Headaches After Physical Activity

When you exert yourself physically, the muscles of the head, neck and scalp need more blood to circulate. Blood vessels in those areas enlarge, which can lead to exercise headaches, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Features

• Most exercise headaches are commonly related to activities such as running, rowing, tennis, swimming and weight lifting.

Types

• There are two types of exercise headaches. The first type is benign and can often be treated with a fairly common anti-inflammatory drug. The second type could indicate a serious condition such as a tumor or internal bleeding.

Warning

• Certain medical conditions can cause severe headaches when exercising. If you experience sudden headaches with exertion, Dr. Lawrence Newman, director of the Headache Institute at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York, suggests an MRI to rule out such serious conditions, MedcineNet.com reports.

Expert Insight

• Exercise headaches might also point to heart disease. A group of New York researchers lead by Dr. Richard Lipton of the Headache Unit at Montefiore Medical Center in New York reported in the journal Neurology in 1997 that in a small group of patients, headaches that began during exercise were the only symptom of heart disease, according to MedicineNet.com

Prevention/Solution

• Newman states that activity headache sufferers don't have to give up exercising. Start out slowly with a 10-minute exercise period and gradually increase by 10-minute intervals. Using this process, you should be good to go.