Headaches

**Michael Wright** · 09-05-2007, 05:36 PM

Guys,

I train as a middleweight amateur at 165lb and spar twice a week with, as I know is the only way, professional boxers who are far better than me. Lately, for 24 to 48 hours after my sparring sessions, I experience pretty severe headaches and these are getting worse. I always wear headgear, I always rehydrate, and I try to rest after every session.

I guess my question is, does anyone else experience this on a regular basis and is there anything you have done to help reduce the impact? I would appreciate the experience of others in this field.

Thank you. MW.

**Hardball** · 09-05-2007, 06:14 PM

Spar/Fight with more impunity.

**Tom Yum** · 09-05-2007, 06:23 PM

I've had some neck soreness and a few black eyes, but other than that I've never had headaches...you might want to see a physician about that.

Hope everything is ok.

**Michael Wright** · 09-06-2007, 06:00 AM

Spar/Fight with more impunity

Oh of course, why didn't I think of that? Thanks man, problem solved.

And there was me standing in the ring with my hands behind my back

**Hardball** · 09-06-2007, 06:58 AM

Originally Posted by Michael Wright

Oh of course, why didn't I think of that? Thanks man, problem solved.

And there was me standing in the ring with my hands behind my back

I get headaches after a rough class of slams to the matt.

**eXcessiveForce** · 09-07-2007, 09:36 AM

I get headaches from getting hit, but I also had brain surgery two years ago so I doubt my experience with this helps.

I will say before surgery I rarely if ever had headaches from taking a hit.

**Ghost** · 09-07-2007, 10:54 AM

Originally Posted by Michael Wright

Guys,

I train as a middleweight amateur at 165lb and spar twice a week with, as I know is the only way, professional boxers who are far better than me. Lately, for 24 to 48 hours after my sparring sessions, I experience pretty severe headaches and these are getting worse. I always wear headgear, I always rehydrate, and I try to rest after every session.

I guess my question is, does anyone else experience this on a regular basis and is there anything you have done to help reduce the impact? I would appreciate the experience of others in this field.

Thank you. MW.

Question..... do you get the same results if you dont spar with those that are far better than you?, if not then its just the volume of head shots from guys that know how to hit hard that is causing it. If you arent sure do a week or two completely not sparring with them. and see if thats the cause.

Neck strength will also come into this slightly as boxing headaches can be caused by a lack of neck strength and consequently a repetitive jarring of the neck and the neck muscles. this can cause severe headaches too even if they appear to originate in the temple of the head.

I would say you are simply suffering from the sparring with the pro guys and would suggest you cut this part of the sparring right down to a minimum, spend more time sparring with guys closer to your level.
Sparring with guys that are alot better is a good way to get good fast but its also a dangerous route and judging by your post its injuring more than helping you right now.
The times ive had severe headaches in boxing were after getting hit by guys that knew how to hit hard and on target.

hope that helps.

**Michael Wright** · 09-07-2007, 05:29 PM

First of all, thank you to everyone for taking the time to reply.

Mike, my friend, thank you for sharing your experiences, of which I had no idea. I read your post and immediately I booked an appointment at the hospital for Monday morning to get this looked at. Your advice is always taken without question, and I am very grateful. I have also looked at the headguard you suggested and its on order. Thank you Mike.

Ghost, you make some really interesting points, especially about the neck muscles. At 6ft 1 and 165lb I am a very slim guy, so neck muscles aren't in abundance. I'll take your theory and see how that works. I know what you mean about sparring with people at my level, I've just always trained with and against the best, and its a hard habit to shift. The headaches first started when I upped the pace with my pro trainer, but now it has become consistent in any sparring session, which leads me to believe there may be a problem. As you rightly say, at the minute it seems to be doing more harm than good. Your post did help, thank you.

Thank you also to Tom Yum, Excessive Force and Hardball for replying. I posted this because I was getting pretty concerned, sometimes a problem shared just makes all the difference. Thank you.