Causes of Headaches in College Students

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Many people experience headaches, often due to triggers related to their age, gender, health and overall lifestyle. College students are no different. In fact, these young and seemingly healthy individuals often lead lifestyles that put them at a very high risk for headaches.

Nearly all headaches experienced by college students are tension-type headaches. A tension-type headache causes non-throbbing, frequently bilateral pain. The underlying cause of a tension-type headache is likely due to chemical and neuronal imbalances in the brain and may be related to muscle tightening in the back of the neck and/or scalp.

It is no surprise that tension-type headaches present themselves so frequently in the college population. Students spend much of their time in straining positions, whether it be sitting in uncomfortable lecture hall seats or hunching over tables trying to catch up on reading assignments.

Moreover, college students are no strangers to the other common triggers of tension-type headaches, including temporary stress, fatigue and anxiety. From cramming for finals to worrying over grad school applications, from late night parties to early morning hangovers, from straining to read endless pages of small-print textbooks to staring at a computer screen for hours a time, college students need to know how to avoid the headaches that can easily occur as a result of their lifestyle.

The National Headache Foundation (NHF) has prepared a list of tips for the collegians out there to make it through the best four (or more) years of their life with fewer headaches:

• Studying for long periods of time can cause eyestrain. Take frequent breaks to give your eyes a rest!
• Invest in an ergonomic chair. Uncomfortable seating can cause neck and back pain that may lead to tension-type headaches.
• When it comes to alcohol, always drink in moderation, and with plenty of water in between drinks, to avoid hangover headaches in the morning. If hangovers do occur, treat with hydration and foods high in fructose (tomato juice, honey).
• If you are trying to stay awake to study, drink coffee only in moderation. Caffeine withdrawal can be a common source of headache for avid coffee drinkers.
• Though college students don’t always operate on a regular schedule, try not to vary your meal and sleep schedules too much. Irregular sleep cycles and missing or delaying meals can both trigger headaches.
• Practice relaxation and biofeedback techniques to help relieve the daily stress and anxiety of college life.

Taking these precautions may help avoid headaches. To understand more about how to get relief, visit www.headaches.org.

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Tags: anxiety, Caffeine, college, eyestrain, fatigue, food, hangovers, Headaches, health, irregular sleep, lifestyle, missing meals, muscle tightening, neck, scalp, Stress, students, tension-type, Triggers
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Monitor Sleep, Relieve Headache

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

Sleep is a fickle factor when it comes to headaches. While too much or too little sleep can often spark a migraine, napping can sometimes relieve unbearable head pain.

How should you manage your sleep patterns in order to control your headaches? Here are some examples of sleep induced headaches that can possibly be prevented with a few simple adjustments.

Situation #1: “I only get headaches on the weekend!”

Oversleeping can cause headache. This is experience is known as “weekend headache” and can be prevented. You should try to maintain a regular sleep pattern and attempt wake up and go to bed at the same time on the weekend as you do during the week.

Situation #2: “When I’m exhausted, my head hurts!

Make sure you get a full night of sleep (7-9 hours). Fatigue is a common migraine trigger.

Situation #3: “When I skip my morning cup of coffee, I develop a headache!”

One of the factors contributing to “weekend” or “holiday” headaches may be caffeine withdrawal. If you normally consume large amounts of caffeine-containing substances during the week, a withdrawal or “rebound” headache may occur on weekends if you skip the coffee or tea. The headache may persist until you consume caffeine. You should try to gradually withdraw from caffeine use over a period of time in order to reduce the “withdrawal” headache.

Just as headache treatment varies from person to person, so does the influence of sleep, headache experts conclude.

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Tags: Caffeine, coffee, exhausted, head hurts, headache, Headaches, holiday, migraine, sleep, tea, Trigger, weekend
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Does caffeine trigger or treat headaches?

Friday, July 24th, 2009

 To help monitor caffeine intake, the NHF provides you with a chart that supplies the caffeine content for several foods and beverages.   

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Tags: beverage, Caffeine, headache, Headaches, migraine, OTC, pain relievers, rebound, treat, Trigger
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Prevention and Treatment for Hangover Headaches

Friday, June 26th, 2009

According to the National Headache Foundation’s survey statistics, an overwhelming 92% of the population has experienced a hangover headache at some point in their lives.

Beer, wine, and liquor are all made of ethanol, or a chemical more commonly known as alcohol. Alcohol has been found to trigger headaches in several ways.  It is a direct vasodilator and in some individuals vasodilatation, or enlargement of the blood vessels by a nerve or drug, may cause a headache. Alcohol is also a natural diuretic: it leads to the excretion of salt, vitamins, and minerals from the body through the kidneys. When consumed in excess, alcohol can cause dehydration or chemical imbalances in the body which can both trigger headache.

In addition to ethanol, alcoholic beverages contain other chemicals called congeners that create the specific flavors of each drink.  These chemicals can often trigger headaches, alter chemicals in the body, and induce the hangover effect if consumed in excess.

The National Headache Foundation provides the following useful information for the prevention of hangover headaches:

• Drink alcohol in moderation: sip your drink slowly!
• Drink mixed drinks containing fruit or vegetable juices. Fructose, the naturally occurring sugar from fruits, helps return portions of the body’s chemical balance back to normal following alcohol consumption.
• Alternate between alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages to minimize alcohol consumption. For example, order a glass of water with your glass of wine at the dinner table.
• Eat two tablespoons of honey prior to drinking: honey also supplies fructose and is rich in vitamin B6, which can reduce hangover symptoms.
• Eat greasy food before drinking alcohol. Greasy foods help line the intestines which causes alcohol absorption to take longer.

And to relieve hangover headaches, the NHF gives the following advice:

• Drink tomato juice. It’s another good source of fructose and it helps the body process alcohol faster.
• Consume fluids and foods that contain minerals and salts. Liquids rich in minerals and salts such as bouillon offer relief from the dehydration caused by alcohol consumption.
• Drink sports drinks to replenish your body’s fluids.
• Drink coffee as soon as you wake up: Caffeine may provide some relief in alleviating the headache symptoms and decreasing the duration of pain. Caffeine acts as a vasoconstrictor and eases the dilated blood vessels.
• Take ibuprofen: it is gentler on the stomach than aspirin and provides pain relief.

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Tags: Caffeine, Cause, Hangover, headache, Kidney, Trigger, Wine
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