YAWT- Sudden headache during workout

[khas]

Last night during my workout, doing some pull-ups, I sort of overexerted myself during one of them. I think I held my breath or something stupid like that or didn't have enough water in me or something, but all of a sudden I get a headache in my left temple. It was pretty bad, and I just did a little cool down and stopped working out for the night.

The brunt of the pain went away after a minute or so, but I can still feel it a little bit today, especially when I ran up the stairs to work, the pain picked up a little bit for a few seconds.

I looked up "workout headache" but found most of it talking about a pain the back of your head, which I don't have. I'm 23 years old btw.

Sadly I cut my workout short, and I really want to go back to working out tonight if possible. This is the first time this has happened (though I've only been working out about a month or so after a long break), and I know I definately just over-did it last night. Do you workout people have any experience with this sort of a headache, and do you know how long I should rest before going back to working out? or any other advice for that matter?

Cliffs:
-worked out last night
-got bad headache in left temple during pullups from overexerting
-headache's pain is mostly gone, but I can still feel it, especially if I run.
-want to work out again, don't know how long to rest / wait, anything else.

 

[j00fek]

how hot was it in your gym?

 

[khas]

This was actually in my apartment, and it wasn't too hot, relatively mild I'd say.

I'm guessing you thought heatstroke or something? Hm....

 

[krunchykrome]

It's called an "exertion headache" or often times called a "sports headache." I had this happen to me last year. I was in the gym working out and an incredible pain hit my head. For the next three weeks, any bit of force I exerted would result in a massive painful headache. I had an MRI done, a spinal tap, and a cat scan. I was hospitalized for a day. I saw many doctors and none of them could tell me what was wrong with me. Finally, i visited a headache doctor and they expained to me what the problem was. Not many doctors know about it, and it is actually more common than you think. I was given pain killers and upon further research on the web, many people said the only thing you can do is to stop working out for about a month.

 

[Amused]

I used to get sharp throbbing headaches that appeared suddenly and went away fairly quickly when I started lifting seriously 5 or so years ago. It happened most often when I benched.

It lasted a few months and stopped. I just worked through it.

 

[khas]

Excellent, so it is fairly common, and I'll probably be fine if I just take it easy for a little while and be careful not to exert myself quite like I did... hopefully.

I'll update if I die from an aneurysm or something. Thanks guys

 

[bignateyk]

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
It's called an "exertion headache" or often times called a "sports headache." I had this happen to me last year. I was in the gym working out and an incredible pain hit my head. For the next three weeks, any bit of force I exerted would result in a massive painful headache. I had an MRI done, a spinal tap, and a cat scan. I was almost hospitalized one day. I saw many doctors and none of them could tell me what was wrong with me. Finally, i visited a headache doctor and they expained to me what the problem was. Not many doctors know about it, and it is actually more common than you think. I was given pain killers and upon further research on the web, many people said the only thing you can do is to stop working out for about a month.

Yep.

I have had them. They are harmless, but you should go see a doctor anyway. I had an MRI done, etc..., and everything came back fine. I forget the name of the drug, but its basically a high dosage ibuprofen that they use to keep your blood pressure from rising very quickly, which causes the blood vessels in the back of your neck to strike a nerve.

I got them for a month or two, but now I dont get them anymore.

Your best bet is to stop working out completely for a few weeks, then start back slowly. Avoid using machines when you lift, because it is too easy to over-exert yourself on them using bad form, etc...


edit:

They are also known as "sex headaches" because people tend to get them whilst having sex as well. When you work out, make sure you are breathing well. If you tense the muscles in the back of your neck and dont breathe, you will likely end up with a headache like this.

 

[Amused]

"HeadOn. Apply directly to the forehead"
"HeadOn. Apply directly to the forehead"
"HeadOn. Apply directly to the forehead"

(Caution: Snake oil!)

 

[eits]

get your blood pressure checked.

do you use a lot of salt in your diet? do you take any supplements?

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: bignateyk

Originally posted by: krunchykrome
It's called an "exertion headache" or often times called a "sports headache." I had this happen to me last year. I was in the gym working out and an incredible pain hit my head. For the next three weeks, any bit of force I exerted would result in a massive painful headache. I had an MRI done, a spinal tap, and a cat scan. I was almost hospitalized one day. I saw many doctors and none of them could tell me what was wrong with me. Finally, i visited a headache doctor and they expained to me what the problem was. Not many doctors know about it, and it is actually more common than you think. I was given pain killers and upon further research on the web, many people said the only thing you can do is to stop working out for about a month.

Yep.

I have had them. They are harmless, but you should go see a doctor anyway. I had an MRI done, etc..., and everything came back fine. I forget the name of the drug, but its basically a high dosage ibuprofen that they use to keep your blood pressure from rising very quickly, which causes the blood vessels in the back of your neck to strike a nerve.

I got them for a month or two, but now I dont get them anymore.

Your best bet is to stop working out completely for a few weeks, then start back slowly. Avoid using machines when you lift, because it is too easy to over-exert yourself on them using bad form, etc...


edit:

They are also known as "sex headaches" because people tend to get them whilst having sex as well. When you work out, make sure you are breathing well. If you tense the muscles in the back of your neck and dont breathe, you will likely end up with a headache like this.

Yup, I got them during that time while I was having sex also. ANy type of force exerted or heavy movement.