A Professor of Clinical Neurology and Internal Medicine at the College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu, Ikenna Onwuekwe, has said that people with existing headaches are often more prone to having headaches when having sexual intercourse.
The health expert urged people who experience headaches during sex not to take it lightly but rather seek medical intervention from specialists.
According to the neurologist, people who have migraine, tension, medications, or fevers often experience a worsening of their headache when they engage in sex.
Prof. Onwuekwe, however, noted that some people without existing headaches also experience headaches with the onset of sex, before orgasm, or after orgasm.
Onwuekwe, who is also the head of the Neurology Unit and Consultant Neurologist at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, explained that since there are possibly confusing reasons for sex to cause headaches, anyone having such must be seen by a competent Neurologist and Headache Specialist for proper diagnosis and treatment.
He said sexual intercourse is a demanding physical activity, adding that it can be associated with the start of or worsening of an already existing headache.
He stated that the 2018 International Classification of Headache Disorders recognizes the disorder called primary headache associated with sexual activity.
“This primary disorder serves to distinguish it from headache due to other causes such as migraine that can be made worse during or secondary to sexual activity.
“Because sex is a demanding physiological activity, people with already existing headaches from migraine, tension, medications, or fevers may experience a worsening of their headache if they start or engage in sex.
“The primary headache associated with sexual activity describes people who only get a headache with the onset of sex, before orgasm, or at orgasm.
“Such people must not have any prior existing headache condition,” he said.
According to him, for a few people who experience headaches post-orgasm, it may be due to issues with cerebrospinal fluid leakage.
