Wellness Tips… HEADACHES
Headaches
Basics
"I'm very brave generally ... only today I happen to have a headache."
– Lewis Carroll
It sounds so tame, the word "headache." Yet whether you get one rarely or suffer excruciating migraines far too frequently,
headaches can disrupt your life, interfering with your productivity or wrecking the first chance you've had in weeks to spend
real time with your kids.
Technically, a headache is just that: a pain in your head. But that pain can turn up in several places: behind your eyes, across
your cheeks, at your temples, across the top of your head - you name it. These centers of pain can also move or expand to
include other areas. And the pain takes many forms:
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Pounding
Throbbing
Pressure, mild to intense
Tightness
Stabbing
Headache pain is usually caused by one of these physiological factors:
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Tightening or overcontraction of the muscles of your head, scalp, face, jaw or neck
Changes in the blood vessels of your head, scalp, face, jaw or neck
Changes in the fluid pressure within your skull
Chemical changes such as blood sugar fluctuations, hormonal shifts or allergic reactions, especially those due to food
allergy
Spinal problems, pinched nerves or other adverse changes to the way your nervous system functions
Restrictions in the movements of the skull bones, including the jaw bone (yes, the bones of your skull do move)
Pills may reduce or eliminate your pain, but they can't address the cause of it. Furthermore, if you take too much medication,
you might be worsening your problem, since overmedicating can sometimes result in additional headaches. However, we can
suggest a whole range of behavioral changes that can help you remedy many of the underlying conditions that cause your pain.
Key Tips
Key Tip 1
According to recent studies, headaches interfere with normal life functioning to a greater extent than almost any other chronic
condition, including diabetes, arthritis, depression and back problems. As many as 50 million Americans suffer from frequent,
debilitating headaches.
Key Tip 2
About five percent of the time, a headache is a symptom of a far more serious medical condition. If you suffer from headaches
on a regular basis, see your physician to be sure you can rule out the possibility of glaucoma, head trauma, aneurysm or other
serious illnesses. You might also want to check to see if any medications you're taking (such as birth control pills) might be
causing your headaches.
© 2005 Magellan Health Services, Inc.
Doc#1178—110405
Wellness Tips… HEADACHES
Key Tip 3
Your attitude about yourself and your chances of alleviating your headaches can make a big difference. If you maintain a
positive attitude, you'll find that prevention and coping strategies (such as relaxation and lifestyle modification) can be very
effective tools for managing your headaches.
Specifics
Types of Headaches
Several types of headache result from one or more of the six causes we listed under Basics. You're probably familiar with two
of them: tension headaches, also known as muscle contraction headaches, and migraine headaches, which are actually a
type of vascular headache.
Muscle contraction or tension headaches account for nearly 90 percent of the headache pain that people experience. As the
name indicates, contracted muscles cause the pain of this type of headache.
Vascular headaches seem to be triggered by changes in the blood vessels in the head. The two most common types are
migraine and cluster headaches.
Migraines are caused by a rapid widening and narrowing of blood vessel walls in the brain and head. They occur in about 15
percent of the U.S. population, about four out of five of them women. Heredity seems to play a role in determining who gets
them, but each migraine can be brought on by many factors, including what you eat. Migraines are often accompanied by
nausea, double vision and other symptoms.
Cluster headaches are the most painful of all headaches. They attack less then one percent of the population, more than 80
percent of them men. A cluster headache is usually one-sided and occurs in episodes of 30 to 90 minutes of intense, stabbing
pain. Cluster headaches produce a runny or stuffed nose and a reddened, teary eye or eyelid droop on the side of the head
where the pain is.
Ice pick headaches seem to penetrate various parts of your head with brief, sharp jabs and jolts of pain. Such headaches may
recur frequently or rarely. Contact your physician for help with this type of headache.
Sinus headaches create feelings of pressure and a throbbing around the eyes, forehead, temples and cheekbones when
sinuses get blocked by fluid.
If your mouth and jaw feel tender when your head aches, you may be suffering from TMJ (temporomandibular joint)
syndrome. The temporomandibular joint joins your jaw to your skull, and can produce pain from causes as varied as clenched
jaws or a blow to your jaw. Other symptoms of TMJ can include clicking and popping noises when opening or closing your
mouth, inability to open your mouth wide or pain when doing so, and pain radiating from your jaw and neck. See your
physician or dentist for relief.
Eyestrain headaches are usually caused by contraction of the muscles around the eyes. Frequent squinting to see better can
cause this type of headache. Schedule an eye examination and wear corrective lenses to avoid eyestrain headaches.
Relieving Headaches
You can do much more than just take medication to prevent headaches, decrease their frequency and reduce their pain. If you
take the time to examine your environment, you may be able to eliminate certain possible triggers that commonly cause
headaches. To be safe, you can do some or all of the following:
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Keep smokers out of your house
Avoid using chemical cleaners that may cause an allergic reaction
Determine whether makeup or personal hygiene products cause allergic reactions in you
© 2005 Magellan Health Services, Inc.
Doc#1178—110405
Wellness Tips… HEADACHES
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Improve lighting in your home and work area to prevent eyestrain (for migraine sufferers, bright or flickering lights may
be a trigger)
Make sure that your TV isn't at a bad angle or too far away
Consider putting a screen on your computer to decrease glare
Along with environment, your diet can make you more or less subject to headaches. So think carefully about what you eat and
drink. This includes alcohol; beer and wine often cause headaches. Through the process of elimination, you can figure out
exactly what to avoid. You might also want to enlist the help of a professional dietitian to determine if food allergies are part
of your problem.
Eating a well-balanced diet, low in fat and high in complex carbohydrates, will put you in better condition to stave off or
minimize your headaches. Vitamin and mineral supplements might also help.
Good posture can help you avoid headaches, too. Without straining the muscles in your neck, keep your chin up and your
head back. Don't let your head jut forward. You should also keep your gut tucked so that your back doesn't get too curved.
Avoid repetitive body motions. If your job requires you to perform repetitive motions, switch sides or change position every
so often. Stretching every hour or so will help you relax tensed muscles and avoid muscle strain.
Make sure that you get adequate sleep in a comfortable position. Above all, be sure you don't sleep with your neck at an
uncomfortable angle.
Headache Prevention Techniques
Even the simplest of relaxation techniques can provide fast and effective relief from headache pain. In addition, several
types of relaxation exercises have been shown to be very effective for specific types of headaches, including migraine.
Exercise can reduce the effects of stress on your body, and stress often leads to headaches.
Massage benefits both your mind and your body. You feel more relaxed, which helps reduce stress. Physically, massage
improves blood circulation and stimulates the production of red blood cells, which help your body eliminate toxins that may
produce headaches.
Acupuncture has alleviated or eliminated pain for millions of people. Sufferers of severe headaches often find relief from this
ancient therapy.
FAQs
How can you tell the difference between a severe tension headache and a migraine?
Migraines usually involve other parts of the body besides the head. In addition to headache, migraine sufferers may also
experience nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, chills, sore muscles, sensitivity to light or an increased need to urinate.
I have migraine headaches. I seem to get them a lot on Sundays, when we have a big, old-fashioned breakfast at our
house. Is there a connection?
Probably. Migraine headaches can be triggered by certain foods as well as certain environmental factors. Sunday morning
bacon and sausage may well be your culprits, but food triggers for migraine also include:
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Cheeses
Alcohol (particularly beer and wine)
Foods containing yeast
© 2005 Magellan Health Services, Inc.
Doc#1178—110405
Wellness Tips… HEADACHES
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Pork, game and organ meats
Chocolate
Citrus fruits, figs
Cream, sour cream, yogurt
Herring, caviar, smoked fish
Vinegar
Flavor enhancers and MSG (monosodium glutamate)
Food is not the only culprit in triggering migraines. Non-food migraine triggers include:
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Phase of menstrual cycle
Weather, especially when the barometric pressure changes
Temperature or air-conditioning
Humidity
High altitudes
Bright or flickering light
Sleep changes
Diet
Travel
Holidays
Strong emotions
What causes a hangover?
Alcohol has a diuretic effect on your body. The more alcohol you drink, the more fluid your body loses. The thickened blood
that results leads to pain when it makes its way through the small blood vessels in your brain. If your drinks have been mixed
with fruit juice or flavored soda, you'll be even more dehydrated, and feel even worse. To avoid a hangover, drink lots of water
before you go to bed and again the next morning.
Resources
Agencies
American Council for Headache Education (ACHE)
19 Mantua Road
Mt. Royal, NJ 08061
(800) 255-ACHE (2243)
www.achenet.org
National Headache Foundation
428 W. St. James Place
Chicago, IL 60614
(800) 843-2256
www.headaches.org
© 2005 Magellan Health Services, Inc.
Doc#1178—110405
Wellness Tips… HEADACHES
Books
Elkind, Arthur, M.D., Migraines: Everything You Need to Know About Their Cause and Cure. Avon, 1997.
Rapoport, Alan M., M.D., and Fred Sheftell, M.D., Headache Relief for Women: How You Can Manage and Prevent Pain,
Vol. 1. Little Brown, 1996.
Rapoport, Alan M., and Fred Sheftell, Headache Relief: A Comprehensive, Up-to-Date, Medically Proven Program That Can
Control and Ease Headache Pain. Fireside, 1991.
Resources Are Available
Additional information, self-help tools and other resources are available online at www.MagellanHealth.com. Or call us at
1.800.424.4149 for more information, help and support. Counselors are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide
confidential assistance at no cost to you.
© 2005 Magellan Health Services, Inc.
Doc#1178—110405