In anecdotal evidence, I’m discovering that migraineurs tend to be either ‘hot’ or ‘cool’ people.
Those of us who are ‘hotties’, like to take our caffeine hit in the form of a cup of coffee. When we take a shower to relax tired muscles, it needs to be nice and warm. When we need migraine relief, we turn to heat packs.
‘Cool kids‘, on the other hand, tend to enjoy caffeinated soda, use ice-packs or cold compresses to get relief from their pain, and potentially prefer colder showers.
I know that for me, placing anything cold on my face feels terrible. Even placing a cold, wet cloth on my eyes is enough to give me an ice-cream headache on-top-of my migraine; ugh. I can get my head around a can of soda, and have, occasionally, been known to indulge. As for a cold shower – no way – I can’t think of anything less relaxing.
That said, I seem to be in the minority. Here’s a website that I found that discusses the history of ‘cold therapy’ for migraines. It’s interesting to know it’s a strategy that’s been around for a while… but it’s a tad horrific that one method involved ‘intranasal relief’ where cold fluids are pumped into your nose via tubing:
Heat vs. Ice for Migraine: What Works Best? – Healthgrades
The science behind cold therapy is that it causes blood vessels to contract and potentially decrease inflammation, as well as slowing down your metabolism, and possibly inhibiting the way our nerves conduct pain signals. Heat therapy, in theory, is worse, because it dilates the blood vessels, potentially causing them to expand and become squashed against the skull, increasing the chance pain signals might be sent. Accordingly, there’s not a lot of research into heat therapy… sorry fellow hotties.
What’s also interesting, is that there is a lot of talk on-line about ‘mixing it up’. In other words, if you’re a hottie you should take a cold shower, or, at the same time as using your heat pack for your neck, place cold washcloths on your wrists. Conversely, if you’re a cool kid, then popping a heat pack into the blankets at the same time as you’re using your icy-beanie-thingy, will supposedly help.
The theory is that you mess with your mind. Your migraine-brain receives two sets of conflicting pieces of advice, and not sure which one to listen to, it snaps out of whatever stupor it’s in. I confess I’m not as skeptical as I probably should be. The ubiquitous meme that keeps going around suggests you should “put your feet and hands in hot water, and a bag of frozen peas on your neck”:
Not gonna lie, this photo gives me the heebie-jeebies… surely you could just use a tub-bucket in the loungeroom instead of taking your peas next to an open toilet and sitting on the bench… and I know it’s being a bit pedantic, but the bag looks like it has potato-puffs or corn in it, not peas…
(Image source: Migraine Hands And Feet In Water – mapasgmaes)
Anyway – back to helping you reduce your chronic pain – curious to know if any of you have been able to make being a ‘cool hottie’ work as pain relief?
Regards and take care, Linda x
The Mindful Migraine 
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