OT: Exercise Headache

[Hey Adrien!]

Right now in the parking lot of the gym. Was doing my normal Sunday workout when mid-rep (dumbbell bench press near my repping max) a rush of pain flowed to the back of my head, almost whiting me out.

After resting a bit, I tried another exercise that was lower impact, still felt that rush.

Had similar effects years ago in college (2005ish) when I probably had a concussion after hitting my head skateboarding and wasn’t able to workout for months without similar headaches.

No accidents lately that could have induced this.

My online quasi-rabbit hole predicts tension-headaches, which I first experienced while teaching from home during the pandemic when my posture was all weird.

Felt pretty scary in the moment, but from what I read sounds harmless.

Any leads?

 

[husky429]

I am not remotely close to a doctor.

That being said, I used to get terrible headaches after working out. Doctor called it "exertional headaches" or something like that. If I remember correctly, he said to see a doctor again if I passed out, vomitted or if I felt any kind of neck/spine stiffness out of the ordinary.

But I'm not 100% sure. I would look it up.

For me, it was a combination of dehydration and over-exertion that did it. I distinctly remember having won a Muay Thai match once and because I was dehydrated (amateurs don't get a long rehydration period), and I had worked so hard I was basically crippled by a headache. I was supposed to celebrating with my friends and I was writhing on the floor of my hotel room.

These things are no joke... stay safe man!

 

[FLDawg16]

From my entirely uneducated experience it’s an exertion headache, I had the same exact thing benching a few years ago. Best course is to take things light for a week or two, because the headache will return every time you do anything heavy for a bit. You’re carrying too much tension in your neck while lifting, have to try to relax that part as it’s not the target muscle group or a key stabilizer to reduce injury (fairly hard honestly, still struggle with that)

 

[Hoophound]

No expertise, but be wary of blood pressure causing it. For some people, high BP is genetic and needs to be managed. Younger, healthy people are taken by surprise when they suddenly have it. It can definitely cause headaches. Exercise temporarily raises BP, so it’s a possibility.

 

[dennismenace]

Check with your physician. You already have had a concussion and been treated for it. We're talking central nervous system and nothing to fool around with.

 

[Dove]

Thoughts and prayers.

Go Huskies!!!

 

[Hey Adrien!]

No expertise, but be wary of blood pressure causing it. For some people, high BP is genetic and needs to be managed. Younger, healthy people are taken by surprise when they suddenly have it. It can definitely cause headaches. Exercise temporarily raises BP, so it’s a possibility.

Thanks, but recent physical had no red flags.

From my entirely uneducated experience it’s an exertion headache, I had the same exact thing benching a few years ago. Best course is to take things light for a week or two, because the headache will return every time you do anything heavy for a bit. You’re carrying too much tension in your neck while lifting, have to try to relax that part as it’s not the target muscle group or a key stabilizer to reduce injury (fairly hard honestly, still struggle with that)

Probably right. In general, I have a lot of tension on my neck and traps, so there are a few stretches I learned a few years ago that help wonders. Good idea to do those daily for a while.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

See a doctor soon.

It may be nothing but don't chance it, the downside could be terrible

 

[Rocktheworld]

Probably as @husky429 said, combination of dehydration and tension headache. Can’t hurt to see your doctor though. The sudden “rush” sensation you feel is kind of odd; I’ve never experienced that leading into a headache

 

[gtcam]

Constant outside temperature changes (not a climate change rant in any way) can play havoc with folks who have an issue with migraines, prior head injuries and arthritis. My 13 yo grandson has had more than average normal incidences with migraines the past 45 days and they have been so bad that he's had to sit in darkened rooms and sleep. His doctor told us about the barometric change effect. Maybe has an effect on you but I would definitely see a specialist. Best of luck my friend

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your support with this.

~36 hours later, headache has mostly gone away and replaced with soreness/tight muscles around the shoulders, traps and lower back. Went to yoga last afternoon, which was uncomfortable at times, but felt good.

Stupidly, I didn't even take advil until today and wrapping in heat now and then. Still moving gingerly, but stretching regularly.

Doc wasn't available til later this week, so I'll hold that appt until then but definitely much better. Gotta watch my breath and posture on heavier lifts when my head is on a bench!

 

[jpeakin]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your support with this.

~36 hours later, headache has mostly gone away and replaced with soreness/tight muscles around the shoulders, traps and lower back. Went to yoga last afternoon, which was uncomfortable at times, but felt good.

Stupidly, I didn't even take advil until today and wrapping in heat now and then. Still moving gingerly, but stretching regularly.

Doc wasn't available til later this week, so I'll hold that appt until then but definitely much better. Gotta watch my breath and posture on heavier lifts when my head is on a bench!

Don't you love our healthcare system? You complain of shooting pains in your head and no one is available to see you until later in the week? Joke!

Anyway, hope you're feeling better. An ER visit wouldn't be the worst thing if anything changes between now and "later in the week"!

Good Luck!

 

[superjohn]

Right now in the parking lot of the gym. Was doing my normal Sunday workout when mid-rep (dumbbell bench press near my repping max) a rush of pain flowed to the back of my head, almost whiting me out.

After resting a bit, I tried another exercise that was lower impact, still felt that rush.

Had similar effects years ago in college (2005ish) when I probably had a concussion after hitting my head skateboarding and wasn’t able to workout for months without similar headaches.

No accidents lately that could have induced this.

My online quasi-rabbit hole predicts tension-headaches, which I first experienced while teaching from home during the pandemic when my posture was all weird.

Felt pretty scary in the moment, but from what I read sounds harmless.

Any leads?

I got those in high school until I had to see a doctor. I believe it was just exertion headaches and they went away. Look up videos on how to brace properly when you bench, it's actually a much more complicated lift than it seems and isn't a good movement for everyone. You're most likely putting tension in your neck and head when it should be in your core, you want everything from your legs to lats to have the tension so try and focus on that. Also, always bring a big water bottle with you and drink a ton of water.

As an aside, bench pressing was always uncomfortable for me and caused so much shoulder pain I completely scrapped the regular barbell bench press, dumbbell bench press, and incline bench press/dumbbell press many years ago and only do reverse grip barbell bench presses...

If the regular barbell bench/dumbbell bench is uncomfortable for you I would recommend the reverse grip to you. A lot of people are fearful of it because they think the bar can slip out of your hands but this is BS. I've been doing them for my chest/tris workout for probably 7 years and they are so much more natural and pain free for me, I can even lift a little more weight with them than a standard bench press. If you give it a try start off with less weight to learn/feel the movement. It will feel a bit awkward at first but then after several workouts it should feel natural. As you get older lifting is all about what keeps you comfortable/injury free and the regular bench press wrecks a lot of shoulders.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

I got those in high school until I had to see a doctor. I believe it was just exertion headaches and they went away. Look up videos on how to brace properly when you bench, it's actually a much more complicated lift than it seems and isn't a good movement for everyone. You're most likely putting tension in your neck and head when it should be in your core, you want everything from your legs to lats to have the tension so try and focus on that. Also, always bring a big water bottle with you and drink a ton of water.

As an aside, bench pressing was always uncomfortable for me and caused so much shoulder pain I completely scrapped the regular barbell bench press, dumbbell bench press, and incline bench press/dumbbell press many years ago and only do reverse grip barbell bench presses...

If the regular barbell bench/dumbbell bench is uncomfortable for you I would recommend the reverse grip to you. A lot of people are fearful of it because they think the bar can slip out of your hands but this is BS. I've been doing them for my chest/tris workout for probably 7 years and they are so much more natural and pain free for me, I can even lift a little more weight with them than a standard bench press. If you give it a try start off with less weight to learn/feel the movement. It will feel a bit awkward at first but then after several workouts it should feel natural. As you get older lifting is all about what keeps you comfortable/injury free and the regular bench press wrecks a lot of shoulders.

Thanks @superjohn. Your point about neck/head vs core bracing matches up to what I've read and what people have told me.

To be honest, a lot of the concern/worry isn't stemmed from the actual pain/discomfort, but it definitely startled me considering both of my parents have had strokes in the last three years, so that genetic lineage definitely freaked me out a bit.

However, I'm only in my mid-30s, had a physical over the summer that showed no concerns, so I've been reminding myself of that when I get anxious about the what-ifs.

 

[Kolumbo]

You can consider seeing a chiropractor. I haven't but some people say chiropractic has been hugely beneficial for reducing all kinds of pain.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Hi all,

Thanks for all your support with this.

~36 hours later, headache has mostly gone away and replaced with soreness/tight muscles around the shoulders, traps and lower back. Went to yoga last afternoon, which was uncomfortable at times, but felt good.

Stupidly, I didn't even take advil until today and wrapping in heat now and then. Still moving gingerly, but stretching regularly.

Doc wasn't available til later this week, so I'll hold that appt until then but definitely much better. Gotta watch my breath and posture on heavier lifts when my head is on a bench!

Not a Dr., but it sounds like you might be a bit dehydrated.

 

[August_West]

Interesting in that I thought I was unique. This thread actually makes me feel better. This has happened to me maybe 5 times in the last 10 years or so. The first one almost had me calling an ambulance. I was with the family staying at Disney Boardwalk and my daughter and her friend wanted to rent one of those 4 seat Carriage bicycles to ride around the boardwalk, its a big circle. Anyway tween girls seem to not want to pedal so I was the only one making the bike move and we got to a pretty decent incline near the swan and dolphin that I had to really punch through with that dead weight in the back. Right near the top, the back of my neck at the base of my brain felt like it was going to explode. I thought I was having a stroke and was going to drop. Luckily we were at the top and could coast down for the rest of the ride. Completed the circle and girls wanted to go around again and I said no way. LOL. I didnt tell them why, but I was convinced I was about to die. After about 20 minutes it mostly disappeared.

Another time it happened to me in bed. I go hard in the paint .

I actually talked to a Dr. about it and was put on a medication, (wish I could remember the name), but I never ended up taking it. Its been a couple years since last one.

They are scary for sure OP, but I guess not dangerous.

I do think Dehydration plays a role, if I think about it, a few of the times were exertion after drinking alcohol.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

You can consider seeing a chiropractor. I haven't but some people say chiropractic has been hugely beneficial for reducing all kinds of pain.

My guess is my GP will direct me to a chiropractor since my biggest issue now is my back, shoulders and neck are a mess.

Probably a coincidence, but I've had weird symptoms since getting covid about a month ago: night sweats every 4 or 5 days, knee inflammation, certain lymph nodes have been chunkier than normal.

Wonder if there's a correlation between post-'vid and this...

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Went to the doc on Thursday.

Due to a good physical over the summer, he did not have issues outside of my general pain/discomfort. He guessed that since I was doing heavy dumbbell presses, on the last rep I twisted my neck (forgot which specific muscle), which caused the headache and subsequent back/trap pain.

He recommended 3 Advils twice a day and a lot of heat.

Worked out both days this weekend with no problems, but still have a lot of residual trap tightness, which is probably compounded with a very stressful weekend.

Hoping yoga in an hour and a less stressful week will help subside the trap tightness, but the tightness itself almost manifests stress-causing thoughts.

 

[HooperScooper]

Went to the doc on Thursday.

He guessed that since I was doing heavy dumbbell presses, on the last rep I twisted my neck (forgot which specific muscle), which caused the headache and subsequent back/trap pain.

He recommended 3 Advils twice a day and a lot of heat.

Worked out both days this weekend with no problems, but still have a lot of residual trap tightness, which is probably compounded with a very stressful weekend.

Hoping yoga in an hour and a less stressful week will help subside the trap tightness, but the tightness itself almost manifests stress-causing thoughts.

A UConn win on Wednesday would do wonders for your health.

 

[zls44]

Went to the doc on Thursday.

Due to a good physical over the summer, he did not have issues outside of my general pain/discomfort. He guessed that since I was doing heavy dumbbell presses, on the last rep I twisted my neck (forgot which specific muscle), which caused the headache and subsequent back/trap pain.

He recommended 3 Advils twice a day and a lot of heat.

Worked out both days this weekend with no problems, but still have a lot of residual trap tightness, which is probably compounded with a very stressful weekend.

Hoping yoga in an hour and a less stressful week will help subside the trap tightness, but the tightness itself almost manifests stress-causing thoughts.

DO YOU EVEN LIFT BRO?

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Update.

Pain and a lot of residual symptoms (fatigue, headaches, irritability, trouble focusing, light sensitivity, sight problems, anxiety, etc) are still present after five weeks.

After checking back w/ by GP on Friday, he was super surprised and sent me a prescription for PT, which started Monday. Had my second session Tuesday (pretty sore after that!) and learned something I never knew until then...

Neck sprains (mine happened to be whiplash caused by the compression of my neck from the exercise) have a lot of similar symptoms to post-concussion disorder.

While the last five weeks have been almost like a mystery for me (why the heck am I feeling so weird, actually starting CBT tomorrow) learning this from my physical therapist was super eye-opening.

Anyone else ever experience concussion-like symptoms from neck sprains? Let me know here for via PM.

 

[WallyPuds]

Update.

Pain and a lot of residual symptoms (fatigue, headaches, irritability, trouble focusing, light sensitivity, sight problems, anxiety, etc) are still present after five weeks.

After checking back w/ by GP on Friday, he was super surprised and sent me a prescription for PT, which started Monday. Had my second session Tuesday (pretty sore after that!) and learned something I never knew until then...

Neck sprains (mine happened to be whiplash caused by the compression of my neck from the exercise) have a lot of similar symptoms to post-concussion disorder.

While the last five weeks have been almost like a mystery for me (why the heck am I feeling so weird, actually starting CBT tomorrow) learning this from my physical therapist was super eye-opening.

Anyone else ever experience concussion-like symptoms from neck sprains? Let me know here for via PM.

I'm a PT myself, after a neck injury like this increased tension of the suboccipital muscles (small muscles at the base of the skull) is really common and often cause headaches, especially ones radiating up to almost behind the eye in almost a "ram's horn" pattern. If the problem persists one thing that I've found to be pretty effective is dry needling of these muscles, might be something to bring up with your PT. If you have any other questions on anything feel free to shoot me a PM

 

[QDOG5]

@Hey Adrien! I wish you a quick and full recovery.
On another subject I think @Hans Sprungfeld is the best dry needler on the Yard!

 

[husky429]

Update.

Pain and a lot of residual symptoms (fatigue, headaches, irritability, trouble focusing, light sensitivity, sight problems, anxiety, etc) are still present after five weeks.

After checking back w/ by GP on Friday, he was super surprised and sent me a prescription for PT, which started Monday. Had my second session Tuesday (pretty sore after that!) and learned something I never knew until then...

Neck sprains (mine happened to be whiplash caused by the compression of my neck from the exercise) have a lot of similar symptoms to post-concussion disorder.

While the last five weeks have been almost like a mystery for me (why the heck am I feeling so weird, actually starting CBT tomorrow) learning this from my physical therapist was super eye-opening.

Anyone else ever experience concussion-like symptoms from neck sprains? Let me know here for via PM.

I still expect the same quality of pre-game scout posts.

But in all seriousness, take it easy man. That list of symptoms sound pretty scary.

 

[superjohn]

Update.

Pain and a lot of residual symptoms (fatigue, headaches, irritability, trouble focusing, light sensitivity, sight problems, anxiety, etc) are still present after five weeks.

After checking back w/ by GP on Friday, he was super surprised and sent me a prescription for PT, which started Monday. Had my second session Tuesday (pretty sore after that!) and learned something I never knew until then...

Neck sprains (mine happened to be whiplash caused by the compression of my neck from the exercise) have a lot of similar symptoms to post-concussion disorder.

While the last five weeks have been almost like a mystery for me (why the heck am I feeling so weird, actually starting CBT tomorrow) learning this from my physical therapist was super eye-opening.

Anyone else ever experience concussion-like symptoms from neck sprains? Let me know here for via PM.

And this all came on right after doing a max incline dumbell press?

That's really strange, how exactly were you doing the exercise?

Your form must have been really jacked up and using too much weight. Lower the weight, retract your scapula and get yourself locked into the bench. Have feet firmly planted on the floor and keep your neck down on the bench.

Obviously wait until you're feeling better to get back to it. Hope you start feeling better.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Right now in the parking lot of the gym. Was doing my normal Sunday workout when mid-rep (dumbbell bench press near my repping max) a rush of pain flowed to the back of my head, almost whiting me out.

After resting a bit, I tried another exercise that was lower impact, still felt that rush.

Had similar effects years ago in college (2005ish) when I probably had a concussion after hitting my head skateboarding and wasn’t able to workout for months without similar headaches.

No accidents lately that could have induced this.

My online quasi-rabbit hole predicts tension-headaches, which I first experienced while teaching from home during the pandemic when my posture was all weird.

Felt pretty scary in the moment, but from what I read sounds harmless.

Any leads?

Youre fine. No worries. Proceed.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

And this all came on right after doing a max incline dumbell press?

That's really strange, how exactly were you doing the exercise?

Your form must have been really jacked up and using too much weight. Lower the weight, retract your scapula and get yourself locked into the bench. Have feet firmly planted on the floor and keep your neck down on the bench.

Yes, immediately after the last rep of the last set of a regular dumbbell press (non-incline). Happened about five weeks ago. I’ve done lighter stuff since then, but my PT wants to take a break for now.

Each set increased in weight and less reps…I believe this set was for 8 reps. It was 70lbs each and I’m not a big guy (5’9 160ish).

Usually my form is good (at least I think it is) but I’m sure it was worse on these last reps. My regular doc guessed I was pressing through my head, which caused the whiplash/sprain