It’s that time of the year again.

Sleeping seems out of the question and students are glued to their books 24 hours a day.

And the pounding headaches arrive.

But local heath centers are offering a way to get through the last week before finals.

The Thielen Student Health Center and McFarland Clinic teamed up Tuesday afternoon to promote Headache Awareness Day.

Students studying in the Memorial Union commons only had to cross the hall to pick up informational brochures and fill out a form to be evaluated by professionals.

Rick Peterson, a Student Health Center representative, was on hand to answer students’ questions.

“Basically, we are here to raise headache awareness and help students stop their headaches attributed to stress, poor dieting and low sleep,” Peterson said.

He was assisting Dr. Marc Shulman,who said many students become so stressed out that they forget to take care of themselves.

“We want to be sure that all the students are eating their meals and getting plenty of sleep,” said Shulman, staff physician at the student health center.

Headaches can occur before finals because students can get very little rest eat unhealthfully or not at all, he said. This will cause headaches to be worse, Shulman said, and it could be very damaging to one’s health.

But sometimes the headaches are caused by more than a lack of attention to health; they may be migraines.

A disability assessment form to help students recognize migraines was available to concerned students.

The form contained five questions regarding students’ health in the past three months and two questions that ask the student to rate the level of pain in their headaches from one to 10. Once this form was filled out, Shulman reviewed it and assessed the level of the student’s problem. If necessary, he said, he helped them permanently fix their problem.

For those with more serious problems, information about prescription drugs such as Zomig, for pain relief from migraines, was available.

About 50 students stopped by the booth and grabbed headache relief information that afternoon, Peterson said.

It’s imperative for students to stay aware of their health through finals week, Shulman said.

“Be sure to get plenty of sleep every night. Eat healthy and well-balanced meals,” he said. “And if your headaches persist beyond this time of year, make sure you find out if there is a serious problem.”