How To Treat Headache In Pregnancy

Are you pregnant and suffering from a headache? Not sure what to do to avoid it or to relieve pain? Can I take medicine while pregnant?

When pregnancy and pain come together, many questions arise about how to remedy it without harming the baby. We propose some solutions that can help you.

It is very common for headaches and other discomforts to occur during pregnancy. The causes are very varied and range from lack of rest to poor or inadequate nutrition.

Do not worry. The headache is annoying but not because you are pregnant you have to endure it without remedying it.

The main causes

The main causes that can cause headaches during pregnancy are:

• Lack of sleep.  Common especially in the last trimester of pregnancy, since finding a position that favors rest is difficult.

• Nasal congestion. During the first trimester, many pregnant women experience something similar to a constipation, a discomfort that causes nasal congestion, prevents normal breathing and can cause a headache. This phenomenon can also appear at the end of pregnancy.

• Stress.  The hormonal revolution, waiting for a child, the change in life, social pressure … in short, it may be that you feel surrounded by potentially stressful factors and that will make your head not able to disconnect. A considerable increase in stress can manifest itself in the form of headaches.
• Hunger or thirst Hunger and thirst are important biological needs to meet. Many times the headache is warning us that we are facing a small dehydration or that we need to eat something.

Before the headache

There are different ways to prevent headaches. The following tips that we propose are a series of healthy habits that will always come in handy, whether or not you have headaches, but in the latter case they will help you keep your body and mind in a very important state of balance for you and for your baby .

• Avoid being hungry or thirsty . During pregnancy it is important that you pay special attention to staying hydrated and eating every little time. Watch your diet to avoid eating foods that are not suitable for your condition.
• Relaxation techniques . Mind-body balance is very necessary. During pregnancy it is difficult not to have episodes of emotional upheaval, but they will be more bearable if you maintain behaviors of emotional hygiene. Yoga exercises, relaxation or meditation techniques , mindfulness or emotional management techniques can help you. Everything that helps you find resources that balance you on an emotional level.

• Physical exercise on a regular basis . It will help you release endorphins (the happiness hormone) and regulate cortisol levels (responsible for the stress response). In addition, staying in shape will make you feel agile and thus avoid falling into apathy and laziness.
• Postural control . In the last months of pregnancy, the weight of the belly can cause back pain or force you to acquire postures that promote later headaches. Watch out for the cervical and lumbar vertebrae. If you have the opportunity, visit a specialist who will perform a massage and help you reduce the pain.

During the headache

During the months of pregnancy it is recommended that you do not self-medicate, so we propose different options.

Once self-medication is ruled out, we can relieve pain with one of these remedies:

• Warm or cold compress . Moistening a compress or cloth in warm or cold water and placing it on the forehead or the base of the skull can alleviate the sensation of heat that comes from the head due to the vasodilation caused by the pain.
• Bath or shower with warm or cold water . Like the compress, it can help you relieve pain.
• Rest in a fourth dark and without noise . Rest and avoid any exciting stimuli around you.
• Ping-pong or tennis ball underfoot . Use your feet to roll it on the ground. The feet contain nerve endings directly connected to all vital organs. It will relieve you.

eye! If you notice …

In the event that any (or more) of the symptoms that we show you below appear, do not hesitate to go to your doctor.

• Blurred vision, with spots or spots.
• Abdominal pain.
• Dizziness and vomiting
• Swelling in the hands or face.
• Sudden weight gain

We will leave the pharmacological medication in the hands of your doctor since he is the only one who can advise you in this regard.

In addition, as long as we can solve the headache without drugs it will be much better for us since in this way we will not spoil our body to receive medication at the slightest discomfort.