Home should be a refuge—and that’s especially true for migraine sufferers. Unfortunately, your abode can also house a host of migraine triggers, from harsh fluorescent lights to rooms coated in thick air fresheners. By keeping a few simple tips in mind, your home can go from being your worst enemy to your best defense against migraine pain.
Kill the Lights
Bright light is the biggest household harm for migraine sufferers, according to Edmund Messina, MD, director of the Michigan Headache Clinic in East Lansing, Mich. If you live in a place that gets plenty of bright sunshine, you may want to consider covering your windows with dark, heavy drapes that can block out aggravating light.
“Having a light-free room is really useful when you’re in the middle of a bad migraine,” Dr. Messina says.
But natural lighting isn’t the only migraine trigger. Among the first steps to creating a migraine-free zone is banishing all fluorescent lighting from your house. Soft lighting is best, Dr. Messina says. He suggests swapping blinding fluorescents with warmer incandescent light bulbs.
Like Messina, Gary Ruoff, MD, who practices at Westside Family Medical Center in Kalamazoo, Mich., says lighting is the most important factor to consider when creating a migraine-free space. Dr. Ruoff, who authored a patient education book titled Knock Out Headaches, to be released in September, has two simple rules for lighting in the home: not too bright and not flashing.
“You need lighting that isn’t too bright, and you don’t want chandeliers with 15 different bulbs that are flashing,” Dr. Ruoff says. “Christmas tree bulbs that flash are bad, too.”
Another trigger is the flickering lights on television, movie and computer screens, according to Seymour Diamond, MD, executive chairman of the National Headache Foundation and founder and director emeritus of the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago.
Air Fresheners Are Not Your Friend
Odors are a major migraine trigger. A scent that might come across as perfectly pleasant for someone who doesn’t have migraine can send a migraineur into a world of pain. Air fresheners, room deodorizers and scented candles shouldn’t cross your threshold if you are a migraine sufferer, Dr. Messina says. And don’t forget to rid your home of heavily fragrant soap, hand lotion, body wash, cologne and perfume.
Megan Downey, a web editor in Chicago, suffers chronic migraines. She says her migraines are primarily caused by sudden weather changes, but scents are another major culprit. “Certain scents do cause my migraines, but I think it differs for everyone,” Downey says. “For me, it’s really strong floral scents. So I never get really flowery candles, perfumes or lotions.”
In addition to perfumes and lotions, you’ll want to be careful if your child comes home asking for help with an art project: Glues and paints can upset people with migraine, Dr. Messina says.
Cleaning products also pose a minefield of problems for migraine sufferers. Choose products that are unscented or very lightly scented. Carpet cleaners are notorious for causing problems, Dr. Messina says, as they are typically put into the carpet and then vacuumed out—which causes the product to erupt into the air, leaving a strong fragrance behind.
If this year’s spring cleaning involves home renovations, keep your head in mind. The glue and formaldehyde used in new carpet and the odor of a fresh coat of paint can quickly cause pain, Dr. Messina says. “Home renovations can bother migraineurs, so they may need to arrange to stay somewhere else to avoid the triggers,” he says.
Create Your Own Escape
The first thing Downey does when she has a migraine is seek out the one place in her home where she can shut the world away.
“Depending on what kind of migraine I get, I can be really sensitive to light, so I tend to stay in our darkest room of the condo, which happens to be the bedroom,” she says. “Any movement can set off pangs and pangs of pain, so I stay laying down as much as possible. If none of that works, sometimes just sitting in the shower under hot water helps.”
Having a place to escape to when you have a migraine is essential, Dr. Messina says. It should be a place that’s free of bright light, loud noises and activity, he says. It could be a bedroom, den, basement—anywhere where you can get away from the world and its many migraine triggers to appropriately deal with your pain. Think of this place as your personal relaxation room. “If you can take refuge in a room, block out bright light, put on headphones and listen to music,” Dr. Messina says, “you can emerge from your cave refreshed and ready to take on the world again.”
Anatomy of a Relaxation Room
A relaxation room should be a room where a migraineur can go and not be bothered for 30 minutes a day, Dr. Ruoff says. “A relaxation room is a haven for the person to be away from activity,” he says. “To make it really work, the family has to buy into this—spouse, kids, everyone.” To create the ideal relaxation room, Dr. Ruoff makes the following recommendations.
Essential Features:
- Easy chair
- Heavy drapes, shades or Venetian blinds to block out harsh light
- A lamp with three-way incandescent bulbs to appropriately control light
- A “do not disturb” sign for the door
- A music player to play soothing sounds
Off limits:
- Cell phones
- TVs
- Computers
Off-the-Beaten Path Home Fixes
Light, sound and smell are obvious fixes in your quest to migraine-proof your home, but Dr. Ruoff has some lesser-known ways to create a truly healthy space:
- Make friends with Mozart. If you suffer from migraines and are a fan of rap, hip-hop or any music with a strong beat, you might want to embrace a new musical genre—classical. “Chopin and Mozart’s beats are very soothing,” Dr. Ruoff says, “and music therapy is good for the migraine patient.”
- Paint in pastels. Consider covering your walls in pastel paints, as glaring white paint can irritate migraineurs. Dr. Ruoff recommends green and yellow tones because of their happy feel (which can help combat depression, a common co- morbidity of chronic migraine). But before you pick up a brush, remember that the smell of paint is a migraine trigger, so it’s best to hire someone to do the job and stay out of the house until the fresh paint odor subsides.
- Create a friendly fire. If you have a fireplace, make sure it’s well ventilated to prevent heavy, ashy odors from filling your home. Also, opt for a gas-operated fireplace instead of a wood-burning model, as the strong smells created by wood can trigger a migraine.
