Cephalalgia 38:1–211ĭarling M (1991) The use of exercise as a method of aborting migraine.
Headache Classification Committee of the International Headache Society (IHS) (2018) The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition. Peltier L (1985) Geronimo Mercuriali (1530-1606) and the first illustrated book on sports medicine. Headache if often cited along the treatise: different sports and physical activities, or various ways of practising the same action could produce opposite effects for people suffering from headache. “De arte gymnastica”, by Girolamo Mercuriale, is the first textbook on sports medicine. Mercuriale summarises 18 sports or physical activities that can give relief from headache conversely, running or heavy activities, such as boxing, appear among the 12 contraindicated sports for people suffering from headache. However, interestingly, he reports detailed descriptions of how the same sport, or the same physical activity, could cause or give relief from head pain, depending on the precise way of practising. Despite some references to inveterate headaches or cold-related pains, Mercuriale does not gather specific clinical characterisations of different types of headache. The Author’s work derives from the systematic revision of Greek, Roman and Arabic literatures about the matter. We discuss these classical literature findings in the light of the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition. We analysed the book “De arte gymnastica”, written by Girolamo Mercuriale (Forlì, Italy, 1530–1606), and considered the first “sports medical textbook”. We aim at promoting the development of more studies focused on the relationship between headache and physical activity. The correlation between headache and sporting activities or physical exercise dates back to the classical age. The relationship between physical activity, sports and headache presents a growing interest, testified by numerous papers recently published.