Primary Headaches Associated with Sexual Activity—some Observations in Indian Patients

Abstract

Primary headache associated with sexual activity appears to be relatively uncommon in a clinic-based study in Indian patients. Only 24 patients (M : F 18 : 6) were encountered over a 20-year period (1985–2004). Of the 18 male patients, 14 (age 33–42 years) had preorgasmic headache of tension-headache type for 2–8 months, one patient (age 58 years) had orgasmic headache of vascular type for 1 month and three subjects (age 19–23 years) had masturbatory headache also simulating tension-type headache for 3–7 weeks. These observations are at variance with those generally reported from western countries. Of the six female patients, four (age 26–32 years) had typical orgasmic headache of the vascular type (for a few months to a few years), only one of whom had been a migraine sufferer. One patient (age 35 years) presented with a single episode of thunderclap headache where angiography had been negative. Another female subject (age 30 years) experienced typical orgasmic headache only during masturbation but not during actual sexual intercourse. Occurrence of sexual headaches in both male and female subjects had been unpredictable. Few had associated migraine and none ever experienced exertional headache.