Dear A Moment of Science,
I like to exercise, but I suffer from migraines and worry that getting my sweat on at the gym could trigger a headache. Am I right to be cautious?
Good question.
For some people, exercise can in fact lead to a migraine. But most studies have shown that, on average, exercise may actually help ward off migraines. At the very least, exercise doesn’t seem to hurt most migraine sufferers.
Right,one study done in Sweden put more than ninety migraine prone folks into three groups: one that exercised for around forty minutes three times a week, another that was given a drug to prevent migraines, and a third had regular relaxation sessions. After three months, and then an additional six months of follow up, the study found that migraines were reduced for people in all three groups.
Another, smaller study examined more than twenty-five migraine sufferers before, during, and after working out on stationary bikes. After three months, the subjects all experienced fewer headaches.
So at least according to these studies, exercise appears to be a viable alternative to migraine drugs. To be clear, though, this doesn’t mean that working out never triggers migraines.
Especially if you don’t exercise regularly, it’s probably best to ease into it and see how your head reacts. If working up a sweat doesn’t appear to trigger a headache, then you can gradually build up to higher intensity workouts.
運動會引發(fā)頭痛嗎?
親愛的科學一刻:
我喜歡運動,但我患有偏頭痛,擔心去健身房運動到出汗會引發(fā)頭痛。我應該這么謹慎嗎?
問得好。
對一些人來說,運動其實能導致偏頭痛。但絕大多數(shù)研究顯示,一般而言,運動可能實際上能幫你遠離偏頭痛。至少可以肯定,運動并不會對大多數(shù)偏頭痛患者造成損害。
正好,瑞典有一項研究將90名患有偏頭痛的人分成3組:一組一周進行3次約40分鐘的運動;另一組服用藥物來防止偏頭痛;第三組則進行定時放松活動。3個月后的研究結果及另外6個月的跟蹤調查顯示,3組人的偏頭痛都有所緩解。
另一項規(guī)模較小的研究對25名偏頭痛患者在健身車上運動前、運動中和運動后的情況進行了調查。3個月后,所有的研究對象發(fā)生偏頭痛的次數(shù)都更少了。
因此,至少就這些研究結論來說,用運動來代替服用偏頭痛藥物似乎是可行的。盡管如此,需要明確的是,這并不意味著鍛煉不會引發(fā)偏頭痛。
尤其當你不經常運動時,最好是循序漸進地進行運動,并看看你頭部的反應。如果運動到出汗并未引發(fā)頭痛,你就可以逐步進行更大強度的鍛煉。