If you suffer from cluster headaches, you know the intense, almost unbearable pain that this malady visits on its victims. You know first hand just how horrible these headaches are because you’ve live through them. And you want to do whatever it takes to avoid any more attacks in the future. Well, this article is for you, because by reading it you’ll learn how you can reduce your number of these painful headaches by cutting down as much as possible the most common cluster headache triggers. There are three main ones. Avoid these, and you’ll likely reduce the number of attacks you suffer.

Smoking is one of the most common and strongest cluster headache triggers. Whatever you can do to reduce the amount you smoke, do it. If at all possible, quit smoking altogether. Yes, it’s tough, but think of the pain you’ll avoid, not to mention the other health benefits. The more you smoke, the more likely you are to have cluster headaches. So if you can’t quit, at least cut down as much as possible.

Drinking alcohol. This is another one of the big cluster headache triggers, and it’s thankfully the one that’s the easiest for most people to avoid. Just a single drink of alcohol can trigger an attack, and it can start almost immediately after the drink is consumed. Social drinking is a pleasurable activity, but it’s not worth the pleasure if you’re risking a cluster headache attack. Give up drinking, and you’ll cut down on the incidence of these attacks.

Finally, you’ll need to avoid smelling things like perfume, cologne, paint thinner, gasoline, etc., as much as possible. These are all known cluster headache triggers. Just as with smoking and alcohol, researchers don’t understand exactly why these substances set off the headaches, but anything made from petrochemical does show a correlation. You may have to make different arrangements at work, or have a talk with your coworkers about your condition to ask them to make it a scent free zone, but do what you can to avoid these things.

These are three of the most common cluster headache triggers. It may not be possible to entirely avoid number 3, but you can certainly try to reduce your exposure. And the first two are entirely under your control. Cutting out all three cluster headache triggers probably won’t completely eliminate your cluster headaches, but you can reduce the number significantly.