Hello, 

We have recently had a new tenant move into one of our buildings. They have approached us today to say that 2 members of thier staff and a service user have experienced migraines since they moved in. 

I am of course checking the LUX levels in the room they use and whether they have DSE's, however, am i missing something? 

Any advice is very welcome!? 

Hi Rebbekah, I had something similar when I first started here- a little cluster of migrainey- headache type complaints.Not in the same office but all on the same floor.

I dealt with them individually , listened to their concerns and theories, directed them to the Migraine trust support group website,  DSE reviews etc. I found that it has cleared up- or at least they are managing better. I think it was a combination of showing concern and an interest in the problem. pointing at some useful tools gave the individuals some control which always seems to help.

Previously when this has come up we have looked at Lux levels, peopels tolerance and prefernce does seem to change with age.

When you chceking the Lux levels- look for flickering bulbs- some people are more sensitive than others.

 You did not mention the office layout, If it is a long open plan area check to see if the bulbs are all the same type- variations in wavelength down the length of the room can affect some people.  You can sometimes see this when you look down the room, there will be areas where this light looks greyish.

Rebbekah, I had a chat with one of the migraine sufferes this week and they said that they were much better since we tried a colour filter on the screen. This was suggested by an opthalmist , who advised a colour filter for Dyslexia and for Irlens syndrome.

TBH I am not entirely convinced of the science behind the "coloured screen as a solution for all sorts of things " but  it was a cheap and easy thing to try, and it seems to have worked for this person. We got this from Posturite and used an online checker to determine which colour.

Nic

Something I found following an office move and the office layout.  We completed DSE assessments on all the staff and had several who had problems with headaches, the lux rating on the workstation were not the problem.  When I sat in the chair and looked at the screen the person had a ceiling light within their line of sightjust above the top of the screen.  By changing there position we managed to eliminate the light fitting and surprisingly no more headaches.

This effected 4 people within the office.

Martin

Originally Posted by: A Kurdziel

Migraine is a specific medical condition usually involving a severe one sided headache, tunnel vison and other unpleasant side-effects.  I’m not sure you mean that 3 people have been confirmed with full blown migraine or is it that three people have complained of headaches.

If it its headaches then there could be loads of causes:

• Lower humidity
• Noise- especially low frequency noise
• Volatile chemicals from carpets furnishings, phot copies
• Lighting as mentioned not just the levels, but the frequency of the lights ( ie the colour)  and flicker which might be invisible but can still cause problems

Finally there could be socio-psychological issues: people have moved into a new environment which they might not really like and subconsciously they might   react by exaggerating certain symptoms especially those associated with the things mentioned above. One person complains of a splitting headache and others “catch” the headache. See Royal Free Sickness for a description of this.

Yeah thats right! But Is there any remedy for this that you know or some medicine for relief from its pain.

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by: A Kurdziel

As you are new user I should point that this is an H&S forum not a medical information site and none of are doctors and none of can describe or prescribe medical treatments.

Thanks for help. I know about H&S forum eventhough i asked. Again thanx.

- vidmate