Severe headaches after hockey.....

[topshelf11 0]

I played last night and have a killer headache this morning.

It's probably from the post-game beers, though. :P

[Jim A 4]

if you toss down a bunch of water in a short period of time you will still piss clear, however most of what you had will just pass through your body

hydration takes a long time, as does chronic dehydration - what works well is to sip consistently throughout the day for a long period of time...ie. 4-6oz every 60min for an average

adding something like an ECap and or Nuun tablet will help keep it all balanced as well with the additional water you are putting into your body..

[Tikkanen 1]

I would think hydrating properly at least 24 hours before you play would be the way to go. IMO, the headaches are a way of your body telling you you are not doing something it needs since most people who play don't get them. Maybe not enough carbs, maybe not enough protein, not enough electrolytes, not enough water. Diet, hydration and stretching would be a good start, then try to find a system you use before each game that can get your problem to go away. In the book I'm going to give you it has a chapter on diet and hydration, from what I read it sounds like you have a symtpom of heat illness.

[Vermette20 0]

My wife works in a hospital so she has a good general knowledge on various Drugs etc.. Anyhow on our way to Dead lobster yesterday, I mentioned this post to her. She mentioned a certain drug which is specifically for Migrane Headaches called Imitrex. Basically you would take this right after your done playing before the headache comes, and you should be fine. Anything like Vicodin, Tylenol #3, Darvaset, Tramadol etc.. is not going to work as that is not the functional use for these drugs. Anyhow ask your doctor about Imitrex, it might be worth looking into and be able to help you out.

Im currently in a similar boat, as I need to have sinus surgery (again) and the pollups are causing the sinusitus pain and pressure to stay and not go away, and I have to take all kinds of crap from anti biotics, prednisone and Vicodin, Darvaset and the other usuall suspects whatever is prescribed for me at the time. for saftey measures every couple of days ( a day off from work or two) I wont take anything, so my body doesnt build up a relience on it. Also with this stuff its a good idea to put yourself on a taper, 6 for the first few days (max does for 24 hours), 4 the next few, then 2 then 1 each day etc... this way it weans your body off without going through detox etc..

Anyhow hope this helps everyone out

Casey

[#44wannabe 4]

I used to get the same problem, what fixed it for me was starting to wear a mouthguard and drinking LOTS of wter/Powerade.

[flyerman 0]

I used to get these same kind of headaches all of the time after I played soccer in the heat and sometimes after hockey, esp. if I was on the ice and exerting/sweating for a long time. I also suffered from terrible migraines as a kid.

I am no doctor, but for me it has something to do with the heat and blood flow in my head and perhaps also getting dehydrated. Low blood sugar, as someones else has mentioned, may also contribute to these type of post-workout headaches.

I know you said it doesn't help you, but I actually take 3 advil BEFORE I go to the rink with some kind of light food (energy bar) and drink a lot of water, before and after the game. This seems to solve the problem for me.

I sometimes drink Green Tea with Ginseng (little caffiene, but enough) before and sometimes even during the game, and for whatever reason this combo also helps prevent these intense headaches.

Good luck!

[usahockey22 0]

I stretch, but probably not nearly as much as I should....that's something I hope to start doing when I start playing again.

Not stretching wouldn't have anything to do with headaches. Stretching is really overrated anyway...there is a lot of evidence that static stretching does no good for performance or injury prevention, and in fact may increase the likelihood of injury. For warm-ups, stick to doing light to moderate cardio with dynamic stretching.

[saba 0]

Bullshit

Every cell in your body and that includes tendons needs a good blood supply and stretching has never ever been detrimental to getting your circulation up

For something as serious as severe headaches run dont walk to your nearest physician which knowing guys on this board would have been suggested countless times

[Jarick 5]

Not stretching wouldn't have anything to do with headaches. Stretching is really overrated anyway...there is a lot of evidence that static stretching does no good for performance or injury prevention, and in fact may increase the likelihood of injury. For warm-ups, stick to doing light to moderate cardio with dynamic stretching.

For me they did, according to my doctor. I've had a lot of sharp pains that seemed unrelated but were due to muscle strains.

Although I'm also not convinced of static stretching, I'm more of a light cardio and a bit of dynamic stretching guy myself.

[usahockey22 0]

Bullshit

Every cell in your body and that includes tendons needs a good blood supply and stretching has never ever been detrimental to getting your circulation up

For something as serious as severe headaches run dont walk to your nearest physician which knowing guys on this board would have been suggested countless times

Doing cardio and dynamic stretching does a better job than static stretching at getting "every cell in your body" a good blood supply. You apparently haven't read the numerous studies that have demonstrated the dangers of cold static stretching before a workout.

[TBLfan 25]

You always want to warm up and get blood going and heat going through your muscles before you stretch. That's why you skate first then stretch then finish warming up. Simply skating and swinging your arms side to side will get enough blood going to stretch.

For you goalies out there. There are two great reasons, no matter the style to scrape your crease.

1) Gets the excess water out of the crease.

2) Gets the blood flowing through your legs before you stretch.

[usahockey22 0]

You always want to warm up and get blood going and heat going through your muscles before you stretch. That's why you skate first then stretch then finish warming up. Simply skating and swinging your arms side to side will get enough blood going to stretch.

Nah...for athletes many trainers don't recommend static stretching prior to a workout at all anymore. After you have completed an entire workout or game, then it can be helpful. There have been numerous studies done that show static stretching done before a workout can actually hinder your performance, and very few that support any idea of them helping performance.

Realize I'm talking about athletes...static stretching is of course effective for people doing rehab, or those who are not at a high-performance level. For athletes, if you want to do static stretching it should be after a workout, or else just on a day that you have off from exercise.

Of course you shouldn't take my word for it. There is a lot of data to support this now, and you can find it if you search through pubmed and especially sports science journals.

[Fletch 219]

For something as serious as severe headaches run dont walk to your nearest physician which knowing guys on this board would have been suggested countless times

I have....they can't pinpoint the cause. It has been proposed to me that maybe I suffer from exercise-induced migraines, so who knows. Also, I have had a brain MRI done and some other brain tests done and everything looked normal.

I am going to compile a list of the suggestions here along with some other stuff I have read and try each one of them out and note my progress.

[mack 44]

I'm glad no one's made a Kindergarten Cop reference and hope it turns out to be nothing. I had those for a stretch one summer and never had them again.

[N!! 0]

usahockey22 is correct. There currently is no evidence of a positive effect coming from static stretching, and it seems that any positive effect is strictly anecdotal at this point. That said, it's been studied extensively for around 30 years, so the lack of conclusive benefit seems to indicate that one won't be found.

Something like PNF would be more beneficial if you must have a "loose" feeling before hitting the ice.

[NTKT10 0]

You mentioned you have TMJ. It could be possible that you're grinding your teeth when playing and you don't notice it. If this is the case a mouthguard could work wonders. They're cheap enough that it wouldn't hurt to try and if you find that it works a custom fitted mouthguard would be less bulky and noticeable than a cheapo store bought one.

[OuiMonsieur 0]

I use to have "tension type" headaches before. It was caused by the fact that my neck muscles were too tense. Maybe you should take a look at your body positionning and seeing if your neck muscles are always contracted for long periods. This creates inflammation of the muscle "connectors" (sorry, don't know how to say it in english, but its the part where the muscle attaches to the skull).

Try going to an orthotherapist. The one I saw helped me identify the cause of my headaches and helped me get rid of them.

Brief description of orthotherapy: http://www.fco-cfo.ca/english/allabout/whatis.html

[usahockey22 0]

Forgot to ask...when you go to the doctor for check-ups, do you have a good blood pressure reading? Activities such as hockey, football, sprinting, weight lifting, etc cause a pretty big spike in blood pressure just due to the intensity of the physical output. This can easily cause headaches during or after exercise, and is not necessarily something to be alarmed about, even though it's painful. If you have high blood pressure though, then talk to a doctor about it.

[flyerman 0]

I did a little research after I suffered one of these post-game migraines last night. I think your (our) post-game migraines are caused by the swelling of the blood vessels around the skull from intense physical exertion. Caffeine alleviates the pain of your headaches because it constricts blood vessels (e.g. it has a vasoconstrictive effect).

I don't know why exactly how advil works for me as a preventative (prob is also a vasoconstrictive) -- and I know it is not a holistic approach addressing the root cause of my headaches -- but last night I didn't take it and, viola!.....migraine.

I also read that lower serotonin levels cause the blood vessels to swell, causing migraines. So higher levels of serotonin, like caffeine, also cause the vessels to constrict, relieving the pain. Something to look into.

Again, I am not a doctor, but this stuff makes sense to me. The key seems to be to find the right combination of these vasoconstrives that have minimal side effects (like keeping you up all night). I strongly encourage trying out advil/light caffeine combo with some food BEFORE you go play and see if it helps.

You might also look into Craniosacral Therapy, which can really help the underlying causes of migraines. It really helped my ex's migraines.

Good luck, man.

[Wolfpack_1986 154]

I've tried Motrin (Advil) and it doesn't help....Excedrin does help but it wires me up and I don't like to feel like that during a game, that's why I take them afterward.

Depending on how many excedrin it is you take, take the equivalent of the constituents active ingredients in other pills. IE excedrin has acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine in it. Pop tylenol and aspirin in the same dosage amounts to see if it still works. DO NOT exceed the recommended dosage.

Obviously, I'd try to do thisng with hydration and the like to get rid of them first... fixing the cause is most important. But, as for managing pain while you figure it out, its worth a shot.

[toroytorero 0]

I suffer from the same, though as of late it hasn't been a problem. It sucks I know. I actually had an MRI done as a result and everything checked out fine. I could best describe it as a massive sinus or "pressure" headache it was painful and dis-orienting.

I found an article on the internets that referred to something called an effort migraine, basically exactly what flyerman described. I've been taking a couple advil prior to playing and that has been helping...granted I've been busy with school to play much these days. hope it helps, you should make an appointment with a doctor as well.

effort migraine

[biff44 0]

Some ideas here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5364970

[usahockey22 0]

I've tried Motrin (Advil) and it doesn't help....Excedrin does help but it wires me up and I don't like to feel like that during a game, that's why I take them afterward.

Depending on how many excedrin it is you take, take the equivalent of the constituents active ingredients in other pills. IE excedrin has acetaminophen, aspirin, and caffeine in it. Pop tylenol and aspirin in the same dosage amounts to see if it still works. DO NOT exceed the recommended dosage.

Yea, here's another similar idea.

Take the aspirin and the tylenol in the same amount that you take from the excedrin. Then for the caffeine, drink 2 cups of good black tea with the aspirin and tylenol. If the caffeine is what helps you out, you will get it from the tea.

This should give you the relief without feeling wired up, because drinking the caffeine in the form of tea doesn't hit you in the same way as straight caffeine from a pill. Tea also has other sedating components that would modulate the energizing effect of the caffeine, hopefully allowing you to sleep.

If you give this a try, post your results, I'm curious to know how it works...

[biff44 0]

"Caffeine is a trigger that utterly fools people," he says. "In the short-run, it may seem as if it's warding off a headache. But in the long-run, caffeine causes rebound headaches."

[Fletch 219]

"Caffeine is a trigger that utterly fools people," he says. "In the short-run, it may seem as if it's warding off a headache. But in the long-run, caffeine causes rebound headaches."

Well, all I know is that at this point if I have one of these headaches and I don't take an Excedrin, I am miserable and writhing in pain until I can (hopefully) fall asleep.

Actually, on second thought I forgot to mention one thing - if by chance my Wife is willing to "do the deed" with me after hockey, it somehow makes the headache mostly go away....it's really strange. Unfortunately, a lot of times she's asleep after my games. ;)