It is far from rare to hear someone in your class or a friend complaining about a headache. You probably have been the one with the headache more than a few times. Unfortunately, headaches have become a regular annoyance to the modern high-schooler. The question is why are they so common, and how can we make them stop. To answer these questions it is crucial to understand what type of headache is most common and what are its causes.

There are four most common kinds of headaches known as primary headaches. These are sinus, tension, migraine, and cluster. The variety most people experience in class is a tension headache. Tension headaches are located at the neck and forehead as well as between the eyes. Tension headaches are mildly painful and are worse when moving the head and straining the eyes. Now that we have found out what kind of headache students suffer from let’s look at the causes.

The National Headache Foundation and the Mayo Clinic list the following as causes of a tension headache*:

• Dehydration/ Decreased water intake
• Missing or skipping meals
• Poor posture
• Eye strain
• Change in sleep schedule
• Lack of sleep
• Long periods of screen use without brake
• Stress
• Fatigue

*Non relevant causes have been excluded from this list

Maybe reading through that list your realized that most of the items are directly caused by school; I certainly did. Eye strain and excessive screen use are mandatory in class; hardly anyone sits with proper posture; homework, extra-curricular activity, and the early start time of school all take away from students getting sufficient sleep; students also often skip breakfast; plenty of students do not bring a water bottle to school, o use the water fountains enough; and on top of all of this stress is near unavoidable for many students. All this makes school a perfect environment to induce headache.

So, how can you stop the headaches? There may be some supplements that could help with the headaches but I do not want to recommend any. Some real ways to combat the pain would be to improve posture, take brakes while using the computer, and try to sleep better. It is also important to drink water and not skip breakfast every day. Unfortunately, what causes headaches in class may be out of your control, but you should try your very hardest to combat them.