What Causes Pregnancy Headaches?
There are multiple reasons for increased headaches during pregnancy. There are many body changes including spinal alignment, posture and muscle alignment. There are also hormonal, sleep and stress changes that affect the frequency of headaches. Many women experience headaches during pregnancy, especially in the first and third trimesters. Some women will experience their first migraine while pregnant, while others who are chronic migraine sufferers will experience fewer or none at all.
Causes of more frequent headaches during pregnancy include:
- Misalignments of the upper back and neck joints causing irritated muscles
- Fatigue
- Stress
- Low blood sugar
- Dehydration
- Sleep disturbances
- Sinus congestion
- Withdrawal from caffeine or other foods
It’s extremely important to keep to a regular eating schedule and to drink plenty of water when you’re pregnant to keep blood sugar stable.
Treating Headaches During Pregnancy
Most pharmacutical preventive migraine headache medications will be on the “banned substances” list. However, t here are a few things you can do to help relieve headaches during your pregnancy:
- Have regular chiropractic adjustments.
- Get a massage to ease sore muscles in the neck and upper spine.
- Identify areas of stress and attempt to avoid or change them.
- Drink a few glasses of water next time you feel a headache coming on. Slight dehydration may be the cause. Drink 2-3 glasses of water to see if symptoms subside.
- Apply a cool compress to your neck area for a tension headache and a warm compress to your face for a sinus headache.
- Lie down in a dark room and rest for a bit.
- Try to eat nutritious foods, maintain a regular sleep schedule, get some exercise, and drink plenty of fluids.
Do not take any type of headache pain reliever, over the counter or herbal remedies, without first consulting a health care professional.
Chiropractic Care During Pregnancy
Chiropractic care is a safe and all-natural headache treatment because it looks to eliminate the cause of headaches and not just mask symptoms. Chiropractic care is not only is it safe for pregnancy headache relief it is one of the top reasons people seek out chiropractic care is for headache relief. Chiropractors are experts in all different kinds of headache treatment.
During pregnancy, the spine can become misaligned due to an increase in weight, posture changes, center of gravity changes, hormonal changes and pelvic changes. A misaligned spine is one of the most common causes of headaches.
Check out the pregancy posture diagram below. It is easy to see how your posture can change easily while pregnant.
