Annoying headaches are definitely not the perfect way to start your day. In fact, if you often wake up with a headache, then you are not alone, since morning headaches tend to be very common, according to Dr. Amit Sachdev , Assistant Professor and Director of the Department of Neuromuscular Medicine at Michigan State University. The reasons, according to him, are many and can vary significantly from person to person.
What causes a headache in the morning?
Sometimes headaches happen without bothering you again in a short time, but if you treat them often it usually indicates a specific cause, which suggests that there may be a way to get rid of it. Some possible causes that may be “hidden” behind your morning headache include:
1. You have insomnia
Lack of sleep is generally a common cause of headaches, with studies showing that morning headaches are commonly associated with sleep disorders, such as insomnia. If you have difficulty sleeping regularly and do not feel rested or refreshed, then you are probably experiencing some disorder.
What to do: To relieve morning headaches, it is important to find out what causes insomnia or difficulty sleeping in general. According to the Mayo Clinic, insomnia may not have an underlying cause that justifies its onset or it may be due to other conditions, such as anxiety disorder or poor sleep habits.
2. Caffeine withdrawal symptom
Headache in the morning can be a symptom of caffeine “deprivation” and usually occurs in people who consume many cups of coffee during the day. Caffeine can affect blood flow to the brain, according to Dr. Amit Sachdev and if you do not consume as many cups as usual it can cause neurological side effects that are similar to deprivation of other substances.
What to do: To avoid headaches as soon as you wake up, it may be best to cut down on caffeine and in particular not drink coffee in the afternoon.
3. Brush your teeth
The teeth grinding can cause tension in your temporomandibular joints, which connect the lower jaw to the skull in front of the ear and can cause changes in the position of the jaw, according to Dr. Amit Sachdev. All this leads to accumulated tension, which can cause headaches. In addition to the headache, you may also feel tightness or pain in your jaw, discomfort such as earache, aching or even tooth sensitivity.
What to do: If you suspect that morning headaches may be due to gnashing of teeth, then it is important to talk to your doctor in order to give you the proper protective tools.
4. You may experience migraines
Migraines can occur at any time, but many people experience migraines late at night or early in the morning. In fact, according to studies , migraines appear in a “circle”, a finding that suggests that they usually occur at about the same time during the day. Therefore, it is possible that the headache you experience when you wake up is actually a migraine.
What to do: Migraines are often genetic, which means there is not much you can do about it. The key, however, is to identify the root causes, such as stress, fatigue, unbalanced diet, poor sleep, and manage them.
