How to Prevent and Treat Dehydration Headaches

Tired of annoying summer headaches? Learn how important proper summer hydration is for helping you be safe and stop dehydration headaches this summer.  

Do you find that your most anticipated summer plans are often ruined by pesky summertime headaches? If so, you may be dealing with more than just a typical headache. Dehydration is a very common problem for women during the summertime. Unfortunately, it can cause a lot of unwanted physical symptoms, including unexpected headaches. 

If you’d like to spend this summer having fun instead of canceling plans because of headaches, you may be able to achieve your goal by paying more attention to your body’s summer hydration needs. In addition to plain old drinking water, you can also use Herhydration to help keep you safe, hydrated, and headache-free this summer!  

Ladies, we need to have a heart-to-heart about staying hydrated this summer. Dehydration statistics are kind of alarming and show that an estimated 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated! Chronic dehydration can increase our risk of kidney stones, urinary tract infections, and even kidney failure. Our bodies rely heavily on water to function properly, so it’s little wonder that we start to develop unpleasant symptoms when we deprive our bodies of the fluids they require. 

Frequent headaches are a common dehydration symptom. Unfortunately, many of us think headaches are due to sleeping wrong the night before, having too much stress, or spending too much time in the sun. While these are all potential causes of headaches, one of the most overlooked culprits of head pain is dehydration. Understanding dehydration and how to avoid it or treat it can help us have a safer summer. 

Dehydration headaches don’t feel the same for everyone. But for many people, headaches from dehydration feel very similar to other types of headaches. Some of us may even think we’re experiencing a hangover headache when we’re actually feeling that oh-so-familiar pounding sensation due to mild or moderate dehydration! 

If you’re wondering why we get headaches while dehydrated, the answer isn’t clear. There are not many researchers who have taken a deep dive into the link between headaches and dehydration, so we don’t have a lot of studies from which to glean more understanding on the subject. But regardless of the underlying cause, it is clear that dehydration headaches are a thing (and they are very good at messing with our fun summer plans!).

With so many potential headache triggers, how can you tell if you’re experiencing a dehydration headache or some other type of headache? Well, dehydration doesn’t just cause headaches. It can cause a whole slew of symptoms that are our body’s way of screaming, “I AM NOT GETTING ENOUGH WATER!” 

Unfortunately, our bodies can’t really scream at us, so we have to pay attention to the little clues they give us that they need more hydration. Besides a dehydration headache, here are a few of the additional symptoms we’re likely to experience if we have mild dehydration.

• Muscle cramps
• Dry mouth
• Dark urine
• Loss of appetite
• Decreased urine output
• Fatigue
• Strong-smelling urine
• Head pain
• Increased thirst
• Cracked lips
• Increased heart rate
• Muscle cramps
• Dizziness

These are all symptoms of mild dehydration, but what happens if we become more severely dehydrated? When our bodies go without sufficient water for too long, advanced dehydration can set in. this is a medical emergency that requires immediate IV treatment to avoid organ damage (or worse). 

Here are a few indications that you’re dealing with severe dehydration and need to increase your fluid intake immediately.

• Extreme thirst
• Lack of sweat
• Not peeing at all
• Poor skin turgor (meaning the skin doesn’t bounce back when gently pinched)
• Dizziness and nausea
• Intense dehydration headache
• Sunken eyes
• Low or high blood pressure
• Rapid heartbeat
• Increased body temperature
• Reduced blood flow and volume
• Shrinking blood vessels in the brain

If you experience any of these serious dehydration symptoms, it’s time to get intravenous fluid as soon as possible! 

Strangely, some people may not feel thirsty at all when they’re dehydrated. It’s unknown why dehydration triggers feelings of extreme thirst in some people and little to no thirst in others. Research shows that the older we are, the less likely we are to feel thirsty when our body needs more fluid. 

For many people, a dehydration headache feels like any other common type of headache (such as a tension headache, secondary headache, or even a migraine headache). The pain is often described as a dull ache, though others may experience sharper sensations. The pain from a dehydration headache may come and go or remain constant until we increase our water intake.

According to the American Migraine Foundation, people who are already prone to migraine pain often report that dehydration is a common trigger for their symptoms. For these people, even a slight issue with fluid balance can cause intense migraine pain. 

If you seem to develop a chronic migraine during the hotter months of the year, there is a possibility that you’re actually dealing with a dehydration headache. You should try to replace lost fluid by drinking water and consuming products with electrolytes (such as Herhydration). This can help you prevent dehydration going forward.  

We all know the old recommendation to drink eight glasses of water per day. But if it’s really hot outside, your body is going to need more fluid than that for optimal hydration. You’ll also need to increase your water intake if you’re physically active during the summer. The more active you are, the more fluid intake your body requires to replace fluids lost through sweat. 

No one wants to deal with a dehydration headache in the middle of their summer vacation. To prevent migraine pain from fluid loss, we need to understand dehydration headache cause and prevention basics. Here are some of the top things we can do to prevent pain from a dehydration migraine:

• Drink water before, during, and after workouts
• Carry a water bottle everywhere 
• Improve the taste of plain water with lemon slices or other fruit slices
• Avoid caffeinated beverages, which are dehydrating
• Keep electrolytes balanced with a daily electrolyte supplement such as Herhydration

These are some of the best ways to avoid a dehydration migraine attack this summer. 

We know that water is important for avoiding dehydration, but many of us don’t realize that in most cases of dehydration, water by itself isn’t enough to minimize our symptoms. If we’re already dealing with migraine pain and other symptoms associated with fluid loss, we need to focus on replacing our electrolytes as well as increasing our overall fluid volume. 

For those wondering how to rehydrate most effectively, Herhydration is the answer. This coconut water supplement delivers much-needed electrolytes to your body and acts as a compact water hydration packet that helps increase the effectiveness of the water you drink.

Unlike most popular sports drink brands, Herhydration is an oral hydration solution that does not flush your body full of sugar. Instead, it is sweetened with stevia and organic fruit to provide you with all-natural hydration and sustained energy. If you are tired of summertime migraine pain, make sure you’re compensating for water loss by taking a packet of Herhydration each day.