In medicine, sleep and headaches remain some of the most understudied things. What needs to be done for better sleep, what factors are key in the development of migraines - all these are questions that scientists cannot yet answer unequivocally. The question of why your head hurts when you sleep a lot is a combination of two problems at once. Let's try to study the information that people currently have.
Factors affecting sleep duration
Sometimes a person may notice a strange thing: a little sleep - a headache, a lot of sleep - a headache. This raises certain questions, because not everyone will purposefully deprive themselves of sleep when they want to sleep longer.
The truth that lack of sleep is extremely harmful is known to all. But if everything is more or less clear with the causes of lack of sleep, then what affects the duration of sleep in general is no longer so clear. First of all, the need for sleep decreases with age. The younger a person is, the longer they tend to sleep and the more sleep they may need. to the middleWith age, the amount of sleep needed for he alth stops at around 7-8 hours.
Sleep too long and have a headache? What to do? the duration of sleep is affected by diseases characteristic of a person, as well as the type of work in which he was engaged shortly before going to bed. This condition can be disturbing due to the lack of rest between work and household chores, which is not compensated by a long sleep.
When we rest a lot
Typically, overwork, accumulation of sleep deprivation or illness is to blame for excessively long sleep.
Fatigue, as a rule, occurs when a person is engaged in hard work for a long time. And it does not matter what kind of work he will perform - physical or mental. Long thinking about any issues requires even more recovery time than active muscle work.
Lack of sleep is the main reason why your head hurts when you sleep for a long time. The accumulation of fatigue due to a long absence of normal rest provokes tension, which, with excessively long sleep, turns into pain. Therefore, it is extremely undesirable to live according to the sleep regimen popular among modern people on weekends.
Illness is another reason for too much sleep. The disease itself can affect the fact that a person has a headache if he sleeps for a long time. There can be many reasons for this condition. Finding one becomes difficult. Therefore, the provoking factor of long sleep should be eliminated first of all, and, perhaps, headaches will go away.with him.
Why does my head hurt when I sleep for a long time
But if a person is not characterized by lack of sleep, he did not overwork and does not get sick, then the causes of migraines should be understood in more detail, analyzing all aspects of rest. Why does my head hurt when I sleep for a long time? If you have eliminated obvious problems, and the issue remains relevant, then you should pay attention to the following minor reasons. Remember that even minor discomfort during sleep can lead to headaches.
Uncomfortable pillow or posture
The most obvious reason why your head hurts when you sleep for a long time is being on an uncomfortable pillow or in an uncomfortable position. In this case, the muscles tense up, and after waking up, this tension makes itself felt with pain in the head and neck. In particularly uncomfortable positions, vascular compression in the body and a decrease in brain nutrition can occur, which also leads to pain and problems with mental activity during the day.
The solution to the problem should be to change the position and pillow to something more comfortable. If the patient has orthopedic problems, he should visit a doctor and get himself special orthopedic sleep supplies.
Problems with sleep quality
Many people suffer from insomnia, they can not fall asleep immediately, even though they go to bed on time. But even more people experience problems with occasional sleep disturbances. They wake up in the middle of the night, toss and turn in bed, fall asleep for a short time only to wake up again in half an hour. In this mode, it does not take longlook for the reason why your head hurts when you sleep a lot. Sleep is interrupted, the brain does not get the necessary rest. In such cases, it is your inability to maintain normal sleep cycles that should be treated.
This reason may also apply to women who have recently had a baby. Because of the crying of children, their nighttime sleep may be interrupted. It would seem that she slept for a long time, and her head hurts. What to do? Here, the solution may be to involve other family members in the care of the newborn. The less often a particular person has to get up in the middle of the night, the better that person will feel in the morning.
Inflammation of the paranasal sinuses
Inflammation of the paranasal sinuses or sinusitis is the cause of headaches both during wakefulness and during sleep. The precursor of frontitis is a cold with a runny nose. If the runny nose is too strong, then the paranasal sinuses become inflamed, and the pain is transmitted to the head.
Severe pulling headaches are one of the diagnostic signs of frontal sinusitis, therefore, after the inflammation is cured, they disappear, and the patient's condition returns to normal.
High blood pressure
Hypertension is high blood pressure, due to which the walls of blood vessels experience additional stress. The result is manifested by pain, especially in the morning hours. It seems to the patient that if he sleeps for a long time, his head hurts. But in fact, he needs to measure the pressure and reduce it.
If hypertension is detected, and attacks occur regularly, you should contactcardiologist, prescribe pills and follow the course of treatment. If the pressure began to increase with age, then a complete cure is unlikely. But drugs that relieve seizures will help a person not risk he alth during pressure surges.
If the patient feels an unbearable headache, and the pressure rises quickly, you should call an ambulance and take a drug for emergency pressure reduction, such as Captopril.
Drinking alcohol before bed
Alcoholic drinks can trigger headaches upon waking up. This is not related to the duration of sleep, the pain manifests itself due to the ingress of alcohol breakdown products into the blood, which have a toxic effect on the body. But a person may feel that his head hurts precisely because he slept too much.
Some people do not experience headaches after drinking alcoholic beverages, but most are still prone to hangovers. Eating while drinking and monitoring the quality of liquor can help reduce exposure.
Types of morning headaches
The symptoms of morning headaches depend on what caused them:
- With cervical osteochondrosis, this is a pulling feeling in the neck and head, more characteristic of one side. When the position changes, the nature of the pain also changes.
- Tension headache. Occurs with lack of sleep. The patient is disturbed by squeezing pains around the head. If aoffer a person a walk, then his condition will improve.
- Hypertensive pain. It is characterized by pressing sensations in the back of the head and flies before the eyes. The general condition of the patient also worsens, nausea and weakness appear.
- Pain from inflamed paranasal sinuses. Occur in the frontal part of the head, if you tilt your head forward - intensify.
You should follow the nature and location of the pain if it bothers you often. A detailed description will help to make a preliminary diagnosis, which will help in the future to get rid of a disturbing problem or at least correct the condition.
Headache relief after long sleep
There is no magic pill that completely eliminates headaches forever. But if you use a complex of methods of drug and non-drug nature, then it is possible to get rid of discomfort after sleep for as long as possible.
Non-drug treatment includes various types of massage, exercise therapy and physiotherapy.
Massage can be both classic, with visits by a professional massage therapist, and self-massage, which can be done during breaks at work or at home when pain occurs. Self-massage is carried out in a circular motion, lightly pressing on places from the crown to the back of the head.
Therapeutic exercises are especially useful for pain caused by osteochondrosis or regular uncomfortable sleeping positions. You should choose the course of physical education that is necessary for a specific violation, only then the classes will bring theirresult.
Physiotherapy includes both traditional methods, such as magnetic therapy or electrical stimulation, and non-traditional methods (acupuncture). All these techniques are very popular among people, as they have a long-term effect. But in order to notice the result, it is necessary to carry out at least 10 procedures.
Drug treatment involves primarily painkillers. This is the first thing the doctor prescribes before the specific cause of pain after a long sleep is established. Basically, the list of painkillers includes drugs belonging to the group of NSAIDs.
After the cause of the pain has been clarified, the doctor determines the course of specific therapy that affects the cause. These can be both mild sedatives and more serious drugs from the psychopharmacology group. In some cases, a disease that leads to headaches in the morning has to be treated in a complex way, using several drugs at once.
If after sleep a person feels a headache, then he should correct his sleep pattern. Only then can one judge what else could be causing the problems resulting from a long rest period. Sometimes a regular daily routine can help get rid of pain.