Why do I keep getting headaches?

By Aamir Malik, PhD, Professor of Neuroengineering at Brno University of Technology

Published 21 October 2026 · Updated 21 October 2026

This guide shares wellness information to use alongside your doctor, never instead of one.

Which headaches is this guide about?

Two kinds are common. The tension-type headache is a pressing band around the forehead or the back of the head, fed by stress, a clenched jaw, hours at a screen and skipped basics. Migraine is different. It is a real event in the brain and nerves, not just a bad headache: often a throbbing pain on one side, with nausea and a dislike of light and sound, sometimes announced by an aura of shimmering or numbness. Many people get a blend of the two, and the everyday levers overlap.

Can not drinking enough water cause headaches?

Yes. It is perhaps the least glamorous lever in the whole book, and for headache it may be the largest. Mild dehydration that goes on day after day is a common trigger, and an entirely fixable one. In a primary-care trial, simply drinking more water meaningfully improved quality of life for people with recurring headaches. Keep a steady intake across the day.

Which other habits bring on headaches?

• Skipped meals. A dip in blood sugar is among the most reliable triggers there is. Eat regular meals.
• Sleep that is too short, or too long. Both bite. The “weekend migraine” that lands after a long Saturday lie-in is a classic. In the book’s words: “What the headache-prone brain wants isn’t more or less; it’s regular”. Keep the same wake time every day, weekends included.
• Caffeine swings. A modest amount early in the day can ease a headache, which is why it is in many painkillers. Too much, or the morning you skip your usual cup, can cause one. Keep it modest and steady.
• Long screen stretches. Hours of glare and held-breath focus feed the tension kind. Break them up.
• Stress held in the body. A day of clenched jaw, hunched shoulders and shallow breathing pulls the band tight. Slow breathing, about six breaths a minute, calms the nervous system, and time with people you like takes the edge off stress further upstream.

Can painkillers make headaches worse?

Yes, and almost nobody is told. It is called medication-overuse headache, or rebound headache. Taken too often, the pills meant to rescue you become the cause, quietly turning an occasional headache into a daily one. The book’s line for when to get help: simple painkillers such as paracetamol (acetaminophen) or ibuprofen on 15 or more days a month, or migraine drugs called triptans, opioids, or pills that combine more than one painkiller on 10 or more days a month, for longer than three months. If that sounds like you, talk to your doctor before the loop sets in.

Does food make a difference?

Yes, in both directions.

• Too little: magnesium, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and the omega-3 fats in oily fish have real evidence behind them, with calcium alongside. In a 2021 trial in the BMJ, adults with migraine who ate more omega-3 fats had about two fewer headache days a month. Get these from your plate first.
• Too much: vitamin A in excess raises the pressure inside the skull and causes headache directly. It hides in liver, cod liver oil and high-dose “hair, skin and nails” capsules. The simple rule: don’t over-supplement, and read the labels.
• Your own triggers: some food chemicals set off migraine in some people, such as those in aged cheeses, MSG and the sweetener aspartame. But triggers are intensely individual, and skipped meals and too little water predict attacks more reliably than any single food. So don’t ban whole food groups on suspicion. For a few weeks, keep a two-line diary of what you ate and when the pain came, and find your two or three real triggers.

Does exercise help?

Regular aerobic exercise does. In a well-known trial, people with migraine who exercised regularly did about as well as people taking a standard daily migraine medicine. One caution: for some people a sudden, all-out effort can set off a headache, so build up gradually rather than sprinting from cold.

When is a headache an emergency?

Call your local emergency number or go to the emergency department straight away for:

• a sudden, explosive “worst headache of my life” that peaks within a minute
• a headache with fever and a stiff neck
• a first-ever seizure with a headache
• a significant headache after a blow to the head
• a headache with confusion, weakness, numbness, difficulty speaking or a change in your vision

See a doctor soon, and don’t sit on it, for:

• a brand-new headache after age 50, especially with a tender scalp or jaw pain when you chew; this can signal an inflamed artery that threatens sight and needs attention the same week
• a headache that keeps waking you, or is worst first thing in the morning
• a headache that has been getting steadily worse over weeks
• a new or severe headache in pregnancy or in the weeks after giving birth
• a new headache if you have had cancer or have a weakened immune system
• a headache reliably set off by coughing, straining or sex
• any clear change in your usual pattern

Most headaches are the ordinary kind above. Knowing which ones aren’t “just a headache” is the rest of the skill.

Fix the Floor comes with a home self-assessment, about fifty minutes, that shows you which of your five pillars to fix first.

Fix the Floor: Your health breaks at its weakest link. Find yours. Fix it.

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