Heat Headache In Darwin: The Build-Up, Dehydration, The Wet Season And Yoga

It’s the build-up in Darwin. The air is thick, the afternoon storm will not break, and by four o’clock your head is pounding. Is it the heat, the water you forgot to drink, or the start of a migraine?

Heat headache in Darwin: the short answer

A heat headache is real, and the research backs it: hot days bring more headaches, and so does going short of water. In Darwin’s build-up and wet season, heat, humidity, storms and dehydration often arrive together. Drink first, get cool, then use a quiet, head-supported yoga practice to calm the system that tips a hot-day headache into a migraine. Here is how we approach it at Flametree, in Woolner and Coolalinga.

Here is the article in short form:

• Hotter days, more headaches: about 7.5% more for each 5°C.
• About 1 in 10 people asked got dehydration headaches.
• Drink before you bend forward. Bending can make it worse.
• Mr Iyengar’s theme: keep the head cool and quiet.
• Storm season matters too: falling pressure, rising humidity.
• Come to the studio and tell your teacher.
• Start with 2 free classes in Darwin or LIVE online.

Iyengar yoga is the style developed by Mr BKS Iyengar. In the 20th century he did more than anyone to set down traditional Indian yoga, through his books and his teaching, and he pioneered the use of props. It’s the style we teach at Flametree. This post sits beside our full headaches and migraine guide and the deeper page on migraine relief: what Geeta Iyengar advised, both part of our encyclopaedia of yoga for health conditions.

A cool, quiet practice for a hot season

Is a heat headache real?

In short: yes. Higher temperatures go with more headaches, migraine included.

Researchers in Boston looked at 7,054 people who came to one hospital emergency department with a headache. They compared the weather in the day before each visit with the weather on other days. According to PubMed, for every 5°C rise in temperature over the previous 24 hours, the risk of a headache bad enough to need the emergency department rose by about 7.5%. That held for people diagnosed with migraine and for other headaches.

Mukamal and colleagues, 2009, Neurology. Read the study (PMID 19273827).

In a separate study of 1,207 people with migraine, more than half (53.2%) named the weather as a trigger, and 30.3% named heat. Kelman, 2007, Cephalalgia. Read the study (PMID 17403039). Our post on migraine triggers covers the full list.

What about the wet season in Darwin?

In short: storms bring falling air pressure and heavy humidity, and both are linked with headache.

The same Boston study found that lower air pressure raised the risk of non-migraine headaches two to three days later. That is the kind of drop that comes before a storm. In Darwin, the build-up from about October and the wet season after it bring heat, humidity and storms in one package.

A humidity headache is harder to pin down in studies, because humid days here are also hot days. We cannot change the season. We can change what the body does with it.

Keeping the head cool

Is it a dehydration headache?

In short: quite possibly. Drink first, and wait before you bend forward.

A British headache doctor, Dr J. N. Blau, described the water-deprivation headache in 2004, after two medical students told him they got headaches whenever they went without water. He asked family, colleagues and friends. According to PubMed, about 1 in 10 of those asked had the same kind of headache.

For most of them (22 of 34), drinking about half a litre of water cleared the headache completely within 30 minutes. For others it took one to three hours. The pain was usually made worse by moving the head, walking, or bending down.

Blau and colleagues, 2004, Headache. Read the study (PMID 14979888).

That last point matters for yoga. If a dehydration headache is coming on, a forward bend can make it feel worse at first. So drink water before class, and before any forward bend at home. Then rest the head at a height where the neck can let go, which is Geeta Iyengar’s test for migraine relief.

What did Mr Iyengar teach for a hot head?

In short: support the head, rest the eyes, and keep the head cool.

In Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health, Mr BKS Iyengar gives three separate approaches to headache (pp. 351 to 355). They share one theme: a calm, head-supported practice that cools the head. Geeta S Iyengar, his daughter, writes in Yoga: A Gem for Women (pp. 93 to 94) about keeping the head cool with forward bends and Downward Dog.

For Darwin, this is practical advice. In the heat of the build-up, a hard, sweaty session can leave you more wrung out than before. A supported forward bend, with the forehead on a bolster or chair, does the opposite. The face softens, the eyes rest, the breath slows.

Head supported, after a drink

What should you do on a hot headache day in Darwin?

In short: water, shade, then a quiet supported practice. No strong effort.

1. Drink. Half a litre of water, then wait.
2. Get cool. A fan, the shade or an air-conditioned room. Take off the hat and sunglasses that may be pressing on your head.
3. Rest the head. Forehead on a chair seat or bolster, at a height where the neck softens.
4. Cover the eyes. A head wrap, or a folded cloth. Chris shows how in her head wrap post.
5. Leave backbends and strong breathing for another day. Geeta Iyengar said backbends make a migraine worse.

The head wrap

Why come to the studio when your head hurts?

In short: a teacher who can see you changes the class for you on the day.

Tell your teacher if a headache or migraine is near. Instead of the standing poses or backbends the rest of the room is doing, you get a chair, a bolster and a forehead rest. Between attacks, regular classes several times a week build the calm that makes a hot day less likely to tip over.

Flametree has two studios in greater Darwin: Woolner (19B Bishop St, near Parap) and Coolalinga (Shop T31, Coolalinga Central). Mats and props are provided. The restorative classes at Woolner (Thursday 5.45pm, open level with 3 months of yoga or the teacher’s OK, and Saturday 4pm) are where the quiet, supported work is taught most fully. If you cannot face the drive in a storm, many classes also run LIVE online.

New to Flametree, or away 3 months or more? Get 2 free classes, then 10 at half price. See the beginner timetable, or reserve a class.

Heat headache and yoga in Darwin: questions people ask

Can hot weather cause a headache?

Yes. In a study of 7,054 emergency department visits, each 5°C rise in temperature over the previous day raised the risk of a severe headache by about 7.5%, for migraine and other headaches.

How do I know if it is a dehydration headache?

In a 2004 study, most people with a water-deprivation headache felt it clear within 30 minutes of drinking about half a litre of water. It was often worse when they moved the head or bent down.

Does the wet season in Darwin cause headaches?

Storms bring falling air pressure, which a Boston study linked with more non-migraine headaches two to three days later. The build-up adds heat and humidity, both common triggers.

What yoga helps a heat headache?

After a drink and a cool place, a quiet, head-supported practice: forward bends with the forehead resting, eyes covered, slow breathing. Mr Iyengar’s headache advice centres on keeping the head cool.

Should I do yoga with a headache in Darwin’s heat?

Gentle, supported yoga, yes. Leave strong, sweaty sessions, backbends and strong breathing for another day, and tell your teacher so the class is adapted.

Where can I do yoga for migraine in Darwin?

Flametree Yoga Studio teaches Iyengar yoga at Woolner and Coolalinga in greater Darwin, and LIVE online. New students get 2 free classes, then 10 at half price.

Where this comes from

Mukamal 2009, Blau 2004 and Kelman 2007, checked on PubMed and linked above. Mr BKS Iyengar, Yoga: The Path to Holistic Health, pp. 351 to 355. Geeta S Iyengar, Yoga: A Gem for Women, pp. 93 to 94, and Yoga Retreat Australia 2009, question and answer session, Iyengar Yoga Australia video library. All summarised in our own words.

Flametree Yoga Studio, Woolner and Coolalinga, greater Darwin, and LIVE online. This post is general information, not medical advice.