Couldn't finish my session due to extreme headache

[CoolRunnings]

Last night my squat warmup sets and my first work set went fine. On my second set, the first rep was fine but on my ascent I felt light pressure near my left temple. On each subsequent rep the pressure became more painful until the fourth rep, where it hurt so bad that I didn't attempt my fifth. If you have ever had extreme sinus pain while descending in an airplane, this is what I would describe the sensation as. It felt as if my head was going to split open. I skipped the third squat set and tried to press. But on the fifth rep of the first set, the pain came back. I wasn't sure what to do but I was sure that the pain was enough to not continue. A few notes:

-I was coming back from a week off because of vacation. Vacation was at sea level, I live approximately 1100 above sea level. No idea if this could contribute.

-My allergies have been terrible. Lots of bloody noses, stuffy nose, coughing, etc.

-My neck on the same side as the pain is in extreme discomfort right now. I have a pinched nerve (or so its been described by doctors) that bothers me when I sleep on it wrong. It hurts to turn my neck left and I get an ache along the left shoulder/arm that is also uncomfortable.

So questions:

Is it possible I am performing the Valsalva incorrectly? Like I said before, the pain was on the ascent. I feel a lot of pressure in my head normally but never any pain like this.

Is it possible for a pinched nerve in my neck to be the cause?

Should I be worried about something more serious? I wasn't dizzy or anything.

Thanks for the replies.

[veryhrm]

How do you do valsalva ?
E.g you should be able to do it with your mouth open.

Haven't seen anything mentioned here specifically but if you're doing valsalva when you're stuffed up it's possible that you're pressurizing some compartment through a "one-way" blockage. However, since you say you have pinched nerve problems and the pain persisted through the next day it could be totally unrelated to your breathing.

(Note: not a doctor or anything)

[CoolRunnings]

I grit my teeth pretty hard. Lately, I've been trying to press my tongue to the roof of my mouth so I don't grind my teeth so much. But I should be feeling pressure in my head on the ascent correct?

The left side of my head still aches. I've experienced this problem before but nothing as painful as this. I'm gonna try to train tonight. We'll see how it goes.

[medwards]

I get a similar headache due to a cramp or spasm in my neck, usually because I've slept on it wrong. There's a term for it that I can't remember or find, but basically one little muscle in my neck has decided to cramp and knot up causing pain from my shoulder blade to forehead. Sometimes massaging it helps, sometimes it just makes worse. Same with exercise. A major dose of Ibuprofen seems to do the best job.