Make healthy lifestyle choices

A healthy lifestyle can promote good overall health and help prevent tension-type headaches. Here are the basics:

• Eat nutritious foods on a regular schedule. Don't skip meals, especially breakfast, and drink plenty of water each day.
• Exercise regularly. Exercise releases chemicals in your body that block pain signals to the brain. With your doctor's permission, choose any exercise you enjoy, whether that's walking, swimming or cycling. Start slowly; exercising too vigorously can trigger some types of headaches.
• Get enough sleep. Wake up and go to bed at the same time every day — even on weekends. Relax before you go to bed. If you don't fall asleep within 15 minutes, get up and read or do something soothing until you're drowsy. Avoid medications (including some headache medications) that contain caffeine and other stimulants that can affect sleep.
• Avoid excess caffeine. While caffeine may help curb headaches, heavy daily caffeine use — more than 400 milligrams of caffeine a day (about four regular cups of coffee) — can cause headaches and irritability. Chronic caffeine consumption also increases the risk of headaches, as does quitting caffeine altogether — whether you quit suddenly or cut back gradually.
• Quit smoking. The nicotine in cigarette smoke reduces blood flow to the brain, and triggers a reaction in the nerves at the back of the throat, which may lead to a headache.