Headaches and women: what do hormones have to do with it?

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The most common types of headaches for women are tension headaches and migraines. Photo: Pexels

 

(John Hopkins Medicine) — A bad headache can ruin your workday, strain your relationship with family members and affect your ability to exercise. In the U.S., headaches cause 112 million sick days each year. While one-third of the population gets headaches, women suffer more than men do.

Changes in hormones could be among the reasons women have more headaches than men do.

These hormone-related headache triggers include:

  • menstruation
  • taking oral contraceptives
  • pregnancy
  • lactation
  • menopause

Estrogen is responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system. A headache can be triggered any time there is a fluctuation in estrogen levels, including when there is a dip in estrogen levels around the time of your menstrual cycle. Women may also experience more headaches around the start of menopause and when they undergo hysterectomy. (…)

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