There is nothing worse than falling asleep after a long day – only to be woken up in an hour by a throbbing headache. These kinds of headaches that attack at night are called hypnic headaches. Hypnic headaches have been nicknamed the “alarm clock headache.” They often strike between 1 and 3am.
Most of the victims who suffer from hypnic headaches are 40 years and older. Women are more likely to suffer from hypnic headaches than men are. They can last anywhere from 15 minutes to 6 hours. Some patients suffer from multiple attacks in one night.
Here are some ,common symptoms of hypnic headaches:
– Exclusively occur at night
– Pain on either one side or both sides of the head
– Light or sound sensitivity
– Congested nose or watery eyes
Hypnic headaches are particularly nasty because lack of sleep is often a headache trigger. If hypnic headaches are keeping you up at night, then you are more likely to get headaches during the day. It is a vicious cycle.
But there are ways to break this vicious cycle. You can treat your nighttime headaches and gain back your sleep life:
– Control your levels of stress. Stress is a primary headache trigger. If you are falling asleep while stressed out, this is a certain sign that you may get a hypnic headache attack.
– Rub your head and neck to soothe the pain
– Hold hot or cold compressors to the throbbing areas of your head
– Keep a steady sleep cycle
Here at Novera, we don’t want headaches to control your life. We want you to Seek treatment and take care of yourself, so that you can live a free and healthy life!
