There are many known causes of headaches and migraines and many more triggers which set off attacks.

'Causes'- refers to conditions which pre-exist and can make an individual more susceptible to a headache or a migraine

Common causes of Headache and Migraine

Nose and Throat Pain & conditions such as Sinusitis.

Ear Pain & problems such as ear infections.

Dental & Jaw Pain & conditions such as dental caries, occlusion problems.

Neck Pain & problems such as whiplash, postural strain, myofascial triggers.

Eye Pain & problems such as eyestrain, glaucoma, short sightedness etc.

Nerve Pain & brain conditions such as tumours and nerve inflammation.

Food Triggers & poor dietary habits such as eating irregularly affects blood sugar levels.

Triggers

'Triggers' usually refers to factors which make an attack of head-pain start and is often used in the literature when referring to migraines.

Read more about common headache and migraine triggers:

Common food triggers are wine, chocolate, cheese.

Common environmental triggers are heat, bright light, loud noise.

Stress

Menstrual - it is thought that hormonal fluctuation is more a 'predisposing' cause.

Dehydration

Many other factors have been cited as triggers. The best way to identify triggers is to keep a headache/ migraine diary. The best way to identify causes and address them is to see an appropriate health professional.

Treatments should always account for a combination of 'Causes' and 'Triggers'

It is common to see a combination of these 'Ingredients'. Read More about Combined treatment approach. Your Health Professional should take any/ all of these into account and refer where necessary to experts in related fields.

You can read all about the different factors which can contribute to headaches and migraines by clicking on the various sections of the head slider sections on the home page (which comes up when you first see this web-site); for convenience they are all referred to as 'causes'.

This is because the vast majority of headaches and migraines have more than one cause / or 'trigger' involved, and it is easier to put them all together as 'causes', as they can all contribute to head-pain at the end of the day!

This is an important point, because many headache and migraine sufferers have a number of factors which interact to produce an episode of head-pain; and many have tried one treatment or another without success- because the other problems have been left unaddressed and are enough to still produce a migraine or a headache.

This site is designed toward addressing this 'multiple cause' model in the hope that it will draw together the expertise of all the professions which regularly deal with headaches and migraines, and formulate a 'combined approach' to the problem- dealing with any / all potential causes or triggers simultaneously and more effectively.

This may often involve a number of health-care professionals working together to ensure there are no 'serious' causes, and then addressing the ones which can be dealt with through therapy/ life-style modification/ diet modification/ home exercises e.t.c

Your family doctor should be able to help co-ordinate the overall process.

See Treatments section Combined Approach & Treatment Options for specific areas.