Do you suffer from Exercise Headaches?
Many studies seem to agree that about 1-1.5% of the population suffers from exercise headaches.
1% might not seem like a lot, but that’s still 79 million people (give or take a couple) who experience this kind of pain during or immediately after their workouts.
For many, exercise is already hard enough without the added insult of Exercise Headaches too.
Yikes.
Alright, so what is an exercise headache?
Honestly, they’re pretty straight forward.
Primary Exercise Headaches (previously known as an exertion headaches) are headaches that involve pain during or immediately after physical activity with no known intracranial pathology. These headaches usually come on quickly and can last anywhere from a few minutes or hours to a day or two.
What causes Exercise Headaches?
The cause is still relatively unknown. Though there are many ideas circulating in the medical world.
The most common theory appears to be that as we exercise, or otherwise exert ourselves, our body’s need for blood and oxygen increases. This increase causes veins and arteries to expand to accommodate the additional blood flow. With this expansion, there is additional pressure placed on the brain and skull, thus, a headache occurs.
More complex theories include dysregulated cerebrovasculature and dilation of blood vessels between the brain and the skull.
Diagnosing
Only a doctor can diagnose you with Primary Exercise Headaches. After an MRI, MRA and CT scan you might have to undergo an EKG and other tests to rule out other causes. Once the doctor is able to effectively rule out other issues including, but not limited to, tumours, lesions, hypertension, and a host of other intracranial issues, they can provide you with a diagnosis of Primary Exercise Headaches.
Treatment
There hasn’t been enough research done on exercise headaches to provide specific treatments or cures. Part of the problem is that exercise headaches are hard to diagnose and they may also be compounded by other issues.
However, if your doctor has examined you and ruled out any other underlying possibility, they might prescribe either Indomethacin or Naproxen prior to your workout to stave off headaches.*
Other ways to help mitigate exercise headaches (that don’t have extensive research to back them up but are still worth a try):
- Avoid workouts that take place in extreme temperatures (hot or cold)
- Avoid workouts that take place at extreme altitudes
- Make sure you a properly hydrated before, during and after exercise
- Take particular care with warm ups and cool downs – increase intensity slowly so that your body has time to adapt
- Rest – both in between working sets and after your workout – recovery is important
- Try different things – if you find that one particular exercise triggers your headaches, experiment with something different
The above are likely resources that are more helpful for one-off exercise related headaches. Working out outdoors at noon in July can often cause your body to overheat and lead to dehydration, but issues that can cause a headache while exercising.
Even though these tips aren’t guaranteed cures for Primary Exercise Headaches, we still recommend keeping them in mind as you navigate your fitness routines.
It’s also recommended that if you experience Exercise Headaches to keep detailed notes on when they happen, how long they last and what you were doing. That way you can bring them to your physician and cut out any guess work. This will help with diagnosing your headaches and help determine a treatment path.
Ultimately
More work needs to be done to help us understand Exercise Headaches, their cause and how to treat them. It is also likely that, as so little research exists to date, there are likely more people afflicted with these types of headaches than have been recorded. Regardless, it’s a significant number of people forced to live with this pain.
Additionally, more often than not, Exercise Headaches are harmless and in no way affiliated with other diseases or disorders. However, if you experience headaches during exercise, especially if you have a history of cardiac issues, stroke, if they last more than two days, or you’re experience pain or pulsing radiating from your jaw, seek medical attention as soon as possible. Your doctor will likely requisition imaging of your brain, neck and related vessels, as well as a host of cardiac tests to rule out other things.
It never hurts to make sure that everything is in tip top working order.
If you want more information on how you can workout safely and effectively, don’t hesitate to reach out.
You can also use The International Classification of Headache Disorders to learn more about headaches and their causes.
*This is not a recommendation. We are not doctors and medication should only be taken under express orders from your physician.
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References:
“Exercise Headaches.” Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, May 14, 2022. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/exercise-headaches/symptoms-causes/syc-20372276.
“Exertion Headaches (Exercise Headaches): Causes, Symptoms & Treatment.” Cleveland Clinic. Accessed March 15, 2023. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21959-exertion-headaches.
“Primary Exercise Headache.” American Migraine Foundation, December 13, 2022. https://americanmigrainefoundation.org/resource-library/primary-exercise-headache/.
Upadhyaya , Parth, Arathi Nandyala, and Jessica Ailani. “Primary Exercise Headache.” Current neurology and neuroscience reports. U.S. National Library of Medicine, April 15, 2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32296942/.