Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Tharakorn
Topics: Health, Sex and Relationships
Joe Yates
A scientist is hoping men will heed his warning after his experiment found that men are actually more likely than women to suffer from one nasty side effect after getting freaky.
Researchers have discovered that men are twice as likely as women to experience what’s known as a 'sex headache' - a condition officially called 'primary headache associated with sexual activity (PHS)'.
According to new findings from Jagiellonian University in Poland, around 1.5 percent of men who visited headache clinics were diagnosed with PHS, compared to just 0.6 percent of women.
These headaches often strike during or just after sex, and they're not your average tension headache - we’re talking sudden, throbbing pain that can completely kill the mood.
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But what exactly is causing it?
Lead researcher Aleksander Osiowski believes performance anxiety could be one of the driving forces behind this painful phenomenon.
He explained: "We know men tend to be more worried about not performing or having problems during sexual intercourse. I think that when a man is already worrying about something to do with sex, he might also get this headache, and that will make him decide to see a doctor."
Interestingly, most of the men who reported PHS were in their mid-30s. Osiowski noted: “Older people tend to have less sex in general, and in your 20s you might not be bothered by this."
We've all heard of a midlife crisis, but now we've got to worry about a midlife bedroom crisis - I thought that happens in our senior years!
Anyway, this might come as a shock to some - especially since previous studies have actually suggested that sex can relieve headaches by triggering a release of feel-good hormones like endorphins.
But for a small percentage of men, the opposite seems to be true - and it might be time to pay attention.
If you're wondering whether your post-romp headache is something to worry about, Unnati Desai, National GP Lead at Nuffield Health, has some advice.
"If you are experiencing the symptoms of a thunderclap headache, seek urgent care as this requires emergency assessment in A&E with an urgent scan," she told The Sun.
Desai noted that headaches triggered by things like coughing, exercise, sex, or even high blood pressure might be linked to more serious issues - including internal bleeding or rare infections like meningitis.
She added: "If you have an infection and develop a severe headache with neck stiffness or neurological symptoms such as seizures, confusion, difficulty speaking, loss of movement in parts of your body or loss of consciousness, then it is important to be assessed for meningitis and encephalitis."
So next time you feel a pounding in your head post-pounding, don’t just shrug it off - it could be something more serious for your health.