These headaches cause very intense pain that often primarily affects the area behind one eye. More than half of those who experience cluster headaches say that alcohol is a trigger. However, more recent research indicates no relationship between tension type headaches and alcohol consumption. As you drink alcohol, your stomach absorbs about 20 percent of this ethanol while your small intestine absorbs the rest. From the small intestine, ethanol travels into the bloodstream and throughout your body, including your brain.
Best wine for migraine
In fact, many headache sufferers abstain from alcohol or consume less than the general population. When alcohol is a trigger for one’s usual primary headaches, the pain usually occurs within three hours of alcohol consumption. Avoiding alcohol isn’t the only way to avoid an alcohol-related migraine headache. There are some health benefits to moderate alcohol consumption, but the key is knowing why does alcohol help headaches what types of alcohol cause your headaches, in what amounts, and what other factors might be involved. Alcohol seems to trigger both migraine and cluster headaches.
Cocktail Headache Symptoms
Like so many other answers to science questions, “it depends.” Body weight and gender are very important factors. While five to eight drinks for the average man, and three to five drinks for the average woman, are enough to cause some degree of hangover, specific effects will vary greatly between individuals. Certain ethnic groups (Japanese, for example) have a genetically reduced ability to break down acetaldehyde, the main byproduct of alcohol, as it is first processed in the liver. This results in more reddening of the skin (““Asian flush”) and hangovers at lower amounts of alcohol.
- In many cases, researchers say it’s more a matter of individual triggers or other factors that coincide with your alcohol consumption, like stress.
- A person should try keeping a migraine diary for a few weeks or months to observe trends in their headache patterns.
- While data on MO and CH are well delineated, those in MA and TH are discordant.
- While some research shows that the correlation between migraines and and headaches might be weaker than once stated, roughly 30% of people who experience migraines report alcohol as a trigger.
How Alcohol Triggers Headaches
Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Try to eat some fruits, herbs, and vegetables that are helpful for alcohol-induced headache recovery. Mango, thyme, ginger, and asparagus are known to contain helpful properties for this purpose. Look for white wine that is not too sweet and a little on the dry side.
General Health
- While five to eight drinks for the average man, and three to five drinks for the average woman, are enough to cause some degree of hangover, specific effects will vary greatly between individuals.
- However, in some countries, the occurrence of alcohol as headache trigger is negligible, perhaps determined by alcohol habits.
- They are thought to contain chemicals called congeners that add to ethanol’s harmful effects.
- The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal tools were used for cross-sectional, cohort and case control studies 63.
The only guaranteed way to prevent a hangover headache is to avoid alcohol, or at least drink in moderation. The most important thing to consume while you are recovering from a hangover is liquid, in order to avoid further dehydration. Any liquid (except alcohol!) that you find palatable is acceptable, such as boullion, chicken soup, sports drinks, or water. Opting for top-shelf brands, sticking to one type of alcohol, alternating with water and food, and knowing your limits are all strategies that can help minimize the chances of developing a headache. Additionally, keeping a diary to track your triggers and being mindful of other factors like stress can also be helpful. If alcohol is a headache trigger for you, think before you drink.
Quit your wine-ing?
- If you want to avoid a hangover headache, the best thing you can do is think before you drink.
- However, these individuals were not more vulnerable to other hangover symptoms.
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- While there is no magical alcohol that doesn’t cause headaches when consumed in excess, alcohol does vary tremendously from manufacturer to manufacturer.
- Hydration can help to ease a hangover but it does not completely alleviate the symptoms.
- The same enzymes process ethanol and methanol, but methanol metabolites are especially toxic, so they may cause a worse hangover.
Migraine Again follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions. Just like food triggers, alcohol headache triggers are individual, varying from person to person. Tracking your own patterns may allow you to enjoy the party after all.
- Hangovers can affect pretty much anyone who has had too much to drink.
- For example, on average, females tend to weigh less than males.
- One hypothesis is that red wine causes migraine due to high levels of certain compounds called flavonols, particularly quercetin.
- This article explains why hangover headaches occur, especially in people with underlying migraine disorders.
- We also examine the types of headache alcohol can trigger and the types of alcohol likely to cause more headaches.
- Criteria to recognize habits for alcohol consumption was various in almost each study.
