Layering, Cold Exposure, and Vascular Headache
· 11 min read
Going out into the cold sets off a fast, measurable circulatory response: peripheral vessels clamp down, blood pressure rises within a minute or two, and blood is pulled inward to protect the core. Your fingers get a partial reprieve through a rhythmic rewarming reflex. Your scalp, face and neck do not. That asymmetry — plus wind stripping heat away faster than still air, and damp clothing faster still — is why a cold exposure headache is more about what you are wearing than about what the thermometer says.
Usefully, this is one of the few headache triggers you can intervene on directly, with fabric.