Could Staying at Home Cause Headaches?
Recently at the start of my virtual naturopathic appointments, I have been giving my patients space to voice their concerns around COVID and the challenges of staying healthy while being trapped inside. One common concern that has come up besides weight gain, anxiety and insomnia, is headaches. For some of these patients, headaches were never a concern before but now in the past few weeks they seem to be plagued by them. While others with migraines, have noticed an increase in the intensity and frequency of their migraine episodes. Stress is definitely a big factor contributing to this recent uptick in headaches that we may have been experiencing. However there is an inescapable truth that being inside all day at home could actually be causing our headaches. Here are three big factors that could be increasing our headaches when we are spending so much more time at home and what we can be doing instead to avoid them.
Indoor Air Quality
Most of us are now spending almost 100% of our time indoors. One of the scariest realities is that the air quality of our homes could actually be more toxic than the air we breath outside. If our homes are air sealed tight, this can be even worse. Though not having air leaks makes our homes more energy efficient, keeping our utility bills down, it can cause toxicity of the air to increase. What are the main toxins in our homes that could literally be giving us a headache? Toxic emissions build up from things that we use on a daily basis like stoves, cleaning products, disinfectants, deodorizers and even scented candles. Strong smells that we breath in actually irritate our trigeminal nerve which sends a signal from our nose to our brain triggering a headache. To prevent these toxins from accumulating, we want to make sure air is circulating in and out of our homes. If we have an HVAC in our home or apartment building, we want to make sure that they are properly maintained as filters can easily be clogged and need to be replaced regularly. Probably the easiest and economical way of improving air quality is simply opening our windows. Other environmental triggers of headaches are mold and dust especially dust mites. Both thrive in damp environments so we want to make sure our air is dry by using a dehumidifier. Also to keep dust mites at bay, we should launder our bedding weekly in hot water, and use microfiber allergen-blocking encasements over our pillows, mattress, and box spring. If we have been finding that we are getting cluster headaches, low oxygen levels could be to blame. Every time we breath, we take in oxygen and expel out carbon dioxide (CO2). Homes with poor ventilation can cause the carbon dioxide we breath out to build up. As carbon dioxide increases oxygen decreases, we get headaches and our breathing can be affected as well. This is why again it is especially important to keep our windows at least slightly open particularly at night when we are sleeping. Lastly if we are able to, we should try to get outside for fresh air most days for 30-60 minutes. To be safe, we can choose areas that don’t get a lot of foot traffic or spend time in our back yards or roof tops.
Too Much Alcohol
Just before Hurricane Sandy ravaged New York City in 2012, a line wrapped around the block of not regular Trader Joe’s but its wine store in Union Square. This time seems to be no exception as when a crisis hits many people turn to alcohol to escape boredom or reduce anxiety. Bulk booze buying might seem like the perfect lockdown survival tactic but all the wine, beer and hard liquor can come at a price; headaches. First of all, alcohol dehydrates us causing headaches. It is also a major disruptor of sleep by both negatively impacting deeper stages of sleep 3 and 4 responsible for muscle and memory repair and increasing cortisol, which can make falling asleep difficult or cause us to wake in the middle of night. If we don’t sleep well, we are more prone to headaches the next day. That is just the alcohol aspect now let’s look at wine especially red wine. Despite its health virtues, red wine could be the worse for headches as it is high in tannins. Research has shown that tannins trigger changes in serotonin levels, which can lead to headaches. Similar type serotonin changes are responsible for both migraines and heads that some women experience with PMS. In addition, tannins increase the release of prostaglandins, inflammatory compounds, which have been shown to induce headaches. Red wine is high also in histamines and tyramine which can easily trigger headaches especially in migraine sufferers. If we don’t want to put a cork in the bottle, we will need to stay hydrated by having a glass of water for every glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage. We might also consider switching to white wine which has less tannins since the skins are removed during the fermentation process. Overall responsible moderation is the key. It is best to stick with no more than 1-2 glasses no more than 3 times a week. Because alcohol’s impact on sleep, it is best to avoid 3 hours before bed time.
Excessive screen time
Before our whole world changed, we were probably very mindful of screen time or at least our children’s. Now we are spending so much more time on our smartphones, tablets and computers as all the things we use to do in-person have converted to virtual applications like Zoom. Though this is a great way to stay connected, prevent isolation and maintain a feeling of normalcy, it could be contributing to more frequent headaches. The biggest culprit is eyestrain. When we are looking at our screens, our eyes actually want to relax at a point that is typically farther away from the screen. This point is call the resting point of accommodation (RPA). The problem is to see what’s actually on the screen, our brain has to direct our eye muscles to constantly readjust focus between the RPA and the front of the screen. This struggle leads to eyestrain and eye fatigue triggering a headache. To prevent this strain, it is important to follow the 20/20/20 rule. For every 20 minutes our eye is on the screen, we need to look into the distance (about 20 feet) for 20 seconds. An even better strategy is letting our eyes rest completely for 15 minutes after two of continuous screen time. Another way screen time can lead to headaches is posture. Many of us are spending hours hunched over with our chin pulled into our chest to watch a video on our tablet or participate in video conference with friends. This over-articulation in the cervical spine, leading to a whole host of problems; herniated disks, pinched nerves, migraines, and back pain. Instead of hunching, we should keep our devices at eye level or if we need to look down we can drop our eyes rather than our heads. Moreover there are strategies we can put in place to increase our time off line such as reading paper versions of articles and books. Yes its fun to FaceTime or video chat on WhatsApp with friends and family by why not chat on the phone with a headset? Finally we can open our ears and give our eyes a rest by listening to podcasts and audio books..
Struggling with PMS and migraines? Then schedule a naturopathic appointment with Dr Ivy.