5 Lifestyle Approaches To Overcome Migraine

If you’ve ever experienced a migraine headache, you know all too well how important it is to treat this painful condition aggressively. Learning to identify what triggers your migraines can go a long way towards helping you manage the migraine. Your lifestyle has a lot to do with preventing the frequency and intensity of migraines and headaches.

Avoiding known triggers can also help reduce the frequency and severity of migraine attacks. The same lifestyle choices that promote overall good health also offers a way to manage migraines. And a combination of both medication or procedures and lifestyle changes is often the most effective way to relieve migraines.

There’s a lot to this, so let’s dig into some of the best lifestyle tips on how to manage migraines.

Establish a sleep schedule
Sleep helps keep your immune system strong, wards off depression and anxiety, and promotes deep relaxation. But stick to a regular sleep schedule: That means going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. Poor sleeping habits, a lack of sleep, or too much sleep can actually trigger a migraine or tension headache. Screen time, caffeine and alcohol intake before going to bed can affect the quality of sleep.

Eat an Anti-Inflammatory diet
A diet high in processed foods and sodium is one of the biggest triggers for migraine symptoms. Foods that can help prevent or treat migraines include those with omega-3 fatty acids like walnuts and flax seeds. Fresh fruits and vegetables, foods high in magnesium (like dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds, avocados and bananas), foods high in Riboflavin (like Spinach, beetroot greens and mushrooms) and healthy plant-based proteins are helpful.

Practice good posture
Poor posture (eg, hunching over a computer all day) can strain your head, neck, and shoulder muscles, leading to a migraine or headache. Check in with yourself throughout the day and notice your posture. Are your shoulders hunched? Is your spine straight? By making some adjustments to your posture, it may help reduce the frequency of migraines and tension headaches.

Manage your stress
Because many migraines and headaches are triggered by stress, knowing how to handle stress as well as how to prevent it can significantly reduce the frequency and severity of your migraines and headaches.
But sometimes it’s not enough to read a book or take a bath—you have to consciously reduce your stress levels. For example, you may need to do deep breathing and meditation exercises to effectively manage your stress.

Add Exercise to your daily routine
Working out with a pounding migraine doesn’t exactly sound ideal, but during the times you’re migraine-free, regular exercise is a good way to help reduce migraine attacks. Experts aren’t exactly sure why exercise reduces migraines, but they do know that it helps keep your weight in check, which is another way to manage migraines. Workouts also contribute to better sleep at the end of the day.Incorporate aerobic, strengthening, and flexibility exercises into your routine.

Over To You: Living a healthy lifestyle is certainly one of the most effective ways to try to keep migraines and headaches at bay. By avoiding things you know that may set off a migraine or headache and incorporating healthy habits, you can actually help to reduce the amount of migraines or headaches you experience.