Alanna Santini's friends call her the “human weather vane.” On cloudy days, the 42-year-old Silver Lake publicist always suffers from a severe headache. It's an experience he became accustomed to in his home state of New York and something he was happy to escape when he moved west five years ago. But this year, as unusually dark and stormy The Los Angeles winter gave way to a rainy, cloudy spring, and your weather-induced headaches returned with a vengeance, adding a whole new dimension to the term. June sadness.
“I've been waking up with a headache for the last three months because it's been raining or about to rain,” Santini said.
Seasonal headaches are a common, if somewhat mysterious, phenomenon (it's important to note that migraines are a type of headache, but not all headaches are migraines). Many people who suffer from any type of headache note which can occur during sudden changes in barometric pressure when the weather changes.
Such complaints have become so frequent that scientists and health care suppliers have tried to investigate and explain the correlation. So how exactly do ubiquitous clouds and rain contribute to headaches and migraines?
One possible cause could be our sinuses, says Dr. David Gudis, chief of the division of rhinology and anterior skull base surgery at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Barometric pressure sinusitisotherwise known as barosinusitis, is an established medical condition in which people feel intense sinus headaches and inflammation. Gudis describes the paranasal sinuses as “compartments of small air-filled cavities, like a honeycomb,” or “an office with many cubicles in which each space is an air-filled compartment lined by a mucous membrane, surrounded by bony partitions.”
When the sinuses are functioning normally, he says, air moves freely so that the air pressure in the nose and sinuses is the same as in the surrounding atmosphere. But when the sinuses become blocked, usually due to inflammation, the air pressure inside the sinuses is unequal to that of the surroundings, causing pain or pressure due to fluid that cannot drain or air that cannot move. freely.
Barosinusitis is quite common on flights or when diving because the atmospheric pressure around us cannot always equal the air pressure inside our sinuses. (It also explains why we often feel like our ears need to pop on airplanes.) Gudis compares it to the way a half-empty plastic water bottle changes shape during a flight.
“If you drink from a plastic water bottle while on a flight and screw the cap on, when you land it looks like someone squeezed the bottle,” Gudis said. “According boyle's IOh“If temperature does not change, pressure and volume are inversely correlated, meaning that pressure changes in the environment can cause expansion or contraction of airspace cavities in the body.”
While these concepts may seem like long-forgotten high school physics lessons, they explain why many of us feel uncomfortable when air pressure changes. While the June blues and other weather patterns occur much more slowly than the sudden rise and fall of air pressure on a flight, the same type of discomfort can still be felt during correlated barometric changes, resulting in pain. of nasal or ear sinuses.
For years, experts have been researching how weather patterns can cause headaches. Gudis cites a weather phenomenon in the Pacific Northwest known as chinook windyes, strong winds that develop from late fall to early spring. When a straight line jet stream arrives from the Pacific Ocean.
In 2000, a study was published in Neurology which found that these winds could trigger migraines. Other studies have established a link between vitamin D deficiency (which we get naturally from sunlight) and increased tension headaches and migraines.
Dr. Diana ShadbehrDirector of the Headache Clinic at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, agrees that barometric pressure can affect the sinuses, but says researchers have not yet been able to prove that climate changes are the only cause. of seasonal headaches and migraines.
“While many patients report that their headaches worsen with changes in weather, and there was even a research study in Japan “This showed a correlation between barometric pressure changes and more headaches, it is difficult to take into account all the other variables that can trigger a headache, such as different foods, stress and hormonal fluctuations,” he wrote by email.
When it comes to weather-induced headaches, everyone's triggers are different; For some, Shadbehr suggests that sunny days can be a trigger.
“Sunlight contains wavelengths of blue light that can trigger a migraine attack,” he said. “Photophobia can occur in both natural light and synthetic light environments. Additionally, sun exposure can cause dehydration, which can also cause a headache. “Light can activate brain cells in areas of the brain involved in headaches.”
Whether your headaches are weather-related or not, there are ways to seek relief. If you don't have any contraindications, a dose of paracetamol or ibuprofen could be the solution. If you think your headache might be due to your sinuses and your doctor is okay with it, Gudis says over-the-counter decongestants like pseudoephedrine, phenylephrine, or oxymetazoline can help, as can nasal spray solutions like fluticasone (steroid-based) or azelastine. (an antihistamine). He always consults his doctor first before trying a new medication. There is even an app TimeX, designed to alert barometric pressure headache sufferers when a change occurs.
Santini says she is sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. While none of us can control how our heads might respond to the ever-present blanket of June blues, we can stock up on cold and allergy medicine and wait patiently for our spring suffering to come to its natural end. Santini, above all, can't wait. Until then, she says, “Take painkillers, I'll travel.”
