HEADACHES When PUNCHING?

Ok I've come across a problem.
Friend of mine that I help train, complains of sudden sharp pains in his head when he hits a heavy bag and training mitts.

This happened a few days back. Since then I told him maybe to watch his breathing because he may be unintentionally holding back air while he punches.
He told me today he breathes properly but still gets sharps pains running through his head when he hits both the heavy bag and focus mitts.

This one has got me in a twist? I've never come across this kind of problem.
Little info on him.

He is super middleweight, 6'3", 22 years old. Pretty strong and cut.
Never boxed against an opponent as of yet.
He once had a head injury which was caused by a car accident a few years back, but since then has had many head/brain scans, all clearing him of any problems.

I...am...puzzled! Lol.

Anyone can help?

I might be able to help... shake your head vigorously and tell me what it feels like ;)

All I know is that if I have a tough bout... then the day afterwards it will hurt me to move my head... slipping punches etc...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AdamGB

I might be able to help... shake your head vigorously and tell me what it feels like ;)

All I know is that if I have a tough bout... then the day afterwards it will hurt me to move my head... slipping punches etc...

---

Yeah I box, know what the thrashed head feeling is like. Lol.
Fact is, this guy...doesn't box. He only trains.
So he isn't taking any punches to the head.

He said he gets the sharp pains in his head when he punches bag, mitts etc...on punch impact.
They only last a few seconds, but are apparently really painful.
Makes him worried...and me. :-\

What I'm getting at is... you say he he's had a head injury? you know what it's like to not be able to move your head quickly the day after a bout right?

not only does your head move slightly when you punch, but you have the force pushing back from the target after you've hit it and it's all going back into your body.

he's got the all clear off his scans but there still could be an underlying problem... could be something completely different of course... has he seen a doctor? I bet Scrap will know what's up! ;)

Heres an odd posibility
Is the guy hydrating properly,if Im improperly hydrated,Ill get that to a degree,and with his history of head trauma,that would only make it worse

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Trainer Monkey

Heres an odd posibility
Is the guy hydrating properly,if Im improperly hydrated,Ill get that to a degree,and with his history of head trauma,that would only make it worse

---

my thought was hydration also, we don't know his life style obviously but being a young bloke maybe he hits the beer a bit to much in the evenings ? .. alcohol consumption will dehydrate the body .. if you party the night before, you will feel it training the next day. hydration is the key to successful training ... I have noticed not only headaches but lack of stamina without proper hydration . Note that thirst in not an accurate indicator of dehydration . You should take sips of water or Gatorade periodically, before the onset of thirst sets in..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lords Gym

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Trainer Monkey

Heres an odd posibility
Is the guy hydrating properly,if Im improperly hydrated,Ill get that to a degree,and with his history of head trauma,that would only make it worse

---

my thought was hydration also, we don't know his life style obviously but being a young bloke maybe he hits the beer a bit to much in the evenings ? .. alcohol consumption will dehydrate the body .. if you party the night before, you will feel it training the next day. hydration is the key to successful training ... I have noticed not only headaches but lack of stamina without proper hydration . Note that thirst in not an accurate indicator of dehydration . You should take sips of water or Gatorade periodically, before the onset of thirst sets in..

---

Yep,I set a minimum intake of Gatorade per day,and keep a training bottle full of water and Gatorade handy while Im training.
Also if your not hydrating properly you run a risk of cramping,the last thing you want when your sparring is a possible muscle tear from a cramp

It sounds like the dorsal on his upper 4th vertabrae has tightened and troubling the nerve try the neck stretch on the stretches ive put up do it on the hour while awake for 3 days. then get back to me I bet he dont stretch. hold the stretch for 20 secs

To add to the previous posts. Could be lots of causes. Firstly, he needs to get checked out by an osteopath or someone similar to be initially diagnosed. :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Scrap

It sounds like the dorsal on his upper 4th vertabrae has tightened and troubling the nerve try the neck stretch on the stretches ive put up do it on the hour while awake for 3 days. then get back to me I bet he dont stretch. hold the stretch for 20 secs

---

Is that like turning your head to each side and holding?

I never thought that it could be his hydration. Common sense tells people to drink enough fluids, but I'll talk to him about this too.

Thanks people.

Just in case you're asking because you didn't see the vid it's in "Scrap's Stretch Programme" in the stickied posts up above this one. I think it's the first vid in the thread.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LUCKY_13

Is that like turning your head to each side and holding?

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sharla

Just in case you're asking because you didn't see the vid it's in "Scrap's Stretch Programme" in the stickied posts up above this one. I think it's the first vid in the thread.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LUCKY_13

Is that like turning your head to each side and holding?

---

---

Ah yeah. I saw it, I will recommended this. Thanks.

Dont turn the head at first, just keeping the chin level push back with pressure and hold for 20 secs every hour for 3 days youll feel the difference. Its the kneck problem is brought on usually by to much heavy bag work and not enougth maintainance or as MD says go see a good registered Ostiopath.

Another possibility is that he is not receiving enough oxygen into his bloodstream. When i was younger i expieienced this problem and it resulted in severe shaking of my hands and when excercising hard it caused headaches. Was resolved simply by working on lung strength.

please can someone help me, my son is 6 and started boxing about 4 weeks ago, recently hes been complaining of bad headaches when he punches the bags, and when he does tuck jumps, i noticed when he was skipping he came and had a drink from me and i asked him if he was ok and he said he had a little headache, i felt his head and it was boiling and i could feel the pounding pulse pounding on top of his head, the coach has had disscussions about my son as they dont want to train him anymore as his headaches are concerning them, their concerning me too, hes got adhd gets prescribed ritalin, i thought this was the problem so i stopped the ritalin and he still has the headaches, so it cant be the medication, he looks really red and flush, and the coach said you can see the distress in his face when he has the headaches when punching the bags, i brought him home early and he was really quiet and cold, then about 10 minutes later he was fine, this is happening frequently, he enjoys going and i find it upseting that these headaches are stopping him doing something he finally likes doing, and most of all its worrying for me incase there is something wrong with him, hes not dehydrated as the coach said he doesnt look dehydrated he drinks plenty, and my sons consultant said he could be training too hard, but there is younger kids there than him that does the same training with no problem and the coach said that the training aint too much. please could someone suggest anything about these headaches, their really worrying me, i would appreceate any replys, thanks, hayley..

Sounds like his neck is out may stem from between his shoulders or just under the blade or can be 1 inch down half way between the neck and the should too.

What area are you in? there are some great practitioners around that can solve that very fast these days.

If you massage him with your thumbs around his shoulder blades and close in towards his spine as well I bet you will feel some muscles that have formed into harder lumps (they do this naturally when pain or stress is present). If you havent hand strength you can lightly useyour elbow for the pressure.

If he puts his arm up behind his back his shoulder blade will open up so you can work under it a bit and oil him down and run your thumbs or your centre finger knuckles around under his shoulder blades and see what you find.

you warm them up first get the blood moving ,find the lumps then slowly put thumb pressure on the lumps slowly increasing it. On a pain level between one and ten ask him with your slowly increasing pressure when its on a seven and just maintain that pressure until its drops down to a 3 .

Then work it around again get the blood back in there then go other places do those other knots then go back to the main area and try again . For 24 hours after he must drink alot of pure water.

Give him a rest for a day after, then go back and do it again.

I have a knot back there sometimes ,that when pushed and worked on hurts inside my head I know they got the right spot then.

thanks for that info, im in wales uk, great info will try that, but the coach there had a disscussion with the other coaches and my son is too much of a liability for them they no longer want to train him because of his headaches, their worried about him, just hope its nothing serious.. thanks for your reply, very much appreceated..

An Mri on his head would be a good thing to get done just to make sure he's ok.

im asking the doctor on monday to arrange one, im awful frightened, with all the feedback ive received even though its good feedback, im getting very worried, thank for your reply...will keep u updated, thanks..

Well dont be over worried,its just common sense to tick all the boxes for the little chap is all.

How is he today? Any pain?

hi, hes generally fine, has been since, it just took boxing to find out that these headaches occur in training, however like mentioned before by you i think, boxing may not be the cause, but the trigger from underlyeing problems he may have, but if i were to take him boxing which i wont these headaches would come back, thanks, for your concern and asking, many thanks, hayley..