Ten Surprising Things That Can Give You a Headache

 

1. Stinky cheese

Cheese, and especially aged cheese, is a concentrated source of the chemical tyramine. While some people enjoy the smell and others hate it, one thing is indisputable — research has found it to be a trigger for migraine headaches in susceptible individuals.

2. Perfume

People who have especially discerning senses of smell often get headaches when they encounter pleasant odors that are new to them. The nerves that transmit aroma sensations can also transmit pain sensations. Typically it is a new pleasant scent that triggers headache pain. Perfumes are everywhere, and in some people, they are a constant source of suffering. Going fragrance free is the kind thing to do.

3. Sleeping too much

Sleeping too much, like sleeping too little, is a common trigger for a condition called familial hemiplegic migraine, which causes facial paralysis along with severe head pain. Anyone who has ever overslept will recognize that too much sleep can lead to a feeling of grogginess that last for the entire day. For some, this effect is simply amplified. The result is a headache that even pain killers are unlikely to fix.

4. Sex

Women have been stereotyped for allegedly saying "I've got a headache" to avoid a proposed sexual encounter without offending their partners, but men are the ones who tend to get headaches after sex. Intense vasodilation in the penis releases chemicals that also dilate the blood vessels serving the head. Men who get after-sex headaches also tend to get runny noses and literally to see blue after orgasm.

5. Fluffy, Fido, and Filly

Dander from the coats of cats, dogs, and horses can trigger a range of allergic symptoms including headache, usually just a few minutes after exposure. The animal does not have to present in the same space as the headache sufferer to cause symptoms, just their dander.

6. Shampooing

Leaning back over the hairdresser's sink to get a shampoo without adequate neck support can cause headache—and in rare instances, trigger a stroke by cutting off circulation to the brain.

7. Skin cancer treatment

Dermatologists often remove precancerous actinic keratoses of the skin by applying liquid nitrogen. When the liquid nitrogen is applied to the face, an "ice cream headache," similar to the pain experienced when eating ice cream too fast, but much more intense, can result from the treatment. Fortunately, the pain subsides as soon as the face warms back to normal temperature, usually in less than 5 minutes.

8. Hot soft drinks

Fizzy soft drinks that have not been refrigerated, or that have been heated like coffee or tea, can cause the same kind of headache pain as drinking iced beverages or eating ice cream. The pain caused by the hot carbonated beverage disappears as soon as the face and mouth cool.

9. Tylenol

About 5% of people who use Tylenol (acetaminophen) to control pain elsewhere in the body will experience headache pain. People who get headaches after taking Tylenol usually also have nausea, diarrhea, or constipation.

10. Neck massage

A 35-year-old man with a history migraines got a neck massage to try to stop an attack. Instead of stopping the attack, the massage session caused him what he called the worst pain of his life. In the emergency room, doctors discovered that the massage had caused a blood clot that lodged in his sinuses, requiring emergency surgery.

If you get headaches after you encounter one of these common triggers, avoiding the cause can spare you the pain. Any new pattern of headache pain, however, should be checked out by a doctor.