MEN are twice as likely as women to suffer from “sex headaches”, a study suggests.
It flies in the face of the stereotype of females blaming bonce pain to avoid nookie with their partner.
Researchers say the rare condition PHS, “primary headache associated with sexual activity”, may be a predominantly male phenomenon.
Records from headache clinics showed 1.5 per cent of male patients were diagnosed with it, compared with 0.6 per cent of females.
Sufferers said they regularly developed a throbbing upstairs during or after romps, with researchers believing it may be due to “performance anxiety”.
Study author Aleksander Osiowski, of Jagiellonian University in Poland, said: “We know men tend to be more worried about not performing or having problems during sexual intercourse.
“I think that when a man is already worrying about something to do with sex, he might also get this headache and that will make him decide to see a doctor.
“They may not worry so much about headaches that happen at other times.”
Most of the male PHS sufferers were in their mid-30s.
Mr Osiowski said: “Older people tend to have less sex in general, and in your 20s you might not be bothered by this.”
Previous studies suggested sex may relieve headaches by releasing feel-good hormones.
When a headache can be dangerous
Dr Unnati Desai, national GP lead at Nuffield Health, said: “If you are experiencing the symptoms of a thunderclap headache, seek urgent care as this requires emergency assessment in A&E with an urgent scan.
“If you experience a headache that is triggered by increased pressure – e.g. from coughing, exercise, intercourse, hypertension or a known space-occupying lesion (a mass in the brain tissue that could be either benign or malignant), seek medical advice.
“This is to check for any underlying conditions, which are rare.
“Post head injury, if your symptoms are worsening, this may be a sign of an internal bleed in your brain so it is important to seek emergency care as you may need a scan.
“If you have an infection and develop a severe headache with neck stiffness or neurological symptoms such as seizures, confusion, difficulty speaking, loss of movement in parts of your body or loss of consciousness, then it is important to be assessed for meningitis and encephalitis.
“There are several forms of meningitis outside of meningococcal meningitis which presents with its typical rash, so the absence of this rash doesn’t exclude you from having another form of meningitis.”
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