Headaches and Migraines :

Thousands of times a day, nerves from all over the body feed messages to the central nervous system  your brain and spinal cord and the brain gets busy sorting them out and triggering the correct responses. But while all this is going on, the muscles in your neck can tighten up and cause headaches. An amazing 80 per cent of the headaches we see our doctor about are caused by tension, or by migraines.

Tension Headaches

Tension headaches, which feel like a heavy weight on your head or a tight band constricting it, are largely caused by stress.  Physical stress can, for example, take the form of driving a car with your head held in the same position for a long time, or sitting at a word processor or computer for long hours without a break. Of course, there are lots of other headache triggers, a smoky, stuffy atmosphere, cold weather, over indulgence, too much sleep, eyestrain, not eating regularly or enough, even sex.

Many women worry that their headache is a sign of something more serious.  This is unlikely and you really only need to see your doctor if the pain in persistent, frequent, or very severe or is accompanied by numbness or dizziness.

Most headache sufferers turn initially to painkillers, and nowadays there are some brilliant ones about.  They work by decreasing the production of prostaglandins, natural body chemicals which both sensitise nerves so they feel pain, and encourage fluid to leak from the tiny blood vessels causing inflammation and tenderness. But it has been discovered that headache sufferers taking more than 14 pain killers a week can suffer an increase in headaches.

Is it a headache or is it migraine?

It can sometimes be difficult to know whether what you are suffering is a headache or a migraine.  'Cluster' headaches, which occur on and off over six to twelve weeks, are often confused with migraine.  In fact, in cluster headaches the pain lasts from 30 minutes to 3-4 hours, whereas migraine attacks tend to last longer, usually from 4 to 48 hours. People with cluster headaches tend to pace around, whereas those with migraine prefer to lie down or sleep. Migraine comes in two characteristic types. The first sort is preceded by a visual disturbance 'aura' such as seeing dazzling lights.  This is known as migraine with aura. Attacks tend to occur less often and last for a shorter time than those without aura, which can last up to three days. But in both types of migraine the headache is accompanied by nausea and vomiting, and intense sensitivity to light and noise.  The migraine headache itself is pulsating, and often one-sided, and is aggravated by movement.

Foods and head pains

Many cases of migraine and some types of headache are food related ie either food allergy or food intolerance.  The UK's Migraine Trust lists a number of common triggers which include:

• Alcohol with red wine in particular
• Cheese, especially blue cheese and other dairy products
• Citrus fruit
• Chocolate
• Caffeine in tea, coffee and cola drinks

Another factor is of course hormonal fluctuations. 
Many women experience temporary remission of cyclical migraines when they are pregnant or after the menopause.  And the Pill may trigger attacks, although in some women it alleviates them.

Migraines

Migraine in particular, but also many types of headache, are usually the result of a combination of factors and it is much better to get to the root of the pain by working out what triggers it: adjust your seating at work, don't overdo the coffee, avoid crash diets, don't miss breakfast and eat little and often rather than one large meal a day.

Don't spend all day cooped up in a stuffy office or centrally heated house get some fresh air.  And try to reduce your stress level. If you're a migraine sufferer try to work out what triggers an attack by keeping a note of what you eat. 

Page information on headaches, food intolerance and migraines.