Let’s face it, working with migraines in the office is something no one wants to deal with but is an unfortunate reality for many. Primary headache disorders, including migraines and tension and cluster headaches, affect almost half of the general population.
For office workers, chronic migraines can be especially debilitating due to their recurrent nature and distressing symptoms like nausea, heightened sensitivity to light, sound, and smells.
This is compounded by the fact that many elements commonly found in office workspaces and lifestyles are recognized as triggers for migraine attacks.
But no need to look for another job!
If you suffer from recurring migraine attacks, your employer can provide workplace accommodations such as a flexible work schedule with frequent breaks, reduced workload and increased sick leave to help you stay healthy and productive in the office.
Your employer is legally required to offer these accommodations if necessary and you may even be eligible for disability benefits depending on the severity and frequency of your migraines.
What causes migraines?
Sitting
It’s no secret that so much sitting and no exercise can put you out of shape and contribute to long-term ailments including diabetes and heart disease.
But its lesser known effects on your upper body muscles and cervical spine can trigger head pain and migraine attacks, especially if you have poor posture or your workstation’s ergonomics force you into an unnatural position.
Lighting
Artificial lighting and brightness are particularly common migraine triggers in many patients. Many offices use incandescent and fluorescent lights in their workspaces and their glare or flickering may cause migraine attacks.
Less commonly, migraine strikes after long periods of staring at bright lights or your computer screen. Any overhead lights reflecting off your screen will also increase its glare.
Together, these sources force your visual cortex to work harder to process information, compensating for the frequent changes in brightness.
To prevent your office lighting from triggering migraines, position your chair and computer monitor away from overhead lights or cover your monitor with an anti-glare screen. Placing covers over any fluorescent bulbs to filter their glare may also help protect your visual cortex from overstimulation.
Stress
Deadlines are fast approaching and your workload is huge. You just had some difficult conversations with your boss and co workers. Worse, layoffs might be coming.
While sometimes this work-related stress is a great motivator, research shows that when poorly managed, it causes structural and functional changes in the brain which can trigger episodic and chronic migraine. This helps explain why migraine strikes often in stressful circumstances, with 80 percent of sufferers reporting stress as a trigger.
Stress can also increase migraine pain by interrupting your sleep. When your sleep cycle is disrupted, your pineal gland produces low melatonin levels which according to one study may exacerbate migraine symptoms.
Sleep deprivation may also disturb your body’s pain inhibition mechanisms and decrease serotonin production, causing higher migraine frequency and headaches upon waking.
Fast food
Whether you’re grabbing breakfast on your way to the office or a quick snack during your break, you may be tempted to choose fast food. But those processed foods are loaded with saturated fats, sodium and additives which can cause a painful migraine headache.
- Home-made salads
- High protein sources such as eggs, low-fat milk and yoghurt
- Fresh or canned fruits and vegetables
- complex carbohydrates – starches and whole-grain breads
Treating migraines
Migraine medications
Posture and exercise
To reduce this strain and the risk of migraine attacks, try setting an alarm every twenty or thirty minutes to stand up and stretch your body and observe your posture, ensuring you are sitting up straight and your head and shoulders are aligned—step outside for a quick walk and some fresh air if possible.
Besides keeping your body in good shape, an exercise routine outside the office has huge benefits for your brain which may reduce migraine episodes.
Excessive exercise can exacerbate headaches. However, high-intensity interval training, which consists of short bursts of vigorous movements like jogging, running, and climbing stairs, has been shown to alleviate migraine symptoms. This is achieved by reducing arterial stiffness and inflammation, ultimately enhancing blood flow to the brain.
Manage stress
Yoga
While vigorous stretches may exacerbate migraine symptoms, gentle poses such as the child’s pose and forward fold reduce migraine attack frequency in many patients and reduce their reliance on pain medications.
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