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While Squating With Weights Had A Pop In Head That

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Posted on Thu, 25 Jul 2019
Question: While squating with weights had a pop in head that lasted about 2 minutes, with pressure on ears then went away with no other symptoms. Should i be' conserned
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Follow up: Dr. Dariush Saghafi (7 minutes later)
Also failed to report there was pain in my head for those few minutes
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dariush Saghafi (1 hour later)
Brief Answer:
Weight lifter's Headache

Detailed Answer:
You most likely suffered something commonly referred to as WEIGHTLIFTER's HEADACHE.

This type of headache is described typically exactly as you did with some type of POPPING or other SOUND or sensation in the head which is then, accompanied by headache which at times can be severe and even to the extreme of producing symptoms of migraine with nausea/vomiting, sensitivity to light/sound. All of this occurs usually in the context of performing heavy exertional activity requiring a lot of force and pressure that tends to elevate intracranial pressure. WEIGHTLIFTING is the activity most commonly engaged in by people who experience these symptoms.

Since your symptoms did not appear to be so extreme as a migraine headache and it all subsided within several minutes then, you should be fine. You may want to analyze your breathing patterns when lifting weights (especially squatting) since I find athletes experiencing these sorts of headaches often all do so because of improper breathing technique. Since it's not my point in this answer to review all of the dynamics of breathing technique I leave it to you to check with a coach or if you'd like to refer to a very good article I've always found helpful you can check out the link but your headaches may be mitigated by GOOD BREATHING TECHNIQUE:

https://squatuniversity.com/2016/02/12/the-squat-fix-core-stability-proper-breathing/

If on the other hand you or someone training with you can vouch for having excellent breathing and lifting technique so as to MINIMIZE the rise in intracranial pressures that often occur because one of these parameters is off then, the next step to reduce or elminate these headaches is to reduce the amount of weight you're squatting or reduce the number of reps to a point where you are not experiencing these headaches and are able to master the load more effortlessly. Then, you can start climbing in a graduated step-wise manner so that your body becomes more acclimated to the weights you're trying to eventually push.

The typical course of this type of headache is BENIGN and a dissipation of symptoms within minutes usually occurs but in no case should it last more than 24 hrs. Another name for these types of headaches is BENIGN EXERTIONAL HEADACHES (BEH). Over 90% of headaches experienced by lifters or others who perform heavy physical exertion involving a sudden explosion of power against a heavy load or strong force of resistance possess BEH. However, about 10% of people may fall into a category where there is actually another reason for the headache aside from the mechanism I just outlined above.

The time to worry about these types of headaches is when the symptoms DO NOT subside fairly quickly (as above <24 hrs...usually minutes) or headaches subside but then, over the course of the next 24-72 hrs. start to increase or that the person should develop symptoms of migraine such as throbbing on one side of the head, feelings of nausea, vomiting, listlessness. These are bad things that should be looked at right away since they could be reflective of an intracranial process such as a bleed or some type of architectural abnormality of the skull that was triggered to demonstrate symptoms as a result of the heavy exertional activity.

Again, you've not described any such symptomatology so I don't believe you have anything to worry about but just be aware that if this should happen again and the symptoms are either more intense AND do not subside in a reasonable amount of time or GET WORSE over time that this should prompt your seeking medical attention quickly.

If I've provided useful and helpful information to your question could you do me a favor by CLOSING THE QUERY and taking a moment to provide some kind words of criticism and perhaps even stamp it with a 5 STAR rating if you feel so inclined?

Do not forget to contact me in the future at: www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi for additional questions, comments, or concerns having to do with this topic or others.

This query has utilized a total of 60 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Dariush Saghafi

Neurologist

Practicing since :1988

Answered : 2473 Questions

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While Squating With Weights Had A Pop In Head That

Also failed to report there was pain in my head for those few minutes