Pressure change causing headaches?

Iancar29 · 08-12-2011 12:27am #1

SLightly off topic id admit. Mods feel free to decide the thread's faith! ha

Ok over the next 12 hours we are due to undergo a big pressure change throughout the country.

Im one that believes in "pressure Headaches"

so ye , i thought i just open this thread for those to report any similar headaches throughout the night and morning hours.

if posting , please Note any other possible reasons for headaches perhaps just came home from the pup/ been awake numerous of hours ....

amtw · 08-12-2011 12:32am

My husband is always getting very bad headaches which he attributes to "The weather". It will be interesting to see how he is in the morning.

Su Campu · 08-12-2011 12:34am

I don't buy these headaches at all. If people are that sensitive to pressure changes then they would get headaches every time they go up or down a hill.

Pressure changes by 1 hPa for every 8 metres change in height. So you drive from say the beach to your home, which is at say 80 m amsl, and it takes say 30 minutes. That's a pressure fall of around 20 hPa per hour, still around 5 times more than occurs as a strong Atlantic storm approaches, which usually gives around 3-5 hPa drop per hour at most.

That's assuming you're on a gentle rise from sea level to your home. Of course it won't be that simple, and there will be many steeper and shorter-term rises and falls, so if you there were such a condition, some people couldn't travel!

amacachi · 08-12-2011 12:37am

Su Campu wrote: »

I don't buy these headaches at all. If people are that sensitive to pressure changes then they would get headaches every time they go up or down a hill.

Pressure changes by 1 hPa for every 8 metres change in height. So you drive from your home, which is at say 80 m amsl, and it takes say 30 minutes. That's a pressure fall of around 20 hPa per hour, still around 5 times more than occurs as a strong Atlantic storm approaches, which usually gives around 3-5 hPa drop per hour at most.

That's assuming you on a gentle rise from sea level to your home. Of course it won't be that simple, and there will be many steeper and shorter-term rises and falls, so if you there were such a condition, some people couldn't travel!

Different for different people. When my sinuses are playing up I'm very susceptible to them. I live about 10m above sea level and don't go up or down hills too often. When I fly there's a 50-50 chance of sleeping that night due to pains in my ear which I'm fairly sure is down to pressure changes. :pac:

eyesquirm · 08-12-2011 12:37am

Su Campu wrote: »

I don't buy these headaches at all. If people are that sensitive to pressure changes then they would get headaches every time they go up or down a hill.

Pressure changes by 1 hPa for every 8 metres change in height. So you drive from your home, which is at say 80 m amsl, and it takes say 30 minutes. That's a pressure fall of around 20 hPa per hour, still around 5 times more than occurs as a strong Atlantic storm approaches, which usually gives around 3-5 hPa drop per hour at most.

That's assuming you're on a gentle rise from sea level to your home. Of course it won't be that simple, and there will be many steeper and shorter-term rises and falls, so if you there were such a condition, some people couldn't travel!

Now I've a headache from trying to read this.

Iancar29 · 08-12-2011 12:39am

Very reasonable fact , but i just seem to get them alot when theres a strong low.... i should document them from now on! ha

Have u ever read into the theories of how strong storms can set off minor earthquakes?

taato · 08-12-2011 12:40am

I have to agree with the weather related headaches - I'm not sure exactly which weather phenomenon to attribute these to but when it feels "heavy" I suffer from them. It will be interesting to see what other people think.

Oscar Bravo · 08-12-2011 12:42am

Ive often got a headache when there's thunder about but not in a pressure drop.I remember doing a loop in a Cessna 172(yes) years ago at Castlebar and didnt notice a thing only dirt and maps falling everywhere!! I Drive up and down to Knock regular these days and no headaches and thats quite a differecnce in height.But everyones different i suppose.

konman · 08-12-2011 12:42am

Su Campu wrote: »

I don't buy these headaches at all.

Ive learned so much from your posts Su but didnt realise you could buy headaches.

Su Campu · 08-12-2011 12:42am

amacachi wrote: »

Different for different people. When my sinuses are playing up I'm very susceptible to them. I live about 10m above sea level and don't go up or down hills too often. When I fly there's a 50-50 chance of sleeping that night due to pains in my ear which I'm fairly sure is down to pressure changes. :pac:

When climbing to cruising level, the pressure inside a plane falls from its initial pressure of say 1000 hPa to around 700 hPa. It takes around 30 minutes to climb, giving a rate of 600 hPa per hour.....so yes, we all feel that in our ears, but climbing or falling a few metres driving around in a car??

Darkglasses · 08-12-2011 12:44am

I'm prone to them, i got an absolute monster of a headache around half 4 today, eased off a bit since but still hurts. Likely to have been this?

amacachi · 08-12-2011 12:49am

Su Campu wrote: »

When climbing to cruising level, the pressure inside a plane falls from its initial pressure of say 1000 hPa to around 700 hPa. It takes around 30 minutes to climb, giving a rate of 600 hPa per hour.....so yes, we all feel that in our ears, but climbing or falling a few metres driving around in a car??

Like I said, I'd rarely be up hills. Haven't got google maps to check the biggest height I get to on a commute to college but I'm almost sure it's under 100m. Like I said, it depends hugely on how my sinuses are at a particular time, they're very **** in general.

genie · 08-12-2011 12:51am

Su Campu wrote: »

I don't buy these headaches at all. If people are that sensitive to pressure changes then they would get headaches every time they go up or down a hill.

Pressure changes by 1 hPa for every 8 metres change in height. So you drive from your home, which is at say 80 m amsl, and it takes say 30 minutes. That's a pressure fall of around 20 hPa per hour, still around 5 times more than occurs as a strong Atlantic storm approaches, which usually gives around 3-5 hPa drop per hour at most.

That's assuming you're on a gentle rise from sea level to your home. Of course it won't be that simple, and there will be many steeper and shorter-term rises and falls, so if you there were such a condition, some people couldn't travel!

I suffer from sinus problems and I can feel my ears pop when going down a steep hill! I can tell immediately when a plane is beginning its descent and have to chew gum to prevent ear problems/pain. Ryanair planes begin their descent into Knock Airport when they are over Dublin! No problems going up, only coming down!

I get headaches when the weather is thundery and when there is a deep low pressure.

I'll report how the head feels tomorrow!

Deep Easterly · 08-12-2011 12:54am

Over the next 12 hours (up to noon tomorrow) there will be approximately a 30 hPa drop on the north coast to as little as 10 hPa on the south coast. That will show you just how tight the pressure gradient will be the closer you are to the storm center itself.

Su Campu · 08-12-2011 1:14am

Darkglasses wrote: »

I'm prone to them, i got an absolute monster of a headache around half 4 today, eased off a bit since but still hurts. Likely to have been this?

Pressure was rising only very slowly throughout the day today, at around 1 hPa per hour, so if it's caused by low pressure or pressure drops then that's knocked that theory on the head....so to speak!!

TheMilkyPirate · 08-12-2011 2:38am

Snow report threads, Wind report threads.. and now headache report threads!

Boards weather forum - Not only helping you with the weather but also your health.

M.T. Cranium · 08-12-2011 3:24am

I think it's probably a real health phenomenon but it may be related more to atmospheric ionization than pressure. Since the ionization of different air masses is most likely to change abruptly in low-pressure systems, people come to associate the change with a falling barometer.

I've heard the same reports from people in my part of the world, which has a similar climate. But also I've read reports about similar effects in mountain regions associated with the foehn or chinook as it's called in North America.

If it's ionization rather than pressure, that overcomes Su Campu's legitimate objection about changing pressures with elevation. The atmospheric ionization would not change as you go up or down in elevation.

I think it's a matter of common experience that people feel better, in fact somewhat euphoric, on a breezy partly cloudy day with the wind in the southwest or west, coming in off the open ocean (same thing here), and on the other hand, people feel cranky when there's a low overcast, the wind is in the south or east, and by coincidence the barometer is falling. But what makes most feel cranky can make some feel more ill with a migraine or at least a headache.

Worth noting too that many years ago, I was able to do a study in a group home setting on the infamous "full moon and human behaviour" theory and while that didn't seem to be provable, what did stand out is that problem behaviour spiked whenever a front was approaching, and problems would be reduced to a minimum when the front had cleared. Once again, I suspected the answer might be ionization. What makes a normal person feel a bit "off" or cranky might make a disturbed person more disturbed, enough to act out and cause trouble. The relation to full moon may simply be the statistical overlap between storminess and full moon which I would submit can only be demonstrated in the winter months from my research.

One thing that might not be a constant in this line of thinking, would be the sorts of air masses mixed up in a frontal system. If the front is just a dividing line between similar air masses (re ionization) then it might not have this effect, you would need to see a good contrast, and a reliable sign of that contrast is thunderstorm or sferic activity.

Anyway, I would be interested in hearing from people (on this thread, no need to shout) with health variations during this upcoming weather event and the Monday-Tuesday event if that materializes. In particular, do people start to feel bad around the time that the wind backs into south, and do they feel better after passage of the front and veering wind direction?

ednwireland · 08-12-2011 9:30am

got a nose bleed yesterday (i was prone to them as a kid) first one in ages its defo the weather

i also have dodgy sinuses after cracking my eyesocket

boatbuilder · 08-12-2011 10:20am

Both my wife and I woke up with headaches this morning... definitely weather related.
It's a definite pattern for us...sometimes headaches happen several hours before a noticeable change in weather.

Hells Belle · 08-12-2011 10:28am

My sinuses go mental when the pressure changes, this might sound a bit mad but I get a visable purple squashed W shape on my forehead (it's there right now) then a sinus type headache. My 4 year old gets the W shape too.

It gets particularly bad when I'm on a flight that's just about to land. 7 yrs ago they bled after landing (Ryanair :pac:) it was so painful it put me off flying for a while, now I dose up on painkillers in advance.

MT with regards to your study in behaviours I have to say when I used to work with the public (call centre) we always noted a full moon, and Friday's for some reason would have many more eccentrics contacting us and the number of irate callers would rise. I can't say they were exclusive to full moons but definately more noticable. No scientific data to back that up, just an observation.

Tom Cruises Left Nut · 08-12-2011 10:36am

boatbuilder wrote: »

Both my wife and I woke up with headaches this morning... definitely weather related.
It's a definite pattern for us...sometimes headaches happen several hours before a noticeable change in weather.

Nothing to do with the wine

:pac:

Caitriona · 08-12-2011 11:50am

Hells Belle wrote: »

MT with regards to your study in behaviours I have to say when I used to work with the public (call centre) we always noted a full moon, and Friday's for some reason would have many more eccentrics contacting us and the number of irate callers would rise. I can't say they were exclusive to full moons but definately more noticable. No scientific data to back that up, just an observation.

On Mumsnet they've a moon icon displayed at the top of forum pages so you can watch the number of insane rants and arguments rise as the moon gets fuller. Fun times : )

Penname · 08-12-2011 12:07pm

Only had this discussion recently with a friend. Both of us suffer headaches in low pressure. Have a vicious one at the moment but hopefully painkillers and coffee will do the trick.

Chicken Run · 08-12-2011 12:19pm

as I've posted before on here, I get "snow headaches" before we get a snowfall.... it's a completely distinctive headache from any other type that I suffer. Have had these since I was in my teens.

Had a banging headache yesterday that resisted all painkillers but put it down to dehydration and the fact I've got a heavy cold and jammed sinuses (sorry to anyone eating and reading this)

Wine Goddess · 08-12-2011 1:10pm

ednwireland wrote: »

got a nose bleed yesterday (i was prone to them as a kid) first one in ages its defo the weather

i also have dodgy sinuses after cracking my eyesocket

my son aged 4 also got 2 nosebleeds yesterday....very unusual....no other symptoms.....

Might have been the weather also....will look into it.....(the symptom I mean, not the nose....LOL):)

Su Campu · 08-12-2011 1:14pm

Yesterday was a fairly benign day, with average pressures, very slowly rising through the day. Do people not think that it's highly unlikely that today's storm was the cause of nosebleeds, and not the normal dehydration that takes place when we get a cold spell in winter. The air is drier, people stay indoors more, where the relative humidity is very low, causing mucuous hardening in the nasal cavities, which can cause the nosebleeds?

ednwireland · 08-12-2011 2:47pm

Su Campu wrote: »

Yesterday was a fairly benign day, with average pressures, very slowly rising through the day. Do people not think that it's highly unlikely that today's storm was the cause of nosebleeds, and not the normal dehydration that takes place when we get a cold spell in winter. The air is drier, people stay indoors more, where the relative humidity is very low, causing mucuous hardening in the nasal cavities, which can cause the nosebleeds?

its not that unusual for me, sarcasm obviously didnt come through in my post

Fursttimer · 08-12-2011 2:56pm

Iancar29 wrote: »

SLightly off topic id admit. Mods feel free to decide the thread's faith! ha

Ok over the next 12 hours we are due to undergo a big pressure change throughout the country.

Im one that believes in "pressure Headaches"

so ye , i thought i just open this thread for those to report any similar headaches throughout the night and morning hours.

if posting , please Note any other possible reasons for headaches perhaps just came home from the pup/ been awake numerous of hours ....

I read all weather related threads on boards.ie religiously each day, without posting but feel the need to now.

I actually read this thread last night and said to myself "I wonder will my missus say anything to me tomorrow"

Since we've been together, she is 100% certain she gets weather related headaches.

I just met her for lunch and on leaving she turned around to me and said "I have such a severe headache" she nearly gave me a slap when I laughed (:D) and then I explained to her that I read this thread.

We live on the North-East coast by the way which was subject to pressure change today as mentioned above. Fascinating

Mountainsandh · 09-12-2011 12:55am

I'm very prone to sinus headaches, but here in the South East I didn't notice any discomfort or start of a headache today. Never really paid attention to the weather when I had my headaches before, will have to now !
Got an awful altitude headache as a teenager going up to Aiguille du Midi (to view the Mont Blanc), not funny when you're stuck in a cable car... simply had to go down again straight away.
I live near enough to 200masl now, and work literally at sea level, but never noticed improvement or otherwise when going down to work. Or maybe it does improve now I think of it, since by lunchtime I'm usually ok... could be the Nurofen + though :pac:

Conor30 · 09-12-2011 7:46am

I'd no headache, I'm glad to say. Drink lots of water guys!:D

sunbabe08 · 09-12-2011 7:46am

have a rather sensitive head anyway, but when the pressure goes down headache and dizzy spells.

yesterday did notice i was a little off alright, my head dizzy. no headache. thank god

Pressure change causing headaches?

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