Pain in back of head after squat

ScissorPaperRock

My friend and I were at the gym on Saturday and he just after he finished a set of squats he got this pain in the back of his head. He said it felt like it was shooting from his upper back up towards his head. The pain would subside but would return once he attempted any other lifts.

Since then the pain seems to return if he does anything slightly strenuous, jogging down stairs for example. He's planning on seeing a doctor as far as I'm aware.

I'm just wondering in the meantime whether anyone else has had any similar experiences, and what the root cause may have been, or maybe someone knows what this is.

telemachus

I've had this on and off through the years , never entirely pinned down what it was but I get very blocked sinuses and it's possible it has something to do with the pressure, I only ever got it when I was really pushing myself at the full weight after warmup sets.

When I got it badly it used to hang around as a backround type headache for a few days and like your friend it would flare up just from running up the stairs or jogging. Ibuprofen and a decongestant like sudafed helped me avoid it during the gym but I found if it flared up badly i'd just have to take it easy for a week or two until I started lifting heavy again.

The other thing I just remembered is I once got a splitting headache at the back of the head rising from the upper neck after heavy pullups but I think that was as a result of not stretching at all and the upper back/lats tugging at my neck badly, though i've never had it with squats.

podge57

im sure this is not anything like what is happening to you, but i thought i would go ahead and scare you anyway

One really crazy thing that has happened to me and is probably potentially the most dangerous thing I have done to myself in the name of the pursuit of strength is cause intracranial hemorrhaging, yeah really. The first time it happened was in college after squatting really heavy I was doing a set of high rep leg extensions when I felt a sudden "pop" in the back of my head. I instantly had a sensation of a cool liquid flowing inside my skull. It was really weird but interesting. The interesting part stopped as soon as the pain hit. It was the most intense pressure and pain I have ever felt. I literally couldn't do anything but pace back and forth with my eyes clenched shut. I managed to make my way back to my apartment and proceeded to take twelve Tylenol #3s that I had from a back injury that I never used before. Now I never take pain killers, never. I never took any after my bicep surgeries, not after any of my back injuries and not even after having one of my "boys" cut out. But I tell you what, when this headache hit it was completely incapacitating. The Tylenol #3s at least took the edge off and allowed me to function so I could.........go to the hospital?? No, that would have been the smart thing to do. I went to work. The pharmacist that I worked with noticed I was acting funny (due to the T#3s) and I told him I had a really bad headache but I didn't go into why. By the next day the pain subsided and apparently I am okay. Well if you can call my current state okay. The same thing happened to me again two weeks later after another heavy leg workout and had me freaked that my lifting career was in serious jeopardy but fortunately that was over seven years ago and it has never happened since so I think both of my brain cells are pretty safe.

telemachus

Yeah, there's nothing better than the internet to give you the fear of god , when I had those headaches it was all SUB ARACHNOID HAEMORRAGE this CERTAIN AGONISING DEATH that on google.

ScissorPaperRock

podge57 wrote: »

im sure this is not anything like what is happening to you, but i thought i would go ahead and scare you anyway

You know... I might avoid mentioning this to him.



But then what if he has it!??:eek: Oh noes!

podge57

ScissorPaperRoc wrote: »

You know... I might avoid mentioning this to him.



But then what if he has it!??:eek: Oh noes!

like i always say, friends dont let friends hemorrhage intercranially...

Canis Lupus

ScissorPaperRoc wrote: »

My friend and I were at the gym on Saturday and he just after he finished a set of squats he got this pain in the back of his head. He said it felt like it was shooting from his upper back up towards his head. The pain would subside but would return once he attempted any other lifts.

Since then the pain seems to return if he does anything slightly strenuous, jogging down stairs for example. He's planning on seeing a doctor as far as I'm aware.

I'm just wondering in the meantime whether anyone else has had any similar experiences, and what the root cause may have been, or maybe someone knows what this is.

I get it rarely and usually after a break from weights. It MIGHT be what's called an exhertional (sp?) headache. It tends to happen to me when I don't watch my breathing (which causes increase in blood pressure and bang, headache and no more lifting for the day or possibly few days).

However. I'm no doctor and he/she is the best person to check with if your 'mate' has a pain in his head after weighlifting.

amazingemmet

Is your friends head neutral or is it pushing back into the bar? How is the bar placed is it on the neck or is it on his traps?

Can your friend do the following

Look directly to the right and left in line with each shoulder with no straining? can he touch his chin to his chest? can he look directly up? Can he tilt his head to the side so the top of his top ear is in line with his lobe on the bottom ear on both sides?

Poncherello

Ive had it before, its like a vessel bursts or something and needs to repair itself. I had to take a break from squatting for a few weeks as I was worried about it at the time.
Once I spoke to few people who had said they experienced it too I went back to squatting but did breathing excercises for couple minutes before and that certainly helped.
After a couple months I completely forgot about it and has never come back.

ScissorPaperRock

amazingemmet wrote: »

Is your friends head neutral or is it pushing back into the bar? How is the bar placed is it on the neck or is it on his traps?

Can your friend do the following

Look directly to the right and left in line with each shoulder with no straining? can he touch his chin to his chest? can he look directly up? Can he tilt his head to the side so the top of his top ear is in line with his lobe on the bottom ear on both sides?

I'll ask him to try this out. What might the implications be if he can't?

Thanks for your input guys, I appreciate it!

cardio,shoot me

podge57 wrote: »

like i always say, friends dont let friends hemorrhage intercranially...

i gotta say thats my favorite quote of the year :P

MooseJam

I sometimes get this during exertions on the toilet, wonder if it's the same thing

amazingemmet

ScissorPaperRoc wrote: »

I'll ask him to try this out. What might the implications be if he can't?

Thanks for your input guys, I appreciate it!

Those are stanard range of motion and mobility tests for the neck, If he can't do some of them it can imply he has immobility in certain muscles which can lead to too much tension in the neck causing pain under certain situations.

accensi0n

cardio,shoot me wrote: »

i gotta say thats my favorite quote of the year :P

Mine too! It's going in the sig.

podge57

cardio,shoot me wrote: »

i gotta say thats my favorite quote of the year :P

accensi0n wrote: »

Mine too! It's going in the sig.

haha, i have now been immortalised

cardio,shoot me

somebody just became famous :P now u gotta get famous for that insane deadlift