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Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffAny type of sexual activity that leads to orgasm — including masturbation, oral sex and intercourse — can trigger sex headaches.
Slow-to-build sex headaches
A tightening of the head and neck muscles during sexual activity may cause the types of sex headaches that build up for several minutes before orgasm.
Abrupt sex headaches
The variety of sex headaches that occur abruptly at orgasm may be caused by:
- A response to increased blood pressure and heart rate during orgasm.
- Bleeding into or around the brain (subarachnoid hemorrhage).
Other causes that have been associated with sex headaches include:
- Bleeding into the wall (dissection) of an artery leading to the brain
- Stroke
- Use of some medications, such as birth control pills
- Sinus infection
- Coronary artery disease
- Pheochromocytoma
- Glaucoma
- Cutrer FM. Primary headache associated with sexual activity. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index/html. Accessed Dec. 9, 2009.
- Goadsby PJ, et al. Headaches. In: Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 17th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2890365. Accessed Dec. 8, 2009.
- Preorgasmic headache. International Headache Society. http://ihs-classification.org/en/02_klassifikation/02_teil1/04.04.01_other.html. Accessed Dec. 9, 2009.
- Larner AJ. Transient acute neurologic sequelae of sexual activity: Headache and amnesia. Journal of Sexual Medicine. 2008;5:284.
- Delasobera BE, et al. Thunderclap headache with orgasm: A case of basilar artery dissection associated with sexual intercourse. The Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2009;Oct. 7:e1. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T8B-4XDCP10-1&_user=130561&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000010878&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=130561&md5=b63b03a87829d9e5828c5ac9921ab3e5. Accessed Dec. 12, 2009.
- Bartleson JD (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Dec. 22, 2009.
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