After heavy exercise, Is pain in the back of the head a sign of high blood pressure?
After doing a heavy cardo workout (running 5 miles), I get a bad headache in the back of my head. It occurs more or less an hour after the exercise. The pain is located in the upper neck and brain stem area. In the past I believed it was dehydration, but after talking to some people they said it could possibly be a sign of high blood pressure. It does not occur everytime I exercise, but then it does it is very nerve racking. If you guys have any info, I would like to hear it. THanx
Public Comments
1. There are no symptoms of high blood pressure.2. It might be some kind of muscle tension. I dont think you have high blood pressure but make sure you drink plenty of water
good luck!
3. The pain is coming from your neck muscles. I have pulled my neck before and it is annoying and painful. You might have strained it or it could be cramping due to low potassium.
A doctor gave me this advice: "Stretch your neck before and after training. Pull each ear toward the shoulder and hold, then do a neck flexion, then extension, stretch. The neck muscles are one of the few things where I would generally still advocate static stretching pre-workout."
Also try and keep your neck loose if your running; when sprinting you will have your whole body tensed so there is no avoiding it. If it is cramping caused by low potassium, a banana added to post-workout meal should help out.
4. My husband gets the same thing. If he works out too hard or bends over for too long he gets a sharp BAD headache right in the back of his head. He has gotten his blood pressure checked and it is fine. Do you drink lots of caffeine? A friend of his had the same symptoms as well as heart palpitations and he quit drinking anything with caffeine and his symptoms are gone!
