Nothing sabotages your workout like a throbbing headache. Although exercise can cause pain, it can help ease it as well. Learn the surprising connection between the two.
By Melissa Roth
How Does Exercise Cause Headaches?
Twenty minutes and two miles into Liz Carroll's fifth 10K race, the 34-year-old found herself slumped on the sidelines, a blur of runners passing her by. With a stabbing pain in her left temple and a wave of nausea weakening her resolve, she couldn't take another step. That initial twinge of pain she'd felt at the starting gun wasn't jitters after all: It was a migraine.
Approximately 45 million people in the United States suffer from chronic headaches, including migraines, and a surprising number -- 70 percent -- feel the pain while exercising, says a recent National Headache Foundation survey. How is it that exercise, a universal pathway to well-being, can also trigger one of the most common health problems -- a headache?
Is Exercise Giving You a Headache?
By Melissa Roth
How Does Exercise Cause Headaches?
Twenty minutes and two miles into Liz Carroll's fifth 10K race, the 34-year-old found herself slumped on the sidelines, a blur of runners passing her by. With a stabbing pain in her left temple and a wave of nausea weakening her resolve, she couldn't take another step. That initial twinge of pain she'd felt at the starting gun wasn't jitters after all: It was a migraine.
Approximately 45 million people in the United States suffer from chronic headaches, including migraines, and a surprising number -- 70 percent -- feel the pain while exercising, says a recent National Headache Foundation survey. How is it that exercise, a universal pathway to well-being, can also trigger one of the most common health problems -- a headache?
Is Exercise Giving You a Headache?