"Not to tonight, honey — I have a headache." Is there a more dreaded phrase in common parlance? I think not. But the wifey is either going to have to get more creative or buy a chastity belt, because recent research points to the idea that sex might actually cure migraine headaches, especially in women.
Oklahoma Health Sciences Center neurology professor James Couch first thought sex might cure headaches back in 1988, based on the context clues of a perhaps particularly randy patient.
"This lady said 'I really don't need a pill, I need a guy's phone number," [he said]. [...] The patient told Couch she had trouble curing her headaches since her husband had divorced her and she'd signed up for a pain treatment study.
Couch thought this was interesting, in a scientific way, of course. "A physiologic process — the climax — is turning off another physiologic process," said Couch.
The inquisitive Couch soldiered on, asking 84 female migraine patients what happened when they had sex during migraines. 61 percent reported some relief, which means for them, sex was comparable to modern migraine medications called triptans, which are thought to ease 60 to 80 percent of migraines. Even more impressively, 20 percent of women reported that sex cured their migraines completely, while triptans may cure migraines 30 percent of the time.
"Four women said it literally stopped the headache, period," said Couch. "No matter when the headache occurred, it stopped the headache cold."
Score one for...scoring! But there is some bad news, especially for men.
Sex can be a trigger that causes migraines in 10 percent of all sufferers, but men can also experience unique types of headaches, including a dull pain in the head and neck that starts mildly but quickly worsens over time. Worst of all, some men experience a sudden, explosive headache called coital cephalalgia — it arises just before or during orgasm and can last for hours afterward.
Bummer.
The research remains intriguing, but no one knows exactly why sex might be a relief or a trigger for migraine sufferers; some scientists think it might relate to endorphins and other pain-relieving hormones released during sex, or stimulation of nerves that trigger pain relief during childbirth. Since sex can also be a cause, doctors are unlikely to prescribe sex as migraine relief, instead advocating for traditional medical remedies and prevention methods like getting regular sleep and exercising regularly.
"I doubt that sex is a reliable treatment for headache," said Randolph Evans, clinical professor of neurology at Baylor College of Medicine. "You can't grab somebody in the office and say, 'Hey, it's a medical emergency!'"
Or can you? That sounds like a wager to me, Dr. Evans...
Headaches and Sex: "Yes, Tonight Dear" (ABC News)
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