Sex: Healing or Even Aggravating Headaches?

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You may not be aware of a connection between sex and headaches. In fact, according to a recent study, sexual activity when a headache or migraine can have a positive effect. However, research also proves that sexual intercourse can cause headaches.

What is the connection between sex and recovery of headaches?

Sex can be a powerful drug for people who often experience headaches or migraines. This is because during sex, especially when reaching the peak of orgasm, endorphins will be released from the brain. Endorphins are natural painkillers found in our bodies. This endorphine can help to relieve the pain experienced by the body, including unbearable pain, such as migraines and headaches. However, this will only have a temporary effect.

Migraine is lost during sex

This is evidenced by studies from the University of Munster in Germany. Their research was published in the journal International Headache Society Cephalalgia. They say that most patients with migraine or severe headaches have no sexual intercourse during an attacking headache. However, the data show that sexual activity can help relieve even stop headaches. They also added that sex can abort headaches and migraines, it could even be a cure for acute headaches.

The questionnaire was randomly assigned to 800 migraine patients and 200 headache patients, asking them to write down their experiences in sexual activity during attacks of headaches or migraines, as well as their impact on the disease.

The result is, more than a third of migraine patients have sexual experience during a migraine attack, and two-thirds of them report recovery from their migraine. For people with headaches, almost one third do sexual activity where 37% report recovery from their condition. In fact, in some male patients, sexual activity is used as a tool for therapy. However, 50% of the rest said that sex can cause headaches to get worse.

Headaches during sex

The International Headache Society's International Classification of Headache Disorders Second Edition (ICHD-II) recognizes that headaches can also be caused by sexual activity. There are two types of headaches caused by sexual activity, namely pre-orgasmic headaches and orgasmic headaches. Many people think that this is a migraine, but make no mistake, this is a headache. Not migraine.

Pre-orgasmic headaches occur during sexual activity. This is characterized by pain in the head and neck, also includes tightening the jaw muscles. Meanwhile, orgasmic headaches are more severe than pre-orgasmic headaches, which are characterized by sudden headaches when having an orgasm.

Both headaches often occur in men rather than women. Most of these headaches attack with a short duration, but 15% of those who experience it have felt headaches for more than 4 hours, so special treatment is needed.

Why can sex also cause headaches?

Headaches triggered by sexual activity usually begin when there is an increase in sexual arousal and suddenly become intense when reaching orgasm.

According to what was reported in mayoclinic.org, headaches during sexual intercourse that attack suddenly are usually associated with:

There is widening in the walls of the arteries in your head.
An abnormal relationship between arteries and veins in the brain is the presence of blood entering the spinal fluid space and around the brain.
Bleeding into the arterial wall leading to the brain.
Have a stoke disease.
Coronary artery disease.
Use of several drugs, such as birth control pills.
Inflammation of certain infections.

However, the conditions described above are usually associated with headaches after sex which also causes loss of consciousness, vomiting, neck stiffness, other neurological symptoms, and severe pain lasting more than 24 hours.

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