What you do leading up to bedtime may influence your sleep quality and, in turn, your daily experience with migraine.

Getting a good night’s sleep is an essential part of managing migraine. But what you do around bedtime can also influence your experience with the condition.

Consider implementing these steps at night to help reduce the effects of migraine on your life during the day.

Eating a large meal too close to bedtime can affect your sleep quality. A 2021 study found that the further away from bedtime people ate, the less likely they were to experience disrupted sleep.

The American Migraine Foundation recommends putting at least 4 hours between dinner and bedtime. They also suggest limiting fluids within 2 hours before bedtime, as this can make you need to get up during the night to use the restroom.

A warm shower or bath 1 to 2 hours before bedtime may significantly improve your sleep quality. Warm baths or showers may help:

  • reduce muscle tension
  • reduce stress
  • improve circulation

However, some people with migraine may be sensitive to heat. If warm baths are a migraine trigger for you, avoid this step. Some people with migraine find cold baths or showers more helpful.

Alternatives

If you prefer not to bathe or shower at night, you may also try stretching or gentle movements to help relieve muscle stiffness and prepare you for sleep. This is especially important for people with neck pain or other physical migraine triggers.

You could also perform gentle stretches as an add-on after a warm bath if you wish.

Several studies suggest that blue light, the type of light that digital screens emit, can negatively affect:

  • sleep quality
  • sleep duration
  • sleep latency (how long it takes to fall asleep)

There’s some evidence that people with migraine also benefit from reducing their exposure to blue light. In a small study, people who wore glasses that blocked out blue light at night had fewer headache days.

An older study found that having a nighttime snack lowers the chances of having a headache the next day by 40% in people with migraine. This may have to do with blood glucose levels.

Skipping meals can be a migraine trigger due to reduced blood glucose. A small nighttime nibble might be enough to prevent this effect.

Just be sure to avoid any foods that may trigger your migraine. Everyone has their own individual triggers, but some common migraine-friendly snacks include:

  • cereal
  • crackers
  • plain potato or corn chips
  • unflavored popcorn
  • sunflower seeds
  • fresh strawberries, apples, or watermelon (but avoid citrus fruits and overripe bananas)

Meditation techniques, such as mindfulness, can improve sleep by helping the mind and body relax. This keeps your mind off of stressful things and can help prevent ruminating at night.

But meditation may also help reduce the frequency of migraine.

Meditation can help reduce stress, a common migraine trigger. Older research even suggests that some types of meditation can improve pain tolerance among people with migraine.

If meditation is new to you, you may want to explore the different types of meditation to determine what suits you best. Meditation apps are also available to help.

Researchers note that the benefits of meditation for migraine prevention only kick in after consistent practice for about 3 weeks.

Alternatives

Meditation isn’t for everyone. If you find that meditation isn’t your cup of tea but still want to do something screen-free to help your mind and body relax at the end of the day, try:

Regardless of which bedtime routine works best for you, getting consistent, high quality is ultimately what’s important. Consider the following tips to improve your sleep hygiene:

  • Stick to a sleep schedule: Try to go to bed at the same time each night and wake up at the same time each morning — including weekends!
  • Avoid napping: Naps, especially in the afternoon or evening, can disrupt sleep quality at night.
  • Exercise earlier: While exercise is healthy, exercising too late in the day may affect your sleep.
  • Keep your bedroom cool: An uncomfortable temperature can be a migraine trigger, so keeping your room at a comfortable temperature can also improve sleep.
  • Make room upgrades: Consider upgrading your mattress, pillow, curtains, and other room accessories to create an ideal sleep sanctuary. You can also make simple upgrades that don’t cost a thing, such as removing clutter and electronics that have a bright light or make distracting noises.
  • Choose comfortable sleepwear: Avoid sleeping in itchy clothes. Opt for soft, breathable fabrics instead.

While no specific bedtime routine works best for everyone with migraine, research points toward some general trends that might help most people. Cleaning up your sleep hygiene, managing your food intake, avoiding blue light, and relieving stress and tension can all help reduce the effects of migraine on your life.

The above suggestions aren’t prescriptive. Still, they may work as a helpful framework for you to create your own routine. Ultimately, what matters is finding a routine that works for you.