Dealing With Headaches

You can more than one kind of headache. You can even get migraines and different kinds of headaches, although they usually don’t hit simultaneously. You either get one or the other. One of the kinds of headaches I get is when the barometer pressure drops. For some reason, I get a “weather headache”, usually referred to as barometric pressure headache. Whenever I get it, I know there will be rain soon.

Folk Sayings

Long ago, when we lived more closely with nature, a rainy day meant a lot more than it does now. To be able to forecast the weather was a tremendous blessing. However, it was not always a blessing for those doing the forecasting. In one old Eglish folk poem, called “Old Betty’s Joints” (sometimes called “Signs of Rain”), Old Betty must’ve hated her job as family weather forcaster:

That’s a pretty accurate description of what my “weather headaches” feel like — even my feet hurt. My Mom’s arthritis acts up and we know that at least a heavy cloud system is on it’s way, if not actual rain.

It makes me wonder if cavemen noticed this. “Ooo –whenever Og has a headache, it rains. We need rain. So, let’s give Og a headache!” Times must’ve been really tough for a headache prone person then.

Recent Studies

In a clinical study done at Jefferson university in Philadelphia, 75% of those prone to migraines also got barometric pressure headache. Individuals with anxiety issues also were more prone to barometric pressure headache.

Another earlier study done in 1981 thought that a variety of weather factors had to be in place before you get a weather headache. Perhaps the barometic pressure drops, but also the humidity is high. Or perhaps the barometric pressure drops and it’s time for a woman to have her period. There does not seem to be a definate cause for barometric pressure headache, despite the name.

But it does seem that those prone to migraines were also more prone to having barometric pressure headaches.

What Can Be Done

Once again, the best advice for those with any kind of headache, let alone barometric pressure headache, is to keep a headache journal. If you’re like me, whenever the clouds gather is when I can expect a headache to form on my immediate horizon. But for many others, they might find that they need other circumstances to happen, such as what temperature it is, what they’ve eaten that day or even how much sleep they’ve gotten the night before. By keeping a headache journal, you can determine quickly when to worry and when to not worry if you see a cloud in the sky.

In my case, for example, when the clouds gather, I know that I have less than a half hour to take an Excedrin. If I can’t get to the Excedrin in time, I’ll have to spend at least two hours lying down in a dark room with my eyes covered. This way, I can mostly cut the headache off at the pass.

And, as always, this article is not meant to substitute for medical advice. If you get any kind of headache or migraine, talk to your doctor.

Hope this helps.