(24-02-12) The Lifestyle Villains That Trigger Headaches

Dr. Mark Wiley
To many headache sufferers, headaches seem an inevitable part of life. In fact, you can take preventive measures to reduce your pain or completely escape it. But first you have to recognize what is bringing on those debilitating aches.
A Self-induced Problem
Millions of headaches strike Americans each and every year. As a matter of fact, hundreds of thousands of headaches pound inside the heads of people daily. Most of these episodes are completely preventable and are caused by the choices each headache sufferer makes. Yes, I am saying that we create, cause and trigger our own headaches. And because of that simple truth, you can stop doing what you are doing and prevent your headaches from ever coming back. That?s a fact.
Serious biological conditions that cause headaches, such as meningitis and tumors for example, are rare. Only about 12 percent of all headaches are caused by them, and those are confined to a very small proportion of people with those diseases. Headaches caused by physical trauma, such as a fall or impact, are not typical and also not thought of and treated in the general way other organic headaches are. So, if we remove serious disease and physical trauma from the headache equation, then we are left with 80 percent of headaches being self-induced.
Accountability
Headaches do not just appear out of thin air. We?d like to think they do, of course, because no one wants to be held accountable for their own pain. People who suffer chronic headaches (and I was one of them for more than 30 years), often feel like victims powerless and dependent on drugs and various therapies to lessen the suffering.
Rethink the situation this way: You can be considered cured of chronic headaches if you successfully preventthem from occurring. The cure is in the prevention, not in a response to the symptoms or in a therapy to reduce the symptoms. No amount of drugs or other therapies can ever cure your headaches because these measures are not designed to stop them from occurring.
To be sure, you are responsible for keeping headaches away. Only you can head them off by not doing the things that cause them in the first place.
Nasty Headache Triggers
The group of triggers that set off headaches consists of a range of lifestyle habits. If you can avoid the triggers, you can prevent the headaches.
A partial list of the main things known to trigger headaches (including migraines) includes:
? Oxygen Deprivation: Lack of oxygen sets off negative changes in blood and cells and the ability of the organs to fulfill their functions. This leads to headaches. Oftentimes, people do not get enough oxygen because of shallow breathing that results from stress or overeating (which presses the diaphragm and makes it difficult for the lungs to expand). At other times, a sinus condition or simply sleeping with your face in your pillow limits your oxygen supply.
? Chronic Dehydration. Dehydration means your body lacks the water it needs for optimal health. When that occurs, the liver and kidneys can?t process and remove toxic waste material properly and these problematic substances continue to circulate in the body. This causes inflammation and pain as well as tightness and detrimental changes in blood vessels. Headaches result. Simply drinking enough water throughout the day and avoiding diuretics (drinks and medications that cause you to lose water), is the key to staying adequately hydrated.
? Poor Food Choices. We need food to live; and if we only consumed live food like whole fruit, vegetables and whole grains, we would be healthier and less headache-prone. However, many foods are fermented, cured, preserved and altered in such a way that is unnatural for our bodies to break down and process, which causes headaches. These foods include wine, cheese (and other dairy products), lunch meats, sugar, coffee, soda and simple carbohydrates. This category includes any food that changes our body chemistry in a negative way (including trans fats, sugars, nitrates, sulfides, etc).
? Improper Exercise And Insufficient Rest. Exercise is essential to good heath because it introduces fresh oxygen to the lungs, works the muscles, moves the blood and releases feel-good hormones. However, too much exercise or overly strenuous physical activity takes a toll on the body. When you engage in repeated muscle contractions (playing tennis too hard, lifting very heavy weights, throwing a shot put), you experience a rise in blood pressure matched with the muscle contractions. That creates an environment ripe for tension headaches. Additionally, if you don?t rest enough, the body cannot repair, relax and attain a normal state of homeostasis. Too much sleep and not enough exercise are also headache triggers. Finding your right balance is essential.
? Somatic Imbalances. Imbalances occur from unevenly developed muscle groups and postural issues that can cause tension in the body and trigger headaches. Sports that promote one-sidedness, like golf and tennis, are key players in the headache equation. The body must be balanced. Swinging rackets and clubs with both arms equally is a key to distributing stability. While this does not happen during competition, make it a point to do an equal amount of swings from both sides in practice for health reasons, even if symmetrical exercise doesn?t seem to advance your skills. Sitting or sleeping hunched or crooked also leads to imbalances in the spine, hips and shoulders that cause headaches. Being mindful of posture and body development can help.
? Stress And Thought Patterns. Psychological stress and the way in which we think about ourselves, our health and our issues in life are hidden headache triggers. Stress wreaks havoc on the body in all of its functions. Without reducing and controlling stress, you can?t hope to prevent headaches. Maintaining thoughts like ?this will never work,? ?no one can help my headaches? or ?I?ve tried everything and nothing works for me? relegates you to an inescapable cycle of pain. Using methods to reduce stress, reframing the way you see the world and altering how you relate to your headaches can promote your efforts at preventing them.
In my report next week, I?ll detail how to identify which of these are your most important triggers and how to curb or eliminate them.

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