Neck/Back of head pain

[Exnor]

I have exactly the same symptoms as described in this thread : http://64.191.60.103/showthread.php?...throbbing+head that was posted some time ago.
I was curling a reasonably heavy weight on Monday, and suddenly i got a very hard throbbing at the back of my head/neck, it was so painful i had to sitdown for 10 minutes to rest until it dyed down a bit, and i finished my sets taking it easy then went home. It remained for another hour orso then completely went.

I didnt think about it again until last night, when I was doing some pushups and it happened again, exactly the same thing, except it didnt completely go away until the next day.

Im quite new to the gym (been going 4 months or something) and I dont usually concentrate on my breathing, so i thought it could me something to do with this (plus all the replies on that thread suggested it was that too). I probably even hold my breath alot of the time (which i now know is a bad thing). Today I did some bench press, building up the weight, making sure i was breathing properly (mabye even excessively) but it happened yet again when i was on a last rep of a heavy weight, but went away much quicker this time.

I'm thinking to myself I could wait a week and see if its healed itself, and take it easy with a proper breathing technique, if it happens again, ill see a doctor.

I got my blood pressure checked about 3 months ago, it was very good indeed, and I feel/am very healthy apart from this recent problem... I doubt it could be anything very serious since i have strained myself lifting heavy before. I think it must be that I pushed it to far holding my breath on the Monday.

Any ideas about what it could be or how i can get over it before lifting heavy again?

PS: im 19, 150 pounds, 5'10

[restless]

I had this before and though I'm not sure, it might be due to postural problems. Do you spend a lot of time in front of the computer? With a name like exnor I am inclined to think you do, and if so, it can be that an incorrect neck posture might be leading to to problems in your nerves or vertebraes (spelling?). But it could be the blood pressure thing also.

[Exnor]

Heh, yeah im at uni doing software engineering, i spend a good deal of time on the computer, alot less than previous years though!

I used to have pretty bad posture before i started lifting, but over the past 5-6 months ive adapted to standing / sitting with good posture. Forcing myself to sit in a good posture took time, its alot easier now but i still have to keep reminding myself... I dont have a hunchback or anything, i compare normally to other people if i sit up straight.

Hmm could the bad posture i used to have screwed up my neck?

You said you had this before, what happened? did you take some time off the gym to recover?

[restless]

Originally posted by Exnor
Heh, yeah im at uni doing software engineering, i spend a good deal of time on the computer, alot less than previous years though!

I used to have pretty bad posture before i started lifting, but over the past 5-6 months ive adapted to standing / sitting with good posture. Forcing myself to sit in a good posture took time, its alot easier now but i still have to keep reminding myself... I dont have a hunchback or anything, i compare normally to other people if i sit up straight.

Hmm could the bad posture i used to have screwed up my neck?

You said you had this before, what happened? did you take some time off the gym to recover?

I can't remember exactly what I did, but eventually it went away. With me it was only a problem with the leg press (back when I was using it) and latter during heavy deadlifts. I know I read some stuff about it and though I can't recall exactly what I'm under the impression that this might be a compressed nerve or something similar, probably caused by your head tlting forward or something like that. A muscle imbalance between back/chest anterior/posterior delts might also be involved. It's probably better to see a specialist if it persists.

Not much help I know....

[Exnor]

Hmm... I'm more convinced its got something to do with the breathing. I dont think i fully recovered from monday when i did the bench press today, hence the pain again. But the pain where i breathed properly lasted only a few minutes...

Im hoping after my week off i can come back to lifting again and breath properly preventing any pain.

I mean im pretty sure my posture is normal now - a girl I met who didnt know me when i had bad posture commented on how strong my posture looks now.

But your right, if it still hurts next week I will definately go see a Chiropractic.

[Exnor]

Does a trapped nerve have these symptoms? Anyone?

[sysopt]

It probably has something to do with breathing. It could also be related to neck alignment/posture that was mentioned before. I had this a few times but I never got it again. Be sure while youre doing exercises that you have proper posture and correct breathing patterns. It may also help to do some counter movement for your neck because it is most likely protracted for a large part of the day. Pull your neck/head back (retraction) while keeping your head level. If you create a nice double (or triple) chin, then youre probably right on target.

[sysopt]

I also noticed that I only felt the pain if I were working very very intensely. You should consider backing off a bit.

[Exnor]

Yeah ive backed off weights completely until next week, ive made an appt. with my Uni doc for tommorow at 9, mabye he can figure out what it is.

Since I tried doing benching again yesterday (when it happened a 3rd time) it hasnt felt quite right when walking or going up stairs and stuff, i feel a very slight throbbing.

Im pretty confident (i hope) that it will go away after a weeks rest, ill see what the doc says. Thx.

[Exnor]

Well i just spoke to a wise man and he told me that im just getting ' exertion headaches'. He had them before, and it was due to over-doing things. Plus the fact i saw another thread on here where Hulk had the exact same thing, he took some time off, and was fine (as shown in this thread)

This totally makes sense, i get the pain whenever i excert myself.

Also I only started a new hardcore routine in the last 2 weeks, I went from going 2 days a week whenever i felt like it to mon/wed/fri full on sets for whatever muscle group, spending like 3 odd hours killing myself in the gym. I also changed my diet quite a bit. I mean it was working (ive gained 3 pounds), but I guess anyone could have told me it was stupid to dive right in the deep end, plus the fact my breathing technique was crap.

My plan: to take 1 or 2 weeks off, lay off the weights, relax, let my sexeh flatmate feed me grapes with my 'serious injury'
Ill start up again, taking it easy, with a proper breathing technique, building up to higher levels. No harm in seeing the doc tommorow anyway, to check my BP and stuff.

Im sure some other poor dude will come along compaining of the same things, and if he does, please point him in this direction. Its quite a worrying thing to happen to someone wihtout a reasonable explaination. Its simply the body telling you to take it easy.

Thank you for the replies.

[Exnor]

Saw the doc, he measured my BP. As expected its perfect, and he agreed with my self diagnosis. Now I just gotta find a way to not do any straining physical activity for the next 2 weeks (including any type of sex!!) dammit. :P

[JD77]

The same thing happened to me the other day during a deadlift.

[Exnor]

Ok, an update on this thread...

I found out 1 more bit of information about it - that you can get excersion headaches from raising your BP too high (like when i was holding my breath doing the curl).

Its been over 2 weeks now, and I have been fully of the weights. About 5 minutes ago I tried doing some excersies for the first time, some dips at home. I did 4 sets of 20, excerting myself quite alot, concentrating on breathing, and It felt completely normal. No headaches, no pumping.

Im quite happy now, but im not going to push it too hard yet, going to gradually build up to the frequency and intensity that I was before I stopped.

Moral of this story - make sure your breathing technique is right, and your posture is good.

Thanks for all the replies and help.

[Stepinfetch]

I was about to post a thread like this if I didnt find any anwsers from searching, luckily I found this. I too having been having problems like this after intense things, most when I do things such as pull ups or push ups. The pain throbbs in the top part of my head and back area of my brain it feels. It goes away after about 3 hours slowly getting better. The pain hurts BAD, this sort of thing never happened before. The other day I did 15 pull ups and when I got down I had trouble standing it hurt so bad.

I figure the big factor is breating, I have trouble getting this down pat. Im going to try and practice this more. Thanks.