Surfing Waves

I have been surfing about 2 times a week for about a month now. I find that I sometimes get a throbbing headache after paddling around in the surf for about an hour. Sometimes its so bad I have to stop trying to surf and paddle back to the shore until it goes away. Has anybody else ever experienced this? Does it go away over time? Could it be related to dehydration? Any info or insight would be helpful.

ChrisSD wrote:I have been surfing about 2 times a week for about a month now. I find that I sometimes get a throbbing headache after paddling around in the surf for about an hour. Sometimes its so bad I have to stop trying to surf and paddle back to the shore until it goes away. Has anybody else ever experienced this? Does it go away over time? Could it be related to dehydration? Any info or insight would be helpful.

There could be lots of causes. High blood pressure to the brain can sometimes do that to you if your body isn't used to exerting itself in the prone position, it could be simple dehydration or it could be linked to cold shocks.

Either way I think it is better to seek a doctors opinion

Are you surfing in cold water? When I very first started I would get sort of like a brain freeze after my head went under, nothing nearly as bad as what you're describing though. The more I got used to the water the less it happened and now it only happens when its really cold. I agree though that you should see a doctor because it could be something serious

ChrisSD wrote:I have been surfing about 2 times a week for about a month now. I find that I sometimes get a throbbing headache after paddling around in the surf for about an hour. Sometimes its so bad I have to stop trying to surf and paddle back to the shore until it goes away. Has anybody else ever experienced this? Does it go away over time? Could it be related to dehydration? Any info or insight would be helpful.

Hi Chris, a headache like that needs some looking into.
1. When you paddle you hyper-extend your neck which can place pressure on the blood vessels in the neck and spinal cord cutting down blood supply to the brain,scalp and neck muscles.Their response is pain to make you sit up and take notice.
Extreme position of the neck in, extension, side bending, rotation or flexion for prolonged periods that produces pain, dizziness, nausea, pins and needles or deadness feelings down the arms are symptoms of problems that should be diagnosed.
Sports Medico, Chiropractor, find somebody that understands surfing and the stresses it puts on your body.

2 If your headache only occurs in cold water it is possibly what is called an icecream headache where the cold shortens the muscles and constricts blood vessels to those same muscles. This is not as concerning as the first type of headache.
Still get yourself checked out

Finally dehydration? Possible but not likely, just hydrate well before you surf, preferably with an electrolyte drink.
If no headaches in the session it was hydration. If headaches are there , review and do steps 1 and 2

I'd second what Jaffa said. It's nearly impossible to give medical advice over the internet, that kind of practice is fraught with peril. Headache 99% of the time is caused by something benign. Get your eyes checked and see your primary care physician and then get back to surfing.

I have trouble with migranes occassionally and they are often brought on by the major extremes of temperature when surfing. I surf in ireland so it's pretty cold but i have a generally high base temperature i think as friends are always cold etc when i am warm.

When i get into the water and battle through a few sets I get pretty cold with brainfreeze etc but then as i am sitting waiting i begin to warm up again and the cycles continue. When i get out after a session and am a little chilly after 3 hours in the irish seas i have to sit for half and hour just to normalize my temperature because if i get straight in the car i warm up too quick and it can bring on a bad migrane.

I am sure many people get this to varying degrees but for me it is a very clear catalyst for my migranes. I second/ third the doctor visit idea.

Ive only started surfing this week and i have had the same problem, though not qute as bad.

My guess is that, like me, youre just getting pounded by big, powerful, mushy waves.
It may be something different of course, but getting hammered by wave and falling off a lot may be the reason...

im sure it will get better. i certainly hope it does!

Regards, Nathan

I get the same headache when I surf in mid-afternoon hours (12:00 - 2:00pm). I think its from squinting my eyes while searching the horizon for incoming waves. The only time I get this headache is in the afternoon on sunny days. If its overcast I have no problem, if its early morning or late evening no problem. Just afternoon glare gives me a killer headache. The heahache comes on rather quickly too, I would say maybe after 30 minutes in the line up. Solution for me is to not surf in the middle of the day on sunny days.

I was going to mention the squinting. It's something I have experienced.

On a sunny day, I think a headache would be more likely to be caused by dehyration and uninterrupted sun making your head hot.

Drink loads, and splash water on your head if you are sitting around for a long time. See if that helps.

To help with spotting waves I find I get dazzled easily sometimes so I bought a cheap pair of sunglasses which had a stretch of nephrene to loop them around the head. Waterproof apparently, but not a huge loss if they get lost . Only problem is you will look like a twat.

i can relate to the sunlight issue...
when i go onto the lake for some aqua fittness (paddle training) and the sun is quite strong, i sometimes get a headache too, just from the constant sun glare in my eyes...
as soon as i turn around for the way back and get the sun out of my face, its usually a thing of minutes untill the ache is gone...

jaffa1949 wrote:Hi Chris, a headache like that needs some looking into.
1. When you paddle you hyper-extend your neck which can place pressure on the blood vessels in the neck and spinal cord cutting down blood supply to the brain,scalp and neck muscles.Their response is pain to make you sit up and take notice.
Extreme position of the neck in, extension, side bending, rotation or flexion for prolonged periods that produces pain, dizziness, nausea, pins and needles or deadness feelings down the arms are symptoms of problems that should be diagnosed.
Sports Medico, Chiropractor, find somebody that understands surfing and the stresses it puts on your body.

Wouldn't have remembered without your post Jaffa, and don't want to freak the OP out but I would take this sort of thing very seriously. No headaches mentioned but this reminded me of a surfer who died a while ago over here, from something similar. Here's the full story:

http://surf.transworld.net/1000078046/news/first-time-irish-surfer-tears-neck-artery-and-dies-three-days-later/