As great as it is to move past the deep freeze, pressure changes can wreck havoc on many Cochrane residents.

The pressure changes from chinooks can be very painful for many people, because we live in the foothills of the Rockies this pressure can be much worse as it creates more pressure in the brain and the connective tissues that surrounds it.

Pressure changes can cause circulation to be inhibited; causing a throbbing headache on the side of your head, nausea, or in extreme cases, vision issues that can last 4 to 72 hours.  There are some natural remedies that can help alongside other treatments that can used.

Kari Rose, Owner of Kari Rose Health, Massage Therapist and Natural Health Practitioner, treats all kinds of chronic and acute aliment. Rose sees an increase in patients with these debilitating headaches during chinooks. The three different types of headaches that most people will have are migraines, cluster headaches, and tension head aches, all which can be equally as painful.

Rose says the biggest thing you can do to ward off or decrease the severity of headaches is to be mindful of what causes them. 

  • pressure

  • weather

  • stress 

  • food (chocolate, coffee, alcohol)

  • poor sleep habits

  • Monosoduim glutamate (MSG)

  • changes from your normal routine 

  • low magnesium levels

Rose recommends preventive measures such as acupuncture and cranial sacral therapy which relieves and releases tension from the connective tissue in and around the brain. If that isn't available, sitting in a cool, dark, quiet room with a cold cloth on your forehead and back of the neck will shunt the blood from your head, creating better blood flow. Peppermint oil has also proven to be helpful on cooling the skin to increase blood flow. 

"When you are in that acute phase, its almost too late because you are in so much pain. Having regular acupuncture and cranial sacral treatments, avoiding your trigger foods and situations, is really all you can do because we can't control the weather."