Headaches during and after workouts

This might turn into a somewhat lengthy post, but I would truly appreciate it if anyone with a bit of patience and actual expertise could offer some guidance:

1. I’m dealing with hypertension and what they call cervicobrachial syndrome (though personally, I feel like it's more cervicocephalic, but let's not get bogged down in semantics...)
2. I am overweight, though I’ll go so far as to say that for someone carrying extra weight, I’m surprisingly flexible—doctors have actually double-checked my weight on different scales because I look like I’m at least 20kg lighter than I really am, despite being over that amount above my ideal weight.
3. I went to physical therapy where they showed me a series of exercises that all required being on my stomach.
4. During that very first session, I performed those exercises continuously for about 20 minutes, only to end up in the neurology department because I was hit with a headache so intense I couldn't even drive myself home—nothing like I've ever experienced in my life. They gave me something, sent me home, and insisted it was just from the exertion; they claimed that as I increase my activity, the headaches would become less frequent and less severe, implying this was perfectly normal.
5. For the remaining nine days of therapy, the head pain subsided slightly, but I suspect that was mostly because I was being a bit clumsy with my pacing.
6. My primary care physician suggested I ask for different types of exercises, yet the physiatrist and the physical therapist both insisted there aren't any other variations besides the ones done on the stomach.
7. After finishing those sessions, I decided to enroll in a yoga class.
8. For two months, I felt like a million bucks; the headaches were gone, and while we did some movements similar to the ones in physical therapy, I would either skip them entirely or just do a few repetitions...
9. However, as the difficulty of the poses increased along with the number of repetitions, I experienced a recurrence of that same unbearable headache I had during physical therapy. I can actually feel the blood rushing to my head right before it starts...
10. These headaches are always accompanied by a spike in my blood pressure. I’m already on medication for hypertension, and through careful monitoring, I’ve concluded that whenever my blood pressure rises, my head *always* hurts, but most of the time when my head aches, it isn't due to high blood pressure, since my levels rarely spike now that I'm on tablets. The thing is, for the last year, my head has been hurting almost daily, regardless of my blood pressure or exercise... sometimes it's a dull ache, sometimes it's intense. Every doctor simply tells me it's due to the cervicobrachial issue and that there isn't much to be done, so I just take Diazepam and painkillers.

That last point, while certainly the most significant, isn't actually what I'm here to ask about; I've already addressed that in a different thread. What I'm really seeking perspectives on is this:
Does anyone have an explanation for why my head specifically hurts during floor exercises done on my stomach? My own theory is that it's either the sheer effort involved, or perhaps because lifting my head off the floor causes me to pinch a nerve between my vertebrae, which are already a mess. It doesn't hurt *during* the movement itself, but rather when I try to lift myself back up to a standing position. It feels as if someone is using their foot to press my head back toward the floor while I'm struggling to resist. It's hard to move. It's easier if I transition slowly—moving to my elbow, then my hip, and finally sitting up fully—if I stretch that process out over five minutes. And one more thing: are there truly no other exercises for cervicobrachial issues besides these abdominal/stomach-based ones? Why aren't exercises focused on the back considered beneficial?

I’ve been dealing with my own share of headaches lately, mostly triggered by blood pressure issues. Honestly, I can’t claim to be much of an expert here—your situation seems significantly more complex than mine—but I did notice my own headaches started ramping up after being sidelined for a while due to illness. It was that period of inactivity that really did me in. So, if you want my amateur, non-medical opinion, just try to stay active as much as possible, regardless of whatever treatment plan you're on. And, obviously, try to shed a few pounds if you can.

Thanks so much, 😁. And if you don't mind me asking—though I feel like a bit of an idiot even bringing it up—how exactly did you manage to just stay still? Like, were you just lying there? In what kind of position? Maybe with your head propped up on some pillows, almost to the point where your chin is resting against your chest? I only ask because that feels like such a nightmare for your Neck Muscles... how did you actually navigate that? Was it through the movement you mentioned earlier?

You can end up with constricted blood vessels in your brain, which basically sends all this pressure straight to your head and triggers a massive headache.
That’s exactly what happens to me. I can't even move much—like, if I lift my head up or bend down, the pressure just builds up in my skull so fast I feel like I might actually pass out🙄.
I have to avoid everything from heavy lifting to running, you know? Everyone talks about how great Pilates is, but for me? Zero stars. Not helping at all. I actually thought about trying Zumba, but with these other health issues popping up, I can't even touch that. Honestly, the only thing that felt okay was riding my bike. Just commuting back and forth to work every day, 9.3 miles. That actually felt pretty good for once.

Maybe try taking some Aspirin before you start exercising? Just to see if thinning the blood a little bit helps ease the pressure. It's worth a shot, I guess.

I wasn't specifically talking about just lying around—though, granted, I spent quite a bit of time doing exactly that—but rather the lack of actual movement. To be blunt, there were years where I barely stepped foot outside my house. Naturally, my health took a massive hit because of it. I started dealing with these bizarre sinus headaches, my blood pressure spiked, my vision got blurry, and I was constantly battling infections and allergies. Once I finally forced myself to get active again—cycling, getting out more, you know the drill—all those issues started to taper off significantly. Though, I suppose there might be a bit of a placebo effect at play there... Regardless, staying active can't hurt. As for the lower back issue, if you lose muscle mass from being sedentary, you’re basically inviting nerve impingement to the party. Personally, I used to deal with constant numbness in my arms and legs while sleeping. I couldn't tell you if that's what's happening in your case, but it's certainly a possibility...

Susan Adams66 and Bradley Morgan3... well, thank you both. I really appreciate you taking the time to weigh in; reading through your perspectives has been quite helpful, as I hadn't truly considered how all these different pieces might actually connect until now.

Lisa Nelson70, I caught what you mentioned about feeling thinner than you ought to be. It’s an odd sensation, isn't it? From what I gather, that can sometimes indicate highly dense adipose tissue that messes with your circulation, or perhaps visceral fat accumulating around your organs. Neither scenario is particularly pleasant. If I were in your shoes, I'd focus on shedding some weight while prioritizing exercises designed to boost blood flow. A deep tissue massage might also be worth considering. Of course, this is just my amateur take on things, and you really should run it by your doctor first.

I’m weighing every single one of your comments carefully... honestly, I just went in for an abdominal ultrasound and everything came back perfectly fine—just glowing reports all around. My blood work is stellar, too. No issues with my blood sugar, no cholesterol problems... it’s almost laughable, really. There isn't any vascular blockage either, so we can rule that out. The only thing every doctor seems to insist on telling me is that I’m just incredibly tense, which apparently causes my Neck Muscles to tighten up and restrict blood flow... but even then, that doesn't quite explain why I get those headaches during the specific exercise positions I mentioned earlier.
Besides, most of my "extra weight" is concentrated right around my midsection, so... well, we all know that's the worst kind for heart health. I'm aware. I'm working on it. But you can't exactly shed thirty-five years of accumulation overnight. For now, I think I might step away from yoga for a while and switch over to walking or cycling instead... though it feels like a bit of a waste, since I wasn't actually a huge fan of yoga to begin with, and it was much easier to manage during the winter months...

So, where exactly is this headache hitting you? Is it your whole head, just one side, your forehead, or the back? What’s the vibe of the pain? Are we talking a sharp, pulsing sensation, or does it feel more like someone is literally sitting on your neck—that heavy tension spreading from your neck right up into the base of your skull?

If you ask me, you're probably dealing with a spike in blood pressure from working out (which, let's be real, is a totally normal response to physical exertion), plus you've got cervicogenic headaches in the mix. When you combine those two factors...

wiredcanyon2 said:Where exactly is this pain settling in? Is it a full-blown, all-over headache, or more localized—maybe just hitting your forehead or the back of your head? I’m curious about the sensation itself, too. Are we talking about that sharp, rhythmic pulsing that makes you want to hide in a dark room, or does it feel more like someone is physically sitting on your shoulders? You know that heavy, crushing tension that starts deep in your Neck Muscles and just radiates upward into the base of your skull?

If you ask me, that headache is likely just your blood pressure spiking while you're working out—which, let's be honest, is a perfectly normal physiological response to pushing your body through a session. But when you factor in the cervico-cephalic syndrome, things get a bit more complicated; those headaches tend to travel right along with that kind of neck tension. Once you add those two variables together, well... you can probably see where this is heading.

I feel like I might have mentioned this somewhere already, but since you took the time to actually get back to me, let me try to explain it again—it’s a bit tricky to put into words. Imagine you’re lying flat on your stomach, right? And just as you’re trying to push yourself up, someone comes along and firmly presses your head back down toward the floor with their foot. That’s the sensation. It isn't that sharp, throbbing kind of pain; it's more of a dull, heavy ache, if such a thing even exists. The forehead itself never hurts, nor does the area around my temples. What happens is more specific—for instance, when I wear my hair in a ponytail right in the middle of my head, I’ll get this regular discomfort right at the base of the ponytail or just behind it. Sometimes the tension spreads all the way down to my neck. Honestly, there are moments where it feels like I could actually reach out and physically touch the spot that's hurting, if you catch my drift. Every time I end up in the ER, they always write down "occipital"—some sort of headache diagnosis, anyway. Forgive me, I’m not home right now, so I can't double-check the exact wording on my medical report.

I have this tendency to deal with headaches quite frequently—they’re a bit of a recurring theme in my life—and they usually settle right in that same spot, but I can say with absolute certainty that nothing has ever hit me quite like this, especially not following those specific exercises in the position I mentioned earlier.

I find myself nodding along with your "diagnosis," though I’m still at a complete loss as to what the actual remedy might be. When I sat down with my doctor to ask how on earth I could strengthen the area that’s causing the most trouble if I’m physically incapable of performing the core exercises they prescribed, she just gave me this dismissive wave of the hand and suggested that the physical therapist would simply show me some alternatives. Well, I went to the clinic, and apparently, there are no alternatives—they insist those specific movements are the only way. So, does anyone have a suggestion? For the time being, I’ve just decided to steer clear of any abdominal work entirely; frankly, the headaches have been terrifying enough, and even if my blood pressure wasn't actually high, I’m certain it spiked quite a bit from the sheer panic of it all.

Lisa Nelson70, if they haven't turned up anything physical during your checkups, you might be looking at a psychosomatic issue. You mentioned that feeling of blood rushing when you start exercising—to me, that sounds like a sudden spike in blood pressure or perhaps those Neck Muscles just tightening up too aggressively. I used to spend quite a bit of time practicing handstands back in the day, and whenever I was upside down, I could feel the blood surging straight to my head unless I consciously forced myself to regulate it. It’s a strange thing, but it suggests we actually have some level of control over our blood flow. Perhaps your internal mechanism is just slightly out of sync. It's quite common for people who have dealt with chronic pain for a long time to experience these kinds of uncontrolled somatic reactions.

It’s common knowledge that people dealing with high blood pressure really ought to steer clear of any positions where they're essentially sending all the blood rushing to their head, which is a genuine concern. Handstands, for instance, are definitely off the table. Personally, I find myself frustrated by anything that forces me to tilt my head back excessively—like hanging curtains, or, don't laugh, but trying to finish a drink from a bottle when it gets to the bottom and you have to crane your neck—or even tilting forward, such as during certain yoga poses where you're on all fours and forced to stare down at your own stomach... which, frankly, isn't my cup of tea. However, my head never throbs quite as intensely during specific exercises as it does during others. I'll try to track down some images online so I can better illustrate what I'm getting at.

For example:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Pose_Wiki.jpg

So, it happens the moment I lift my head off the mat. It isn't an immediate pain, either; rather, it hits once I've finished my routine and I attempt to stand up. I did experiment with keeping my head pressed against the floor during the movements, but the pain persists, albeit slightly diminished. Based on everything I've researched and the various insights you all have shared here, I suspect that in that particular position, my spine might be pinching a nerve, or perhaps it's obstructing blood flow to my brain in some way, causing a sort of physiological short circuit.

But now I'm at a bit of a loss—should I just scrap abdominal exercises entirely? And if I do, what options am I actually left with to work on strengthening my Neck Muscles?

Lisa Nelson70, I wasn't actually talking about your posture. What I meant was the possibility that your ability to regulate blood flow to your neck and head might be compromised or just... off. For instance, when I’m doing handstands, I can consciously influence how much blood rushes to my head. It's a thing. But if that mechanism isn't working properly for you, then that could very well be the culprit behind these headaches. Psychosomatic issues have a funny way of hijacking any part of the body governed by semi-autonomous functions—think digestion, heart rate, and things of that nature. In your specific case, it might manifest as some sort of dilation or constriction of the vessels in your neck and head.

Look, I’m a firm believer in the whole psychosomatic connection—you know, how the mind can really mess with the body—but... I don't know, it feels a little bit out there to suggest you could actually influence your actual bloodstream like that, doesn't it?

Lisa Nelson70, I suspect there’s some level of influence here—I can certainly see it playing out in my own body. To be honest, though, I’m not entirely certain about the underlying mechanics. It might involve specific muscle groups, or perhaps it's possible to act directly on the bile, much like how vasodilators function.

Lisa Nelson70 said:It's common knowledge that people with high blood pressure should avoid positions where "blood rushes to the head," which is true. Handstands are definitely out. It bothers me whenever I have to tilt my head way back—like hanging curtains or, don't laugh, trying to finish a bottle when it's almost empty, or even just reaching for high shelves at Target... or tilting forward, like in yoga when you're on all fours looking at your stomach. I hate that. But my head never hurts as bad during the actual exercises... I'll try to find some pictures online to show what I mean.

Like this, for example:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._Pose_Wiki.jpg

Basically, as soon as I lift my head off the floor. It doesn't hurt immediately, but once I finish my workout and try to stand up, there it is. I tried doing exercises without lifting my head, but it still hurts, just a bit less. I don't know, based on everything I've read and what you guys told me, maybe my spine is pinching a nerve in that position, or it's cutting off blood flow to my brain and causing a short circuit.

But I'm stuck. Should I just stop doing ab workouts entirely? And if I do, how am I supposed to work on my Neck Muscles?

Static exercises. Maybe instead of strengthening the Neck Muscles, you should just stretch them? People with cervicocranial syndromes shouldn't be doing dynamic movements if there's any chance an artery or nerve is being compressed. You shouldn't do them if you're dealing with dizziness or headaches. Try static exercises while sitting, or maybe some back massage and cervical traction.

Just to add to that, static exercises would be those other ones, under strengthening the Neck Muscles. Basically, you aren't moving much, but you get muscle contraction by pushing against resistance on the opposite side. I guess.

http://www.arc4life.com/site/615058/page/993935

Lisa Nelson70 said:For the past year, I’ve been dealing with headaches almost every single day. It doesn't matter if my blood pressure is fine or if I've been exercising... sometimes it's just a dull ache, other times it's intense. Every doctor I see just blames it on cervical issues and tells me there's nothing they can do besides taking Diazepam and painkillers.

What kind of scans did those doctors actually run on your head and neck to reach that conclusion? Did they perform a CT or an MRI, or are they just making things up as they go...

crimsongull20 mentioned she was sent over to neurology. I assume they ran all the necessary tests while she was there.

Karen White65 said:Just to add a little more to the conversation, I was thinking that static exercises would fall into that second category, right under the umbrella of strengthening the Neck Muscles. It’s that specific kind of movement—well, lack thereof—where you aren't actually moving much at all, but you're still getting that muscle contraction because you're essentially fighting against your own resistance on the opposite side. It’s a bit of a strange sensation, really, holding that tension without the grace of actual motion, but I suppose that's just how it goes.

I was looking back through some old discussions, and it struck me how much we all tend to circle the same drain when it comes to discussing chronic pain and the sheer exhaustion of navigating the healthcare system. It’s almost like a ritual, isn't it? We come here, we vent, we offer these little fragments of hope or skepticism, and then we move on to the next day of managing our own physical limitations. I was thinking about what Susan Adams66 mentioned earlier regarding the way doctors sometimes look right through you, as if you’re just a collection of symptoms rather than a person with a life, a job, and a mounting pile of laundry. It’s that specific type of clinical detachment that really wears you down—that feeling that you're an inconvenience to their schedule. I’ve felt it myself more times than I care to admit, sitting in those sterile waiting rooms in places like Chicago or Seattle, wondering if anyone actually hears the words coming out of my mouth or if they're just waiting for the clock to hit five so they can go home to their families. Then there’s the medication side of things. We talk about Aspirin or various prescriptions like we're discussing grocery lists, but it’s never that simple. There’s always that underlying anxiety about side effects, or whether the next thing the doctor suggests will actually touch the pain or just add another layer of fog to an already cloudy existence. It’s a constant balancing act, really. You try to find that sweet spot where you can function enough to feel human, but without losing yourself entirely to the haze. It makes me wonder if we ever truly get ahead of this, or if we're all just learning different ways to walk through the storm. I find myself drifting into these thoughts quite often lately, probably because the weather has turned gray and my own joints are deciding to protest the change in pressure. It’s a wearying cycle, but I suppose that’s why we congregate in these digital spaces—to remind ourselves that even if the medical establishment feels like a labyrinth designed to lose us, at least there are others walking the same halls.

Well, thanks, that’s actually quite helpful!

crimsongull20 said:What exactly are your doctors basing these claims about my head and neck on? I mean, did they actually run a CT scan or an MRI, or are they just sitting there making things up as they go along?

So, here’s the current situation: I’ve been cleared for an EEG and an MRI of my Neck Muscles, but apparently, they don't see any need for more extensive brain imaging. My primary care physician sent me off for the EEG, while the neurologist insisted on the neck scan. Based on everything I shared during the consultation, she was quite convinced that these headaches aren't tied to anything other than my cervical issues. Honestly, I’m not exactly thrilled with that conclusion, but I find myself in a bit of a bind where taking further action feels impossible until I get my finances back on track—or until I can manage to switch doctors. Then again, I suppose it's a bit of a catch-22; if I were to seek out a new GP, who knows if they wouldn't just reach the exact same conclusion and tell me that everything has already been done?
I realized I neglected to mention that I’m actually entitled to physical therapy twice a year, but my primary care physician is being incredibly difficult about sending me for referrals; since I only went once last year, she’s insisting it isn't necessary and suggesting I just stick to doing some exercises at home, which is quite frustrating given that my physiatrist explicitly prescribed "periodic physical therapy sessions." My doctor claims there’s nothing in the paperwork specifying the exact frequency, yet my neurologist was very clear, noting that her doctor is well aware that such a prescription implies twice-yearly sessions. Honestly, though, I feel like I'm hitting a brick wall with this current situation. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my financial circumstances improve soon—since I'm still between jobs—so that I might afford to see someone privately until I can track down a different GP who might be a bit more reasonable... though, truthfully, I haven't the slightest clue where to even begin looking.

Bradley Morgan3 said:crimsongull20 mentioned that they sent her over to neurology, so I suppose they've finally run those tests and looked into things there.

Well, as you can see, things aren't exactly looking great... though, to be fair, I wasn't actually at the neurologist for what ended up being the issue. I was there dealing with a pinched nerve—nothing to do with my neck, really—but since I’d been complaining about these persistent headaches, the doctor went ahead and ordered an MRI of my neck anyway just to cover all the bases. When I finally got the results back, she gave me that classic, vague medical shrug, telling me there were some "changes" present, nothing catastrophic, but that I should probably just be careful and maybe head to physical therapy twice a year. It's all very routine, I suppose, but one does wonder how much of it is actual necessity and how much is just standard procedure.