How Inflammation Causes Headaches | What You Can Do About It

When it comes to chronic and painful headaches and migraines, there isn’t one easy fix that works for everyone. Triggers are often very individualized and based on a variety of things including genetics, stress, sleep, caffeine, and a whole host of other environmental and lifestyle factors.

That said, there is one larger overarching topic that comes up a lot for many patients — and that’s inflammation. The good news is — there are many things patients can do to minimize inflammation in their body and often this does improve chronic and painful headaches.

We’ve got to talk about solutions because migraines remain mysterious for many people. And yet — they are the sixth most disabling illness worldwide, affecting nearly 40 million Americans and approximately one in every four households. More than just a headache, a migraine is a complex neurologic disorder. It not only causes pain, but can also result in light and sound sensitivity, visual symptoms, dizziness, difficulty concentrating, nausea, vomiting, and other neurologic symptoms. Certain triggers can alter the brain’s ability to maintain its chemical balance. Once this balance is overwhelmed, a migraine may occur.

So, let’s dig into what we know about inflammation and some tips and tricks to reduce it if you’re dealing with severe and painful headaches.

How Inflammation Causes Headaches and Migraines

Inflammation is a very complex process that essentially involves the body being irritable and sending a series of chemical and electrical signals around itself, which essentially hypes up this irritability. Over time, the research shows there is inflammation in the body

itself and there’s also a separate process that’s happening in the brain that’s called neurogenic inflammation which is likely more related to migraines. When something triggers this process, it is like a tidal wave builds in the brain, and blood vessels in the brain.

This is not surprising to patients, who often tell me it feels like their brain is swollen when they have a migraine. As far as we know, there’s no actual physical swelling of the brain. But there is no doubt people feel pressure and often a throbbing sensation as a result of chemical imbalances and increased blood flow.

Reducing Your Inflammatory Food to Prevent Migraines

Reducing your inflammatory food intake can limit or even prevent migraines. But it does

not help once you are already experiencing a migraine. In that case, people try a variety of things to give them relief. Usually, most patients find that laying down in a dark and quiet room is helpful. Medication is often needed to reduce the debilitating headache. Sometimes people get by with just over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) and sometimes we use medications that target the blood flow changes related to migraines. These medications have to be prescribed by a physician. The more traditional prescribed medications for aborting or stopping a migraine once it’s already started are called triptans and they target blood flow dynamics but they do not work for everyone. Some patients cannot take them due to medical contraindications such as uncontrolled hypertension or history of stroke. 

The substances and neurotransmitters involved in migraines and neurogenic inflammation have been the target of a lot of research and now there are a lot ofresearch and now there are many novel therapies that give us the ability to shut down the neurogenic inflammation cascade. These medications target a substance called CGRP, which is short for a Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide. Essentially, this substance is one of the chemicals that has been found in animal studies to trigger neurogenic inflammation and the cascade of biological reactions that leads to migraine symptoms and headache. Taking these medications on a daily or as-needed basis has shown to be efficacious in preventing migraines from starting or stopping them once they have already developed.

Tips To Reduce Inflammation With Your Diet

When we look at reducing migraines, we often approach it in several ways. Certainly, nutrition and lifestyle habits are important places to start.

We’re all familiar with foods that cause allergies. But less understood is the idea that much of what the typical American eats today is full of artificial colors, trans fats, and artificial flavorings — substances that are unfamiliar to our bodies and often produce inflammation. This can cause anything from skin rashes and intestinal distress to migraine headaches.

For people dealing with migraines, it is important to know that chocolate, alcohol, aged meats and cheeses, wheat, fried foods, and baked goods can contribute to worsening headaches and related symptoms. Caffeine is another substance to pay attention to. Some people find it helps with migraines, but excessive or irregular caffeine intake can actually increase frequency and intensity of headaches. Caffeine withdrawal is a common source of tension headaches that can evolve into a migraine headache in people predisposed to migraine headaches.

Sensitivity to specific food triggers can really vary from person to person. Overall, most people do find some relief if they refocus their nutrition on natural foods — fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, whole grains, and fatty fish. These foods are full of essential vitamins, nutrients, omega three fatty acids, and antioxidants. These substances are known to have an anti-inflammatory effect.

Talk with a doctor and/or nutritionist before making changes on your own. Understand that deprivation is not always required. Sometimes it is as simple as pairing a glass of wine with a dinner of fish, vegetables, and whole grains to minimize the inflammatory impact of the alcohol.