Many people have headaches. Those who never have headaches cannot even imagine how debilitating they can be.
In today’s quick fix medical environment, many never actually find out the real underlying cause of their headaches. Too often, a medication is prescribed for the symptoms and the actual cause is ignored. Even though the medication might help, wouldn’t it be better to find the cause? If you know the cause, you might be able to change something and stop the headaches altogether.
A new onset headache can be a sign of something serious and deserves a full medical evaluation. Most people I see have been dealing with headaches for years though. Yet no one has tried to understand the actual cause.
For women, hormone imbalances may precipitate a headache. Often this occurs in the premenstrual time period. Doing a month long saliva hormone test can often help determine if a hormone imbalance is the actual cause. Then the hormones can be balanced with just the right amount of bio-identical hormone replacement.
Another cause of headaches is untreated or undertreated Hypothyroidism. If you have been diagnosed with Hypothyroidism but your headache symptoms have not resolved, the treatment may need adjusting. If you have not been diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, but have symptoms of headache, fatigue, weight gain, depression or hair loss, you might have undiagnosed Hypothyroidism. If the doctor uses only the TSH to test for thyroid problems the correct diagnosis can be missed.
High blood pressure is another cause of headaches. Be sure your blood pressure is in the normal range, usually lower than 120/90. If it is not, treating the blood pressure could resolve the headaches.
Living in the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex, we are exposed to a lot of allergens throughout most of the year. Allergies to things in the air, such as trees, weeds, grass, dust, dust mites and mold, can certainly cause headaches. The foods we eat can also be a problem. There can be food sensitivities and allergies but some foods cause headaches due to what they are made of. The foods most likely to cause headaches are wine and other forms of alcohol, especially red wine, processed meats, aged cheese, milk, sugar, MSG and artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame.
Eating too much sugar or other refined carbohydrates can place you in a state of hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. The physiological reaction to this is for the body to release the chemical, adrenaline. This too, can cause headaches.
Dehydration is another underlying cause of headaches. If you are a headache sufferer, it is important to drink an adequate amount of water each day. When the body does not have enough water, the blood vessels dilate in an attempt to get the fluids to the entire body. This can increase the risk of getting a headache.
There are nutrients deficiencies that can increase the risk of headaches as well. The most significant of these is magnesium. Giving a magnesium injection can often stop a migraine instantly. The injection pushes the magnesium into the cell where it can be used. Taking oral magnesium may also work.
One of the hardest headaches to treat is the “Barometric Pressure” headache. This is the headache that occurs with weather changes, when a big weather front is coming in. Since we can’t change the weather, it is important that all the other underlying causes of headaches are successfully treated to reduce the overall effects of weather changes.
To hear more on this topic from this author, click the link to listen to their interview on Plaid for Women Radio.
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