very sore scalp and headaches from ponytail...

[01]

DON'T wear ponytails all the time. I used to do this and killed my edges. I looked terrible and decided to cut my hair off, wear them shorter and out. Problem disappeared when I stopped wearing ponytails. Braid or bun them instead. And not one style all the time.

[Daydreamer.]

Maybe it's the weight of your hair? Perhaps you need more support? Try making more than 1 ponytail and see how it feels. If you like the look of a single ponytail, you can space the mini ponytails close to each other and make it look like 1 ponytail by putting a ribbon/scrunchie around them loosely.

[Wusel]

A nice ponytail for me... No way... Unfortunately. I love how it looks, it suits me perfectly, looks really awesome on me, my SO loves it... but I have a sensitive scalp and even have problems with many loose updos and a ponytail is the hell for me... my scalp hurts like hell after 10 minutes, I get headaches after 30 minutes and after an hour I get pain in my neck and shoulders plus even more headache... It's like a curse... because I love ponytails so much. I'm never able to wear them. Only for a photo or so... And when I take it out it feels like someone is rolling a dermaroller with nails instead of needles over my head...
I have heavy hair, I think that makes it even worse, so even when my hair was only APL I couldn't wear a ponytail...