We all want to get out of bed totally refreshed and rested, but sometimes we feel a severe headache even as soon as we put on our shoes. Morning headaches are very common. Science shows that approximately one in 13 people will experience them in their lifetime. Things that happen during the night are manifested in what happens during the day.
To find relief, it is not enough to just take ibuprofen and wait for it to disappear, it is to discover the cause.
Why does your head hurt when you wake up?
You have insomnia
Having a sleep disorder makes you two to eight times more likely to develop a headache right after waking up.
Part of treating insomnia is implementing good sleep hygiene practices, including maintaining a consistent sleep-wake routine, sleeping in a cool, dark room, and limiting screen time before bed.
You suffer from depression or anxiety
Depression is a risk factor for insomnia. And if you have anxiety, you may find it difficult to turn off the worries that are swirling in your head, making it difficult to fall asleep.
Also, both depression and anxiety can cause poor sleep that triggers a headache in the morning.
You have sleep apnea
Are you a person who snores? If you don't know, ask someone who lives in your house or sleeps with you. Sleep apnea is characterized by multiple awakenings during the night, which affects your ability to enter deeper, calmer stages of sleep.
Morning headaches are a defining symptom of sleep apnea. If you snore at night, you should see a doctor to rule out obstructive sleep apnea , as the condition is associated with heart disease and strokes.
You sleep in the wrong position
Sleeping on your back encourages snoring, and anything that interrupts your sleep can cause a headache. Try to roll over for a deeper, more peaceful sleep.
You have heartburn
Acid reflux may not wake you completely at night, but it can cause awakenings during sleep.
To help control that burn, don't eat too late at night – wait at least three hours after a meal to go to sleep. And try raising the head of the bed or sleeping with a wedge between the mattress and the box spring to raise your upper body a bit more.
You're grinding your teeth
You may be grinding your teeth at night, and the repeated pressure and strain of clenching your teeth gives you a headache in the morning.
Consult your dentist so they can recommend a mouth guard to protect your teeth. But you will also want to identify the reasons why you grind your teeth in your sleep.
You're cutting back on caffeine
If you have trouble sleeping at night, you can take the advice of sleep experts and cut back on caffeine in the afternoon or evening. By treating your insomnia, you can cut out the caffeine all at once and experience a rebound headache.
The good news is that these headaches will go away once your body adjusts.
You drank too much alcohol last night
Headaches are a classic hangover symptom, that's obvious. The body metabolizes alcohol into the toxic substance acetaldehyde, and that, in addition to general dehydration , is responsible for morning hangover headaches.
Perhaps most surprisingly, alcohol is a known sleep disruptor that affects the quality and quantity of sleep that you get in the second half of the night. I mean, you may think you didn't drink much, but your head still hurts in the morning because the alcohol spoiled your sleep.
It may be the medication
If you suffer from tension headaches or migraines , you can treat them routinely with over-the-counter pain relievers, such as ibuprofen or naproxen . But taking these medications more than a couple of times a week can cause rebound headaches, which occur as a result of drug withdrawal. These annoyances can wake you up in the morning.
If these medications may be the cause of your headaches, talk to your doctor about other ways to treat your tension or migraine pain.
