
When you’re angry, all your muscles tense up, including those in the back of your neck and scalp. The prolonged contraction of the head and neck muscles causes a tight band-like sensation around your head, which is a classic sign of a tension headache.
What To Do:
The next time that you’re silently simmering, take in a larger than normal breath; hold it for three to five seconds while pressing together the thumb and index finger on one of your hands, suggests Elkin. Then exhale slowly through parted lips, until all the air has been drained from your lungs. Repeat two or three times. This soothing move stops you from tensing your neck and shoulder muscles, which has been shown to bring on a headache.
After you’ve cooled down, ask yourself how important the immediate issue is to you. Will you remember it in two months? Two days? The answer will help put the problem in perspective. “If you tell yourself to let it go for now, chances are even an hour later you’ll be able to deal with it better,” says Elkin. “Otherwise, you’ll just hold on to the anger all day and tense up even more.”
If you already feel a headache coming on, wrap a hot compress or a heating pad around your neck for a few minutes, making sure that it hits the base of your skull. This will relax your sternocleidomastoid muscles, which are key in tension headaches, says Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D., medical director of the Fibromyalgia & Fatigue Centers, which have clinics throughout the United States.
5. Your lunch.
A turkey sandwich with a slice of cheddar, a diet soda, and a small piece of dark chocolate may make for a waistline- friendly meal, but for headache sufferers, it’s a decidedly unhealthy combo. All these foods contain chemicals with the potential to trigger migraines. (Cheddar, as well as other aged cheeses, like Brie and Stilton, contains tyramine, while chocolate has theobromine and phenylethylamine.) In diet sodas, the culprit is the sweetener aspartame. In a study of migraine sufferers conducted at the Montefiore Medical Center Headache Unit in the Bronx, New York, a little more than 8 percent of patients linked their head pain to aspartame. While researchers aren’t exactly sure why this chemical causes pain, one theory is that it alters neurotransmitter levels.
What To Do:
Keeping a food diary can be helpful in identifying potential headache triggers. Once you suspect a food may be to blame, try eliminating it from your diet and see whether it alleviates your symptoms. But be sure to eat regularly.
6. Your co-worker’s fragrance.
Even if you think it smells nice, just a little whiff can bring on head-splitting pain. In one study from the Headache Center of Atlanta, almost 50 percent of migraine sufferers attributed strong scents, such as perfume or household cleaners, to an attack. Odors reach the center of your brain via direct nerve pathways from your nose. For scent-sensitive individuals, this causes a cascade of neurotransmitters that can initiate a migraine.
What To Do:
Unfortunately, many scents are difficult to avoid. You can’t live in a bubble.No matter how hard you try to stay away from strong smells, you’ll still end up in an elevator next to someone wearing heavy cologne. But there are a few ways to keep odors at bay. First, try to keep your home and work spaces as ventilated as possible. Also, in your own home, use fragrance-free cleaning supplies, such as EnviroRite, and keep all doors and windows open.
If these strategies don’t work, combat one odor with another. A German study found that applying a drop of peppermint oil to the forehead was as effective as OTC acetaminophen in relieving some headaches.