Saturday 12th October
1. Hydrate and Hydrate Properly By Drinking More Water
Staying hydrated and making sure we are drinking enough water is vital for our body. The human body is composed of 60-70% water. Water is the foundation to every function in our body, it is involved in regulating our body temperature, transportation within the body, breaking down foods so we can use them to give us energy, brain function and so much more! Every cell, organ and tissue needs water to exist.
Make sure you are topped up with lots of water – little and often – ideally 2 litres a day.
2. Sign Up For Yoga
Yoga uses movement and meditation while focusing on your breathing and good body posture. All these things positively add up and do really help!
3. Reset Your Sleep Schedule
Sleep is fundamental and a biological necessity. Sleep detriments can often be the cause or an aggravating factor to initiating or triggering migraines or headaches.
Maybe take a 30-minute power nap, but regularly try to get an early night, and make your wake up time the same even on days off or weekends. Studies have suggested that the optimal amount of adult sleep is 7-9 hours. Start to prioritise getting enough quality sleep and it will do more than just make you feel less tired!
4. Stretch!
When we have pain in our head or neck, the muscles can tighten up as they try to protect movement in the area. To stretch some of the big muscles in your neck and upper back that attach onto your skull, try sitting forward into the edge of your chair, so that there is some space between your back and the back of your chair. Hold onto the side of the chair with your left hand and bring your right hand over to the base of your skull on the left side, and gently stretch your neck over to the right, assisting this with a gentle pull with the right hand. Hold here for 30 seconds and repeat on the other side. Remember to relax the shoulders too.
5. Avoid Food Triggers
Some people know exactly what causes their migraine or headache, and sometimes a certain food can be that trigger. Not everyone’s migraine or headache has a consumable trigger, but if you aren’t currently aware of a food triggering your migraine or headache, it is worth thinking about.
Here are some food triggers which people find have links to their migraine or headache:
Foods with nitrates (including hotdogs, deli meats, bacon, and sausage), chocolate, cheese that contains the naturally occurring compound tyramine (such as blue, feta, cheddar, Parmesan, and Swiss), alcohol (especially red wine), foods that contain monosodium glutamate (MSG) (a flavour enhancer), foods that are very cold such as ice cream or iced drinks, processed foods, pickled foods, beans, dried fruits, or cultured dairy products (such as buttermilk, sour cream, and yogurt).
