Waking Up With Headaches

Almost all of us have experienced a headache, at least once in our lifetimes. It can be defined as any kind of pain, discomfort or heaviness which a person experiences in either of the head, scalp or the neck area. Most of the headaches are pretty much harmless and there is nothing to worry about their occurrence, unless and until they become so severe that they start interfering with your daily activities. For example, if you are unable to sleep due to this or wake up every morning with a headache, then it's time you identify the causes behind these and take some remedial measures to get rid of them. Below is some information on the causes as well as treatment, which you will definitely find useful.

Causes

• If you are waking up with headache every morning, the reason could be a bad sleeping posture, i.e. may be you have not taken an appropriate pillow and are straining your head as well as neck muscles.
• A person who is dehydrated is also more prone to wake up with a headache, the next morning.
• Holding the urine for a long time, and not relieving oneself in the night can result in a person waking up with a headache in the morning.
• If a person has had alcohol in excess the previous night, it can lead to a hangover and can even make a person wake up with headache in the middle of the night.
• Intake of caffeine in excess is another reason for this.
• A person who is suffering from stress or depression, may find himself waking up with a headache every day. Migraine, a type of tension headache, often has people waking up with a headache and nausea in the morning.
• It can also be caused if a person clenches or grinds his teeth while sleeping. Clenching the teeth in sleep can make the muscles of the cheek as well as the neck very tense, resulting in a headache.
• Headaches during pregnancy, is quite normal as it is one of the symptoms of morning sickness which is experienced by majority of women in this condition.

Treatment

To get rid of headaches, a person can take over the counter painkillers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen. If it is due to migraine, then taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or prescription medications that are specifically meant for people suffering from migraine, will help. However, these medications are only a temporary solution, i.e. they can only minimize the pain, there is nothing that they can do to get rid of the headaches completely or prevent their future occurrence. Moreover, if pain medication are taken very frequently, they can even cause rebound headaches. Thus, in order to avoid this and for a long-term solution, a person has to make a few lifestyle and dietary changes.

• By doing yoga and exercising regularly, a person should manage his stress better.
• A person should undertake a healthy diet and avoid caffeine, alcohol or other foods that might trigger a headache.
• Sleeping on a comfortable bed and drinking lots of water everyday, are some of the other things a person can do to avoid this.
• Acupressure and regular head massages can provide relief from headache.

Although, this is nothing to get worried about, especially if it happens once in a while, yet if the headache is accompanied by some other symptoms such as problems in vision and speech, confusion, inability to move certain body parts, loss of memory and inability to balance oneself properly, or if it occurs suddenly and violently, a doctor should be contacted immediately.