LOS ANGELES—The case of the software professional in India who got severe headaches every time he watched porn is not new, but it has helped reveal the odd fact that headaches as a direct result of sexual activity are not an unknown malady. It turns out that 1 percent of the population are stricken with primary headaches from sex at some point in their life, with men falling prey more often than women.
The case was covered by Karen Rowan of MyHealthNewsDaily for MSNBC. Rowan quoted Dr. Amy Gelfand, a neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine not directly associated with the case, who identified two types of primary headache related to sexual activity.
"The more common type is a sudden and severe headache that occurs at orgasm," she said. But the Indian man was getting the other, less common, headache, just by looking at the stuff. The reason for either, said Gelfand, is a mystery.
"Some have speculated that muscle contractions in the neck and jaw during sex may somehow trigger the headaches, while others have suggested they occur because blood vessels in the head are abnormally reactive to sexual activity," reported MSNBC. "The researchers who treated the man in India suggested his case was caused by changes in the pain-sensing nerves in the face and jaw, along with increased pain sensitivity due to 'a heightened emotional state associated with viewing pornography."
Those vague guesses as to the cause of the headaches came acame with the knowledge that tests on the man showed no physical or neurological problems. In the end, reoprted MS, "The man was advised to take a combination of ibuprofen and acetaminophen half an hour before watching porn, and he reported the drugs significantly relieved his pain."
