Headaches From Workouts

Q. Can exercise cause headaches? I started working out about eight months ago and now get headaches almost every week. Could the two be connected?

A. A throbbing head is the last thing you’d expect to experience from a workout. Yet, sports-related headaches are surprisingly common. A 1994 survey in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that 35 percent of student athletes suffered from them.

Of course, headaches are common in the general population, too. According to the National Headache Foundation, 45 million Americans suffer from headaches that are severe enough for them to seek help from a physician. So, are headaches induced by exercise, or are headache-prone people going to get them no matter what they do?

The answer is unclear. A review in Current Pain and Headache Reports states that up to 30 percent of sports-related headaches are post-traumatic headaches that result from head or neck trauma, such as an athlete falling or being whacked by another player or a ball. Here, the pain can be immediate or it may not surface for up to seven days after the injury. People who participate in high-altitude training can suffer from altitude headaches. Scuba divers can also feel head pain from decompression headaches and from other aspects of being underwater for extended periods.

What is less understood are headaches that arise from more favorable environmental conditions. The above BJSM survey found that runners reported the highest incidence of head pain, with weight-lifters coming in at No. 2. Both of these activities can cause primary exertional headaches,where physical strain can affect blood pressure and cerebral blood flow,and effort-induced migraine headaches,triggered by any intensity of aerobic activity, especially in warm weather, according to a 2003 review in Current Sports Medicine Reports.

Exertional headaches usually result in pulsating pain that lasts from five minutes to 48 hours. These headaches are brought on by physical exertion and can occur during the workout or following it. Effort-induced migraines may be one-sided, throbbing and lasting a few hours.

Unlike the usual small aches and pains from exercising, headaches that are severe or persist should be checked out by a doctor. A small percentage of headaches may be symptomatic of a more serious, underlying disease or illness. A 2006 case study in the journal Headache found that an exertional headache was the only symptom of coronary artery disease in a patient.

For the majority of headaches that have no recognizable cause, you may be able to help keep the pain at bay with the following smart sweating strategies:

• Drink plenty of water, especially in warm workout conditions, since dehydration can cause headaches.
• Warm up slowly and cool down gradually before and after every workout.
• Get enough sleep every night.
• Learn deep-breathing techniques and appropriate breathing methods when lifting heavy weights to help avoid accidentally holding your breath while straining to move an object (also known as the Valsalva maneuver), which may induce head pain.
• Apply a cold pack to the head or neck to help numb pain.
• Avoid alcohol and excess caffeine before or during activity.
• Guard against overheating.
• If your headache is chronic, you may find relief with medication. Talk to your doctor!

For more information see:

• National Headache Foundation
• The International Headache Society
• The Complete Headache Chart

Learn More About Headaches & Migraines on MSN Health & Fitness:

• Do You Get Headaches When You Exercise?
• Diagnosing Headaches
• Migraines and Food
• The Risk of Overusing Migraine Medications

Get More Fitness and Weight Loss Advice From Martica:

• Are Crunches the Wrong Move?
• How Much Walking Is Enough?
• Quick Fat Fixes

Find all articles by Martica.

Do you have a fitness or weight-loss question for Martica? Send e-mail to experts@microsoft.com. Please include Ask Martica in the subject line. Each of our experts responds to one question each week and the responses are posted on Mondays on MSN Health. We regret that we cannot provide a personalized response to every submission.

Martica is a Manhattan-based exercise physiologist and nutritionist and an award-winning fitness instructor. She has written for a variety of publications including Self , Health , Prevention , The New York Times and others. Martica is the author of seven books, including her latest, Cross-Training for Dummies . (Read her full bio.)