By Medicover Hospitals / 12 March 2022
By Dr Jyoshna Pratty
Consultant Acute & General Physician
Published on 10/05/2022Exercise headaches are caused by your workouts, which are referred to as primary exertional headaches. A headache can occur after or during a workout, regardless of whether it is strength or cardio, high or low intensity. It's not uncommon to experience a headache after exercising. You may feel pain on one side of your head or throbbing pain throughout your entire head. This can be caused due to several factors.
Exercise-induced headaches happen after engaging in strenuous physical activity like running, weight lifting, cycling, or swimming. The increased blood circulation around the head and scalp causes blood vessels to vasodilate (enlarge) that increases blood flow, resulting in this type of headache.
Exercise headaches are classified into two types:
A primary exertional headache is caused solely by physical activity and has no underlying causes
Primary exertional headache symptoms include:
People may be more likely to get a primary exertional headache after exercising in hot conditions or at a high altitude.
A secondary exertional headache develops as a result of an underlying condition, such as:
To provide energy for physical exertion, your muscles use sugar as fuel. During a strenuous workout, intense physical activity may cause a drop in the blood sugar.
Nondiabetics may be able to avoid exercise headaches caused by low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, by eating carbohydrates before exercising.
Dehydration can occur if fluids are not replaced during or after exercise. Water and electrolytes keep the body hydrated, and both are lost through sweating. A headache can occur when a person is dehydrated.
Dehydration can also cause the following symptoms:
By Dr Jyoshna Pratty
Consultant Acute & General Physician
Published on 10/05/2022
Causes of headache after an exercise
- Primary exercise headaches: These happen during or immediately after physical exercise. They usually resolve on their own and are not related to a more serious physical problem. These headaches are frequently treatable or preventable with over-the-counter (OTC) medications.
- Secondary exercise headaches: These are much less common and are caused by an underlying health condition, such as heart disease. The severity of the headache after strenuous activity, as well as your age, may warrant a discussion with your doctor to rule out a more serious condition
Exertional headache:
- Pain on both sides of the head is common.
- a pulsating feeling
- The pain can last anywhere from 5 minutes to 48 hours and is similar to a migraine.
- heart disease
- stroke, or bleeding in the brain
- a tear in an artery
- reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome, which is characterized by blood vessel narrowing
- a tumor or lesion in the brain
Low Blood Sugar:
Dehydration headache:
- feeling thirsty
- feeling lethargic or fatigued
- dark yellow urine
- passing less urine than usual
- dry mouth or lips
- feeling irritable
- dizziness
Prevention
Stay Hydrated and Eat Well:
Warming Up and Cooling Down:
Choose Your Exercise With Caution:
When to see a doctor?
- smoking
- obesity
- diabetes
- heart attack
- high blood pressure
- high cholesterol