This New App Might Be Able To Warn You When A Headache Is Coming Your Way
Headaches are often associated with stress, but what about when you’re all smiles, your anxiety levels are low, and that all too familiar, almost unbearable pain starts up? Sometimes the onset of a grueling headache can feel pretty random, but if you know for a fact every part of you — mind, body, and soul — couldn’t be any more zen, and allergies are a non-issue, atmospheric pressure could be the thing that's triggering your headache. Granted, that terminology probably sounds confusing, but the WeatherX app tracks weather pressure and the potential for headaches, and if you download the app to your phone, it might just give you a better idea of what you’re walking into when you step outside in the morning.
You know how some people swear their body aches when it rains? Well, your head is subject to similar discomfort when the atmospheric pressure starts fluctuating. Now, if I had to take a wild guess, then I'd venture you might be thinking to yourself, “Well, thanks for the tip, Julia, but I have no idea what atmospheric pressure even is.” If I hit the nail on the head, then please, allow me to explain. As per the American Geosciences Institute (AGI), atmospheric pressure refers to the weight of the air around you. I know, it’s kind of weird to think that air has a weight to it, because if the air you breathe in every second of every day ever felt particularly “heavy,” that’s something you think you'd probably notice, right? But, according to the AGI, the reason why you don’t associate air with weight or heaviness is because “the pressure inside your body is adjusted to be exactly the same” as the air pressure outside of your body. Neat, right?
From what I understand, when the atmospheric pressure (also referred to as barometric pressure) is heavy against the weight of your body, that’s when pressure headaches and migraines can potentially flare up. According to Healthline, this is because your sinuses fill up with air, which can sometimes cause headaches, along with other symptoms like nausea, sensitivity to light, numbness in your face, and pain in your temples. The symptoms themselves don’t sound all that different from your typical migraine, but the trick to identifying an atmospheric headache as opposed to a standard tension headache, as per Healthline, is to note when you experience these symptoms most. If they’re triggered by poor weather, like humidity or rain, that, the health outlet explains, is likely a clear indication.
Once you recognize a pattern between the weather and the timing of your headaches, that’s when downloading the WeatherX app can be a huge help. Before there was a WeatherX app, however, there were WeatherX earplugs, and the two products go hand in hand: The WeatherX app predicts pressure changes in the air, while the WeatherX earplugs filter said pressure, offering relief from a painful headache.
The concept is actually quite simple: "WeatherX earplugs contain a filter that allows air to travel at a more gradual rate into the middle ear," Grant O’Connell, director of marketing and communications for Cirrus Healthcare, tells Elite Daily. "This helps give the body time to adjust to changing atmospheric pressure."
The WeatherX app, O'Connell adds, actually took the entire team by surprise. "As for our app, we found that by complete luck," he says. Here's what happened, according to O'Connell: Bradley Dean, a U.S.-based developer, created a barometric pressure forecasting app, right around the time that Cirrus Healthcare was developing its WeatherX earplugs. The idea to merge the two clicked, and the result was a free app that delivers customizable push notifications detailing any and all upcoming weather pressure changes that could impact your health. But wait, there's more: Featured within the WeatherX app, O'Connell tells Elite Daily, is "a seven-day barometric forecast, a seven-day barometric historical record," as well as some helpful headache prevention tips, all of which can teach you how to properly use the app's accompanying earplugs to your advantage.
The WeatherX app can be downloaded to your phone for free, so even if you don't experience headaches or migraines when the weather shifts, you can still have access to the information for reference. The WeatherX earplugs retail for $11.95, and if you are someone who can predict the weather based on how their head feels on a given day, these plugs could prove to be a big help.
