Exercise: Is It Good Or Bad For Migraine Sufferers?

Migraines are a troubling condition and often make your day-to-day activities difficult to complete.  When addressing your needs for managing migraine symptoms, doctors will make recommendations on things to avoid (known as triggers) and things that may work to improve symptoms.  What if the same item was on both lists? Exercise has been found to be both a positive support and a trigger to migraine sufferers.  So how can you make your fitness routine work, without setting off potential migraine attacks?

Fitness Trigger

If you have found that working out is a known trigger for your migraines, it could be a result of several different issues:

• Body is not receiving the level of oxygen needed
• Low blood sugar levels, due to not eating properly prior to exercise.
• Starting a new exercise program or first-time workout
• Dehydration/lack of proper fluids before and during activity
• Program too strenuous
• Over exertion
• Weather, especially when performing activities outdoors.

High impact exercise which requires a lot of heavy movement or bouncing could potentially worsen an impending migraine.  Additionally, failing to warm-up properly prior to activity could result in migraines, as well.

Symptom Reliever

While doctors aren’t exactly sure the reasoning behind how exercise may help migraines, they believe it is most certainly linked to achieving a better sleep cycle.  Performing regular aerobic and cardiovascular workouts has been shown to greatly reduce currently symptoms and lessen the severity of future attacks.  These are the three reasons why doctors being staying physically fit through exercise may be the symptom reliever you are searching for.  To allow exercise to be a symptom reliever, you must ease into activity, warm-up properly and avoid high impact activities.

Stress Relief – One of the first and more common reasons exercise is thought to relieve migraines is by reducing stress, especially if you know that stress is one of your triggers.  When the body is under too much stress the brain releases a chemical called norepinephine into the bloodstream.  Too much norepinephine in the body can causes migraines.  Exercise, on the other hand, causes the release of another chemical, serotonin, which helps to balance the norepinephine in the body and in return balances your stress levels.

Muscle Tension – If you tend to care a lot of tension in your neck or shoulders, those tight muscles can trigger a migraine, especially in those more susceptible to this type of pressure.  During exercise you will loosen up your muscles and strengthen them, so they are less likely to fall to the stress of the muscle tension.    Tight muscles can press on nerves and send pain signals into your brain.  In addition to low-impact exercise programs, stretching activities such as yoga are wonderful options for reducing migraines that are triggered by muscle tension.

Better Sleep Routine – one of the most important changes that can be made to help migraine symptoms is getting enough sleep.  In order to prevent migraines, you need at least seven to nine hours of sleep every night.  A tired body and mind are more susceptible to migraines, than a rested body.  Also, when you are extremely fatigued, you’re less prepared to handle stress and other migraine triggers that you may encounter during your day.  Exercising promotes healthy sleep habits.  Doctors recommend setting a sleep schedule and keeping it every night, including weekends.  This means going to bed and waking at the same time every day.
Don’t Make It Worse

Trust your body and listen to what it is telling you.  At no point should your exercise program create or cause additional pain and discomfort.  Should you begin to experience any new symptoms or the severity or frequency of your migraines increase, speak to your physician, as you may need to make some adjustments to your workout routine or even the location.  Keep in mind that activities performed outdoors may involve an additional trigger, the weather.  Performing activities in the extreme cold or intense heat causes changes in the body that are known to trigger a migraine episode.  If at first, things don’t go smoothly, make some small changes and try again.  Don’t give up!  Not only will staying physically active help with migraine symptoms it provides the platform for building and better, healthier you!

Tags: exercise, headaches, low impact, migraine pain, Migraines, symptoms, triggers