Orgasm is usually a pleasurable and happy experience for most people, however it can become less enjoyable for those who find that it triggers coital headaches. For sufferers, sexual activity of any kind can result in coital headache attacks.

Medically speaking, a headache, or cephalalgia, is a symptom of a number of different conditions of the head and sometimes the neck too. They can be classified into two main categories: primary or idiopathic, and symptomatic, although there are other ways of grouping them as well; for instance by severity or by area.

Basically, primary headaches have a known or unknown cause, whereas symptomatic headaches are frequently caused by a previous trauma. Primary headaches include amongst others: migraine, tension headaches, cluster headaches and coital headaches.

Coital headaches, also called coital cephalalgia or sexual headaches, is a rare, but painful form of headache that starts in the nape of the neck during sexual intercourse, but before climax. It can occur in all conditions where climax is the expected result. The pain can move to behind the eyes and can then become even more severe. Typically the pain will last from a few minutes to an hour or so, but it has been known to last for days in extreme cases.

Men are three times more at risk to coital headaches than women and the age groups most at risk are those between 20 and 25 and 30 and 44. Nobody really knows why this should be. Coital headaches afflict about one percent of the population, although this figure could be a lot higher because of people being embarrassed to talk about it.

Moreover, coital headaches are benign, which means that they cause no long-term ill effects, so far as we know. It seems that people taking sexual stimulants, like Viagara, are about 10% more at risk to a coital headache. In fact, besides the obvious, temporary pain, the worst effects of coital headaches are varying degrees of dizziness, confusion and stiffness of neck.

However, it is still worth seeing a doctor though, especially in the beginning, just to rule out the more severe causes of headaches, such as brain tumours and blood clots. However, the doctor can do rather little to help by way of treatment. He could suggest a complete abstention from any form of sexual activity for a period ranging from days to weeks or he may suggest trying taking medication some time before sexual foreplay begins.

A few of the headache medicines that can be used are indomethacin, imitrex, zomig and propranolol, although if the headaches continue, your doctor could prescribe some other preventive medicines to be taken|used| on a daily basis. Sufferers of frequent coital headaches may also obtain a positive response to migraine preventive medications, such as beta blockers or verapamil. Non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) such as ibuprofen may also be helpful. Coital headaches and migraines are also more likely to occur if the person is in poor physical shape.

However, the cure for coital headaches for many people can be as simple as bringing your weight up or down to the normal weight for your size. Coital headaches can also be cured in some sufferers by an increased level of exercise, although this could bring on exertion headaches in a few cases.

The good news is though that most headaches related to sex are not serious in nature. In deed, different studies actually suggest that orgasm can relieve headaches and migraine in some cases. This means that for some adults, refusing sex may actually be the reason that prevents headache treatment.

Tags: Mental Health