I am recently paying attention to the problem of sun exposure headaches. When I exercise or go to a festival /concert at midday, I get a sun exposure migraine (or I get really cranky). I avoided being outside for quite awhile and sort of forgot about the problem--and ended up having a Vitamin D deficiency. I now take Vitamin D supplements for that but I can't say that it has really made a difference for me.
I recently saw an acupuncturist for my headache symptoms. I described the onset as pain between the shoulder blades that rose up to the base of the skull, then throbbed upward toward the center line between my ears, and ending up localized to one side of my head. She said this was a textbook "gall bladder headache." She went to treat it (with needles) and noticed loads of heat still coming off my head, 8 hours after my morning run. Heat is a sign of inflammation of course--so I am looking at the headaches as inflammation. In Eastern medicine I am described as having hot blood, and the treatment is getting me to cool down. I am now taking a supplement called Li Dan Pian to try to get my body back into balance so that I can more effectively eliminate heat.The herbs and the needles *should* give me better vitality.
One thing I wonder about is whether sun exposure headaches are related to having capillaries and blood vessels close to the surface of my skin. I have normal but "thin" skin, and bruise easily and tend to be more sensitive to temperature. I wonder if the sun is heating up my vessels even as they are trying to eliminate heat. It seems to me that blood vessels change as we age or because of hormonal fluctuations, and I've noticed women in their early 40s (I am 40 myself) are reporting changes in their sun sensitivity here in this thread. (I guess I could go google this hypothesis!!).
As a sidenote, in addition to drinking plenty of water every day, I usually take extra strength Tylenol before going out for midday sun exposure, and this staves off the headache. I take another dose 4 hours later and this seems to keep the headache at bay. If I forget beforehand, I take two when I get back and another dose 4 hours after that. Heaven forbid I should forget altogether, though! The new "rapid release" formula is more effective for me than older formulas.
I am going to try to expose myself to midday sun more often, for brief periods--only what I can handle comfortably--to see if I can build up stamina. I am also going to consume more anti-inflammatory foods like beets and Omega-3s and see if I can tackle the problem from the nutrition angle.
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I am recently paying attention to the problem of sun exposure headaches. When I exercise or go to a festival /concert at midday, I get a sun exposure migraine (or I get really cranky). I avoided being outside for quite awhile and sort of forgot about the problem--and ended up having a Vitamin D deficiency. I now take Vitamin D supplements for that but I can't say that it has really made a difference for me.
I recently saw an acupuncturist for my headache symptoms. I described the onset as pain between the shoulder blades that rose up to the base of the skull, then throbbed upward toward the center line between my ears, and ending up localized to one side of my head. She said this was a textbook "gall bladder headache." She went to treat it (with needles) and noticed loads of heat still coming off my head, 8 hours after my morning run. Heat is a sign of inflammation of course--so I am looking at the headaches as inflammation. In Eastern medicine I am described as having hot blood, and the treatment is getting me to cool down. I am now taking a supplement called Li Dan Pian to try to get my body back into balance so that I can more effectively eliminate heat.The herbs and the needles *should* give me better vitality.
One thing I wonder about is whether sun exposure headaches are related to having capillaries and blood vessels close to the surface of my skin. I have normal but "thin" skin, and bruise easily and tend to be more sensitive to temperature. I wonder if the sun is heating up my vessels even as they are trying to eliminate heat. It seems to me that blood vessels change as we age or because of hormonal fluctuations, and I've noticed women in their early 40s (I am 40 myself) are reporting changes in their sun sensitivity here in this thread. (I guess I could go google this hypothesis!!).
As a sidenote, in addition to drinking plenty of water every day, I usually take extra strength Tylenol before going out for midday sun exposure, and this staves off the headache. I take another dose 4 hours later and this seems to keep the headache at bay. If I forget beforehand, I take two when I get back and another dose 4 hours after that. Heaven forbid I should forget altogether, though! The new "rapid release" formula is more effective for me than older formulas.
I am going to try to expose myself to midday sun more often, for brief periods--only what I can handle comfortably--to see if I can build up stamina. I am also going to consume more anti-inflammatory foods like beets and Omega-3s and see if I can tackle the problem from the nutrition angle.
September 22, 2010 - 7:59amThis Comment
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