Although orgasm is usually an enjoyable and positive activity for most people, it can become painful for others who find that it starts coital headaches. For these people, sexual activity can actually cause these coital headache attacks.
Technically, a headache, or cephalalgia, is a symptom of various conditions of the head and sometimes the neck too. They can be classified into two main categories: primary or idiopathic, and symptomatic, although there are other ways of classifying them too; for example by severity.
Basically, primary headaches have a known or unknown reason, whereas symptomatic headaches are often caused by a previous trauma. Primary headaches include amongst others: migraine, tension headaches, cluster headaches and coital headaches.
Coital headaches, also named coital cephalalgia or sexual headaches, is a rare, but severe type of headache that begins in the base of the neck during sexual intercourse, but before climax. It can occur in all conditions where climax is the expected result. The pain can move to behind the eyes and can then be even worse. Typically the pain will last from a few minutes to an hour or so, but some cases have been known to last for days in extreme examples.
Men are three times more at risk to coital headaches than women and the age groups most at risk are those between 20 and 25 and 30 and 44. Nobody really knows why this should be. Coital headaches afflict about one percent of the population, although this figure could be a lot higher because of people being embarrassed to talk about it.
Coital headaches are benign, meaning that they have no long-term ill effects, as far as we know. It seems that people taking sexual stimulants, like Viagara, are about 10% more at risk to a bout of coital headache. In fact, besides the obvious, temporary pain, the worst effects of coital headaches are differing levels of dizziness, confusion and stiffness of neck.
However, it is still worth visiting a doctor though, especially in the beginning, just to exclude the more severe causes of headaches, such as brain tumours and blood clots. However, the doctor can do rather little to help by way of cure. He could suggest a complete abstention from any kind of sexual activity for a period ranging from days to weeks or he may recommend trying taking medication some time before sexual foreplay begins.
Some of the headache medications that can be taken are indomethacin, imitrex, zomig and propranolol, although if the headaches persist, your doctor may recommend daily preventive medication. People suffering from frequent coital headaches may experience a positive response to migraine preventive medications, such as beta blockers or verapamil. Non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as ibuprofen may also be helpful. Coital headaches and migraines are also more likely to occur if a person is in poor physical shape.
However, the treatment for coital headaches for a lot of people can be as simple as bringing your weight up or down to the normal weight for your size. Coital headaches can also be cured in some sufferers by an increased level of exercise, although this could bring on exertion headaches in a few cases.
Now the good news is that most headaches related to sexual activities are not at all serious in nature. In fact, research actually suggests that orgasm can stop headaches and even migraine in some cases. This implies that for some adults, refusing sex may actually be the cause of their headache in the first place. - 30309
Technically, a headache, or cephalalgia, is a symptom of various conditions of the head and sometimes the neck too. They can be classified into two main categories: primary or idiopathic, and symptomatic, although there are other ways of classifying them too; for example by severity.
Basically, primary headaches have a known or unknown reason, whereas symptomatic headaches are often caused by a previous trauma. Primary headaches include amongst others: migraine, tension headaches, cluster headaches and coital headaches.
Coital headaches, also named coital cephalalgia or sexual headaches, is a rare, but severe type of headache that begins in the base of the neck during sexual intercourse, but before climax. It can occur in all conditions where climax is the expected result. The pain can move to behind the eyes and can then be even worse. Typically the pain will last from a few minutes to an hour or so, but some cases have been known to last for days in extreme examples.
Men are three times more at risk to coital headaches than women and the age groups most at risk are those between 20 and 25 and 30 and 44. Nobody really knows why this should be. Coital headaches afflict about one percent of the population, although this figure could be a lot higher because of people being embarrassed to talk about it.
Coital headaches are benign, meaning that they have no long-term ill effects, as far as we know. It seems that people taking sexual stimulants, like Viagara, are about 10% more at risk to a bout of coital headache. In fact, besides the obvious, temporary pain, the worst effects of coital headaches are differing levels of dizziness, confusion and stiffness of neck.
However, it is still worth visiting a doctor though, especially in the beginning, just to exclude the more severe causes of headaches, such as brain tumours and blood clots. However, the doctor can do rather little to help by way of cure. He could suggest a complete abstention from any kind of sexual activity for a period ranging from days to weeks or he may recommend trying taking medication some time before sexual foreplay begins.
Some of the headache medications that can be taken are indomethacin, imitrex, zomig and propranolol, although if the headaches persist, your doctor may recommend daily preventive medication. People suffering from frequent coital headaches may experience a positive response to migraine preventive medications, such as beta blockers or verapamil. Non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as ibuprofen may also be helpful. Coital headaches and migraines are also more likely to occur if a person is in poor physical shape.
However, the treatment for coital headaches for a lot of people can be as simple as bringing your weight up or down to the normal weight for your size. Coital headaches can also be cured in some sufferers by an increased level of exercise, although this could bring on exertion headaches in a few cases.
Now the good news is that most headaches related to sexual activities are not at all serious in nature. In fact, research actually suggests that orgasm can stop headaches and even migraine in some cases. This implies that for some adults, refusing sex may actually be the cause of their headache in the first place. - 30309
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