Headaches can be triggered by smoking in the following ways:
- Nicotine present in tobacco can enlarge blood vessels in the brain that will press on the nerves, bringing on a headache.
- Headaches can also be caused by enlarged blood vessels due to irritation in the nose and throat, which is true for people who are highly sensitive to smoke.
- The nerves located at the back of the throat can also be stimulated by smoking, which can worsen a headache in progress.
Second Hand Smoke
The smoke from cigarettes, tobacco, cigars and pipes can be considered as even worse than other known types of fumes, mainly because they take some time to dissipate. The longer they take to dissipate, the longer they linger more in the air. The smoke eventually clings to clothes, hair, drapes and furniture. The more time we are in contact with the smoke increases the probability for irritation to occur, and for a headache to be triggered.
What Can Be Done
If you get headaches from smoking, you can request your friends and loved ones not to smoke whenever you are around. Encouraging them to entirely give up smoking is even better, as it will prove beneficial to everyone's health.
Smoking and Cluster Headaches
Cluster headaches seem to be primarily triggered by smoking; it is interesting to note that many cluster headache sufferers are also smokers. One noteworthy improvement as seen in a study of headache sufferers showed that as much as 50% cut their incidence of headaches by just smoking less than a half a pack a day, making improvement possible even without giving up smoking.
Smoking and Stress
Many people think that smoking helps them deal with stress, and they use this reason to justify their smoking. They know that stress is known to trigger migraines or headaches -- so why bother exchanging one trigger for another?
According to Allen Carr, who runs the EasyWay to give up smoking, the cigarettes themselves are actually causing the stress. In order to relieve the stress of waiting, stubbing out one cigarette just creates a need for the next one. Those who have used this method to quit mention that ever since they stopped, they are less stressed out.
Treatment for Headaches Triggered by Smoking
Treatment for smoking-induced headaches can use the same painkillers and medications for other types of headaches, but the best treatment of all is to simply stop smoking.
Smoking is now banned in many places worldwide in an attempt to encourage people to quit smoking. Even restaurants and bars, which were once thought of as safe places to smoke, have now become smoke-free areas.
The smoking ban will make a lot of difference for those who frequently get headaches from cigarette smoke, and maybe even persuade other places to clean up their air. New Jersey, which doesn't impose a ban on smoking, was shown in a recent study to have levels of indoor air pollution that were nine times as much as New York, which has the ban in effect.
Other Methods
If you do not think you can stop smoking cold turkey, their are lots of options available to aid your craving for nicotine, and to gradually ease your way to stopping smoking altogether. You can try out the following methods:
- Nicotine patches
- Nicotine chewing gum
- Nicotine inhalers
- Nicotine microtabs
- Hypnotherapy
- Acupuncture
- Allen Carr’s EasyWay
For more help on the prevention, treatment and remedies for migraines please see the Complete Guide To Migraine Headaches.
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