As part of National Headache Awareness Week, the National Headache Foundation has identified seven healthy habits of headache sufferers. NHF’s goal is to help headache sufferers reduce headache risk and live a happy life despite headaches.
Seven Healthy Habits of Headache Sufferers
- Diet: Eat regular meals, avoiding foods and drinks that are known to trigger headache attacks
- Sleep: Maintain a regular sleeping schedule, including weekends and vacations
- Stress: Implement stress reduction techniques into your daily life
- Headache diary: Keep a headache diary of when your headaches occur, along with any triggers, and share the information with your healthcare provider
- See your healthcare provider: Make an appointment with your healthcare provider to specifically discuss your headache
- Be a partner in your headache care: Be informed, be a participant in your treatment and be an advocate for your headache care
- Education: Stay apprised of the latest headache news and treatment options (by reading The Daily Headache, of course!)
NHF will be hosting three podcasts this week to describe these tips in detail.
Monday, June 4
Lisa Mannix, MD, medical director of Headache Associates in Cincinnati, Ohio and an NHF board member will provide an overview of the seven habits.Wednesday, June 6
Roger Cady, MD, medical director of the Headache Care Center in Springfield, Missouri and an NHF board member will provide an in-depth focus on the first three of the healthy habits and discuss the importance of diet, regular sleep and stress reduction in managing headaches.Friday, June 8
Dr. Mannix will conclude the series by focusing on the remaining four healthy habits. She will discuss how to keep a headache diary, making an appointment with your doctor, being a partner in your headache care and staying educated. Judy Brown will also speak from her personal experience as a headache sufferer who has lived with headaches for years.
Adapted from a National Headache Foundation press release. (It’s a doc file, not a pdf)