One of the most effective migraine treatments is preventing the attack from starting in the first place. Recognizing your migraine triggers is a great start. One great way to identify those triggers is by keeping a migraine diary. People are usually quick to recognize things like stress, hormones, or weather change as a precursor to headaches, but take a look at these less obvious migraine triggers.
- Too much sleep- Too little sleep is often the focus, but getting more than the optimal amount of shuteye, like when sleeping in on the weekends, can also trigger a migraine.
- Heavy exercise- Notice more headaches after your workout? You’re not the only one. A large percentage of patients also report migraines after an intense workout. Dehydration may also play a role for these headaches.
- Light- Many migraineurs experience light sensitivity during a migraine attack, but most people don’t realize that bright lights can actually trigger their migraines. This is especially true for those whose migraines are a result of head injury and those individuals with a hyper-reactive visual system, which includes not only sensitivity to light, but also to other visual stimuli like computer screens, high contrast patterns, and black print on white pages.
Knowing what triggers your migraines is an important step to keeping you pain free. Be sure to discuss your headache diary with your health care provider, and check the NSR-M Migraine Toolkit for information on migraine relief.