Valsalva headaches - how do they feel?

General
1

hi, im still trying to figure out if my problems are chiari or not and a bit of a dead end with the "valsalva headaches.

pretty much all my life when ive had a bad headache i know not to strain as it makes it worse.if i lean down to pick something up off the floor, get up off the sofa, run up the stairs or lift something heavy, or even have a decent sneeze it makes it worse. but not instantly.

i always assume this is normal for everyone when they have a headache, but the more i read the more i question it.

ive read abou the valsalva test and tried it, and it does my headache noticably worse, but not while im doing the pressure thing. it can be anything from 1-10 seconds after that the pain suddenly hits. is this what is expected or do people feel the pain as soon as they pressurise?

thanks everyone,

martin

2

So the intense pain that explodes within 5 seconds of doing such a think isnt valsalva? Is this just normal kind of headache?

Cheers

3

Hi, I'm new here but I'll weigh in. The "ice pick" headaches are the reason I sought treatment way back in 1990 when I was in college. Mine would set in immediately, last 5-15 seconds and then go away. At one point I was having around 50 a day.

4

Hi everyone! I have the same type of feeling - the ice pick in the head - brought on by something as simple as bending over. I first noticed them about 10 yrs ago. They progressively got worse. Coughing is the worst. Sometimes they are real quick and sometimes they seem to last minutes (they probably don't - just seems that way). That was the symptom I was most looking forward to getting rid of by having the surgery. I am 7 months post surgery and still have them just as much and as bad as I did prior. My surgeon said it can take up to a year to know for sure how successful the surgery was...but gosh darn it! :) I know this doesn't help with the original question...just needed to get that out.