6 Useful Tips for Your Migraine this Holiday Season

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks dressed in holiday style…as much joy as this season can bring, it can also be a hard time to manage your migraine. We all start eating our weight in cookies and drink enough hot chocolate to fill a pool. With a little planning and care, you have a better chance of having fewer migraine attacks this holiday season.

Watch Out for all the Sugar

Visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads, which means every corner you turn there are all sorts of sweet treats that are too tempting to turn down. BUT maybe turn down a few. Too much sugar can impact your migraine. Keep track of what you are eating and when you get an attack so you have an idea of how many cookies you can eat.

Take Time to Recover

Most of us are over scheduled during the holidays. Take time each day to prioritize self care. Mindfulness can look like sitting down to mediate, taking a nap, coloring in a coloring book, playing Animal Crossing, and more. Do what works best for you. Any activity that recharges you will help.

It’s Beginning to Smell A Lot Like Christmas, Which May Not be a Good Thing

Gingerbread, pine, candles, grandma’s perfume, there are a lot of smells that the holidays bring with them. Do what you can in your own home and space to remove scents if scent is something that impacts your migraine. We all have a mask in our pockets these days. This same mask can be used to prevent these smells from triggering an attack.

Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate

It is easy to forget to hydrate when we are busy. Staying hydrated should be a part of everyone’s migraine toolbox. Dehydration means a headache for most, so if you have migraine making sure you drink enough water is important. Get a water bottle you love, fill it up, and take it with you everywhere you go.

Just Settled Our Brains for a Long Winter’s Nap

We get it, you have family and friends to hang out with and thinking about sleep hygiene is the last thing on your mind. BUT staying on a consistent sleep schedule and getting enough sleep can make a difference when it comes to your migraine. Try to not change up your sleep schedule on the weekends and make sure you get enough sleep each night to avoid triggering an attack.

Get Moving

It’s the holidays, which means time to relax and eat. AND that being said, exercise has been proven to help migraine. If you play a sport and you normally workout, keep it up over the holiday season. If you don’t, look at ways to introduce exercise into your life. This can be as easy as taking a walk, doing some low impact yoga, riding your bike, playing Ring Fit on the Switch or having a daily Dance Dance Revolution competition. Anything to get your body moving a little each day.