Severe headache around the head during intercourse

Hi, I would like to know if I need urgent medical attention.

This started last week. Whenever I venture having sexual intercourse, during my sperm release, I start to have severe headache around the whole head. Its as if there is serious blood rush/ pressure in my head which immediately stops the whole intercourse. What do I do?

Coital cephalgia

Sex headache or Coital cephalgia is a condition that occurs in about 1% of the population. It is often the condition of jokes, but is clearly no laughing matter to the sufferer. It occurs at the base of the skull just before orgasm and can occur in both men and women. This not only occurs during the sexual act, but can occur during masturbation too.

It Is a difficult condition to treat, but we know that being overweight is a risk factor so trying to reduce this may help. Taking analgesia before sex may help and the newer anti-migraine treatments may also help. Alternative therapies such as acupuncture may have a role too. Of course the only cure is abstaining from sex, but this is not something most people want to do as sex is such an integral part of a relationship.

Coital cephalgia can sometimes be so severe that sufferers are admitted to hospital for investigation of a suspected brain haemorrhage or subarachnoid haemorrhage. You might like to get yourself checked by a neurologist as you might need an MRI scan of your brain to check you havent got a structural reason for your headaches such as a small aneurysm although unusual.

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