Sex: cure or even make headaches worse? & bull; hello healthy

What is the link between sex and headache relief?

Sex can be a great medicine for people who often experience headaches or migraines. This is because during sex, especially when you reach the peak of orgasm, endorphins are released from the brain. Endorphins are natural painkillers found in our bodies. These endorphins can help to relieve pain that is experienced by the body, including unbearable aches, such as migraines and headaches. However, this will only take effect temporarily.

Migraines disappear during sex

This is evidenced by a study from the University of Munster in Germany. Their research is published in the journal International Headache Society of Cephalalgia . They said that most patients with migraines or severe headaches did not have sexual relations during the headache. However, data shows that sexual activity can help relieve or even stop headaches. They also added that sex can abort headaches and migraines, and can 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 a headache or migraine attack, and its impact on the disease.

The result is, more than a third of migraine patients have sexual experiences during a migraine attack, and two thirds of them report recovery from their migraines. For headache sufferers, nearly a third engaged in sexual activity with 37% reporting 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 make headaches 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, it is a headache. Not a migraine.

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

Both of these headaches are more common in men than women. Most of these headaches have a short duration, but 15% of those who experience them have had headaches for more than 4 hours, so special treatment is needed.

Why can sex also cause headaches?

Headaches that are triggered by sexual activity usually start when there is an increase in sexual desire and suddenly become intense when you reach orgasm.

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

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

However, the conditions described above are usually associated with post-sex headaches that also cause loss of consciousness, vomiting, neck stiffness, other neurological symptoms, and severe pain that lasts more than 24 hours.