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Another day starts, yet you can’t kick that nagging headache. It either comes on from the moment you wake up, or it slowly rears its head later in the day. A couple of paracetamol or ibuprofen relieve the pain temporarily, though it always comes back once the medication wears off. 

This has been your life now for as long as you can remember. Headaches are as normal in your routine as showering or brushing your teeth – but why do you keep getting them!? It’s incredibly stressful and makes simple tasks a lot harder as you need to stop and close your eyes to wish the pain away. 

On that note, did you know that a huge range of things can trigger headaches? Figuring out the cause will help you work out how to deal with your headaches and slowly make them fade away. Most of the time, any of these six things will be why your head keeps hurting: 

Neck Pain

Chronic neck pain causes many headaches because of where the neck muscles attach at the back of your head. You have multiple muscles making up your neck that will connect to the very lower part of your skull. These muscles contain lots of nerves which send pain signals when the neck is stretched, under too much tension or experiencing a trapped nerve. 

As a result, this leads to pain towards the base of your skull which also feels like it wraps around to the front of your head. This is known as a tension headache, and solving it is a case of dealing with your neck pain. Most neck pain is caused by poor posture making your head round forward, which puts extra stress on the rear neck muscles. Often, stretching your neck, getting massages, and practising chin tucks will help correct this issue. 

Dehydration

How many times have you complained to a partner about a headache and their first response is “drink some water”? It’s become something of a meme, yet there’s a reason they keep asking this! 

Not drinking enough water will lead to dehydration, which is a leading cause of chronic headaches. Even mild dehydration will create headaches because of what happens inside your body. A lack of water causes tissues to shrink – including your brain. It starts to pull slightly away from your skull, which causes increased pressure on the nerves inside your head, leading to pain. 

Drinking some water will rehydrate your body’s tissues so they stop shrinking. As a result, your headache starts to go away – but it will come back if you don’t continue to drink ample fluids. Keep in mind that drinking water won’t necessarily keep you hydrated throughout the day, as it’ll make you pee a lot. You need to consume salt and electrolytes to retain the water as well. 

Eye Strain

The majority of people who complain about headaches will have some form of eye strain. This will happen if you stare at bright screens for too long, but it’s also common if your eyesight is bad and you aren’t doing anything about it. 

Eye strain means your eye muscles are overworking to the point that they hurt. This type of headache usually manifests behind your eyes, but it can also be a classic tension headache that emanates around your forehead. It’s also one of the simplest headaches to fix! 

All you have to do is prevent eye strain from happening! First of all, get your eyes tested, as you might need to buy a pair of prescription glasses. Wear your glasses as often as required to prevent your eyes from straining – you’ll see an immediate difference in the first couple of days. 

Then, make sure you have adequate lighting when you’re forced to stare at screens, and consider dimming the screen or switching it to “Night Mode” so the colours are warmer. It’s also worth getting into the habit of following the 20/20/20 rule to prevent eye strain. This is when you look away from your screen every 20 minutes at something 20 feet away from you for 20 seconds. It helps your eyes relax and stops the headaches from forming. 

Bad Sleep

You’ve woken up with a headache across many mornings, and it’s probably a direct result of your sleep schedule. Not getting enough sleep is proven to cause headaches because it doesn’t give your brain or body enough time to regulate and repair themselves. However, getting too much sleep also causes headaches as your brain releases too many neurotransmitters that constrict or dilate your blood vessels and cause pain. 

Solving this problem is all about improving sleep quality. Be sure you’re restful and relaxed every night before going to bed. Get into a rhythm so your body knows when to wake up and when to start shutting down. This prevents oversleeping while ensuring you get enough z’s to avoid a lack of sleep headache! 

Stress

Having high-stress levels will cause chronic headaches for a couple of reasons. Stress releases different hormones in your body, and these hormones can trigger pain and tension in your head, leading to annoying tension headaches. 

Moreover, stress also makes you do things that trigger headaches – like clenching your jaw or keeping your shoulders shrugged up. You do these subconsciously, but they create a lot of tension around your face and neck, which will cause headaches. Work on relieving your stress, and the headaches should subside. 

Caffeine Withdrawal

One final thing to note: drinking too much coffee could be why you’re always getting headaches. Having too much caffeine will create a dependence on the substance in your body. So, when you don’t drink enough the following day, you’ll end up with a headache as part of the “withdrawal” symptoms. 

If you’re drinking 4 or 5 cups of coffee a day, you need to cut down! Stick to one or two if you want to keep the headaches at bay. 

There’s a strong likelihood that your headaches are caused by one of the things on this list. Identify your issue and work on fixing it to see a dramatic change in your daily life. If you don’t think these issues cause your headaches – or they keep getting progressively worse – then be sure to see your doctor for a proper diagnosis.