What exactly is an orgasm headache?
Imagine this: You're in the heat of the moment, then all of a sudden you feel severe throbbing in your head as you're about to orgasm. The pain lasts for several minutes, or maybe it lingers for a couple of hours.
What you may have experienced is known as an orgasm headache, a
rare — but often harmless — type of sex headache that happens before or at the moment of sexual release.
What do sex headaches feel like?
An orgasm headache is one of two types of sex headaches. You'll know you're having an orgasm headache if you feel a sudden, severe, throbbing pain in your head before or during sexual release.
The second type is a sexual benign headache. Sexual benign headaches start as a dull pain in the head and neck that builds up as you become more sexually aroused, leading to a painful headache.
Some people may experience both types of headaches at once. They usually last several minutes, but some headaches can continue for hours or even up to three days.
Sex headaches can happen as a one-time attack or in clusters over a few months.
Up to half of all people who have sex headaches have them over a six-month period. Some research has shown that
up to 40 percent of all sex headaches are chronic and occur for more than a year.
What causes a sex headache?
Although sex headaches can occur at any point during sexual activity, the two types actually have different causes.
A sexual benign headache happens because the increase in sexual excitement causes the muscles to contract in your head and neck, resulting in head pain. A orgasm headache, on the other hand, occurs because of a spike in blood pressure that causes your blood vessels to dilate. Movement makes orgasm headaches worse.
Who gets sex headaches?
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