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        New Message Board Archives >> 2005 Cluster Headache Specific Posts >> Poll:  Hot or ice on the head?
        
(Message started by: hzzz on Mar 2^nd, 2005, 8:22pm)

Title: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by hzzz on Mar 2^nd, 2005, 8:22pm

I cannot take heat on my head during an attack. I took a hot shower once and it about killed me. Ice pack seems to help tone down the real sharp jabs sometimes. Is that typical or are some of you able to stand a heat pack or hot shower?

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by nani on Mar 2^nd, 2005, 8:25pm

For me...it has to be ice. Like you, heat makes it much worse.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Purple_2005 on Mar 2^nd, 2005, 8:32pm

For me it has to be heat but I'm always opposite because when I am having a cluster heachache I can't get up and most people can't stay still.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Langa on Mar 2^nd, 2005, 8:32pm

Heat for me...it be a boring world if we were all the same...lol

BTW, welcome... ;;D

Langa

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Kris_in_SJ on Mar 2^nd, 2005, 8:37pm

Personally, I can't stand either. I usually take the cold pack and put it on my knee, lower back, chest, etc. ... any where but my temple/eye area. It seems to help draw attention away from the cluster, somehow. But usually, I end up throwing it across the room anyway. Oh well, we're all different.

Kris

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by crazy_mj on Mar 2^nd, 2005, 8:53pm

Both and neither. I usually do what feels good at that exact moment, only seconds later it being the worst thing ever to do. Moment by moment is how I take them.....

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by hzzz on Mar 2^nd, 2005, 9:06pm

Purple ......

I like cold, but I don't like to move either. Still and quiet is what I've always done. After reading about all the pacing though, I tried it on one. It definitely helped during the attack, but it seemed to make the attack last longer. I wonder if we've all just learned to cope on our own the first few cycles until we've realized we need medical assistance. Then those little "self-help" items become permenant fixtures in our anti-attack repoirtore.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by unsolved1 on Mar 2^nd, 2005, 10:41pm

Heat. Xtreme heat :o

Unsolved

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Purple_2005 on Mar 2^nd, 2005, 11:33pm

on 03/02/05 at 21:06:22, hzzz wrote:

So now that you've tried the pacing do you rather be quiet or do the pacing?

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by BobG on Mar 3^rd, 2005, 6:01am

ice

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Renee on Mar 3^rd, 2005, 7:53am

ice...the colder the better!

heat...makes things worse.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Redd715 on Mar 3^rd, 2005, 8:42am

Depends on the Kip...the lower the kip I want ice...when they ramp up ice and rock or pace, but past a certain threshold, get me to a hot shower!!!! My apartment complex has high pressure shower heads and the constant beating of the hot water on my face and skull at that point seems help...least feels like it does anyway. ::)

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by BobG on Mar 3^rd, 2005, 9:34am

Hey Redd, do you have one of the pulsating type shower heads? They're great. Waterpic makes a good one. The heads that have a hose are best. You can aim it where you need it and the hose is long enough that it can be used even if you are thrashing about on the shower floor.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Redd715 on Mar 3^rd, 2005, 11:23am

Wish I did Bob, but no....it's the water saver heads because of course water is included in the rent. Some I know the water trickles out but these babys are high pressure...I love it....

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Frank_W on Mar 3^rd, 2005, 11:31am

Ice on the back of my neck, or on the top of my head and brow, on the affected side. Because I am also one of those CHers that gets a full body-temperature spike when I'm getting hit, the ice helps two-fold.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by rickyshot on Mar 3^rd, 2005, 11:44am

Ice.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Ellick on Mar 3^rd, 2005, 3:27pm

I have to have heat, as hot as i can manage with a gellpack underneath my eye.

Have to try ice sometime.

ET.x

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by maffumatt on Mar 3^rd, 2005, 4:59pm

I take the hottest bath possible with only my nose sticking out, I think that breathing the steam off the water helps as much as the immersion. Then before i get out I turn on the cold water and stand in the spray, I think the shock of the water temperture change freaks the body out. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Cooked Brain on Mar 3^rd, 2005, 5:57pm

Ice, frozen peas [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by thudpucker on Mar 3^rd, 2005, 7:33pm

If anything at all, a bottle of cold water on my forehead near the site of the pain. But, in general, I can't stand any kind of touch near the affected temple.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by hzzz on Mar 3^rd, 2005, 7:48pm

on 03/02/05 at 23:33:46, Purple_2005 wrote:

So now that you've tried the pacing do you rather be quiet or do the pacing?

I remain still and quiet so it ends quicker. It does hurt more, but it definitely ends it quicker for me. If I'm still they almost always end in around 30 minutes. If I pace or squeeze my head it can take up to an hour for them to end.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Paula on Mar 4^th, 2005, 1:16am

Ice for me too. Taking a hot shower when I am in cycle will bring them on. There is no way I can stay still. I am a rocker and if it gets worse I am a screaming pacer, pulling my hair as hard as I can or pushing it as hard as I can against the wall or floor. I am not sure if any of it really helps with the pain. But I just CANNOT be still.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Alien Space Babe on Mar 4^th, 2005, 1:26am

depends, actually:

hot shower - sometimes with my clothes still on (did that one Christmas - scared the bejeezus out of the relatives and ticked off my mom because of the water dripping off me in her dining room!)...

but when I'm overheated, cold cold water - got the idea from Catlind - great and easy to do with a garden hose ....

either way, I like it coming down my head, running over the tender part that's hurting from the CH...

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by sandie99 on Mar 5^th, 2005, 6:38am

Ice or anything else cold here, thanks! Warm shower triggers CH for me sometimes.... :(

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by kimh on Mar 5^th, 2005, 7:16am

Ice Cold on head. If the kip is not out of control i often times drop into a hot bath (for the neck bulge pain) and sit there with the ice on my head. If kip ramps i gotta get out of tub and move around with the ice still on my head.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by debs on Mar 5^th, 2005, 10:23am

Ice makes it worse, heat for me, right on the CH. Still trying to find a way to get something hot enough. Going to try boiling water in a hot water bottle next.

Seems strange that some of us like heat --if body temp increases, why make it hotter? --I think heat should act as a vasodilater, why inflame those poor vessels even more? But, works for me.

I'm like Hzzz and Purple, not a pacer: I sit and rock, or recline and wave one leg around in the air. That must look really strange. Don't think I would be physically capable of getting in the shower.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by xmas1225us on Mar 5^th, 2005, 4:25pm

as cold as i can find it. i opened the window last nigt on a cold new york winter mid nite and it was cold. Its the only thing i know that will help speed up the ease of the beast ( i like the name)

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Racer1_NC on Mar 5^th, 2005, 5:40pm

Cold is the ticket for me......bag of ice water on the back of the neck. Feels like heaven most of the time. Heat is a killer...........

Bill

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Belle on Mar 6^th, 2005, 12:50am

Got to say ice to. I've had so many people tell me that I'm doin it wrong and that I should use heat. Who the heck are they to tell me what makes me feel better.

Numbskulls!(sp?)

Belle
::)

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by TonyG1 on Mar 6^th, 2005, 8:41pm

on 03/03/05 at 16:59:01, maffumatt wrote:

I take the hottest bath possible with only my nose sticking out, I think that breathing the steam off the water helps as much as the immersion

Agree with Matt on this one... start with the hot bath (straw as a breathing tube ;)) followed by ice at the base of my skull after the bath. Sometimes it is opposite and I have to do cold followed by the heat. I can usually tell which one will be beneficial within a few moments and know what order things have to go. Sometimes it seems to work, others it doesn't. It is somewhat of an art I think.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by rcw134 on Mar 6^th, 2005, 9:50pm

Ice for me. As soon as I'm able to touch my head, I put ice on top, the sides, over my right eye and back of the neck. It has always helped.

Since learning from residents of Clusterville, my first line of defense is the O2. This community of fellow CH and migrain sufferers is a blessing for anyone who has had any experience with the beast.

Good Luck to you.

Ray

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by BMoneeTheMoneeMan on Mar 9^th, 2005, 11:18pm

i prefer some warm water on the head. I used to dance over my bathroom sink and use my hand to splash warm water over that side of my forehead. Cold seemed too intense to give me relief.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by PerryGR on Mar 10^th, 2005, 7:48am

Both have helped at one time or another but i usually go for ice.

PFDAN to all,
Perry.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by floridian on Mar 10^th, 2005, 4:36pm

Ice on the face during the worst of an attack. Heat on the neck and shoulder at other times.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by AussieBrian on Mar 10^th, 2005, 9:18pm

Have long had great relief from hanging my head under the shower and switching it from hot to super-cold and back.

Not being entirely in control at the time, of course, I once scalded all my scalp and half my hair fell out. Didn't even realise until morning.

I now alternate between an ice-pack and a hot water bottle, sometimes using one either side or the back of my neck, and then swapping them around.

Works for me, at least, and gives me something to do.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Kim Y. on Mar 11^th, 2005, 9:30am

Heat is better for me.

Cold send the Kip up 2-3 notches.

Someone mentioned something about heat being a vasodialator. Well most of us are on Verap. and that is a Vasodialator as well. That might be part of the reason heat works.

I take a shower unfortunatly once that cold hits it when I get out it shoots back up.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by TomM on Mar 11^th, 2005, 9:44am

I've switched to frozen corn nuggets. No lie.
Works like a champ.
TomM

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by kissmyglass on Mar 11^th, 2005, 12:39pm

ICE!! Cold air too...the colder the better.

Heat is baaad.

K

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by bluesunshine on Mar 11^th, 2005, 11:51pm

When shadowing at work, i go in the walk-in freezer and it helped me. I never tried putting ice or frozen vegetables on my head. I will try this. Heat, definitly not.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by kimmeesue on Mar 15^th, 2005, 4:45pm

For me, it is more of a distraction than a relief and I alternate between Hot and Cold. It's usually a hard hammerring hot pulse on the back of my neck followed by a fan aimed directly at my wet head ( sorry Mom). This can buy me some time and occasionally get me to sleep awhile before a trip to the ER. Some times an ice pack helps the swelling in my eye, other times it hurts too badly. Nothing is ever exactly the same with the monster.

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by lionsound on Mar 16^th, 2005, 9:38pm

ice

and stepping outside for cool,right now freezing, fresh air

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Mr.YL on Mar 16^th, 2005, 10:50pm

Ice...an add a walk in cooler to that

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by E-Double on Mar 16^th, 2005, 10:54pm

I used to like....an ice pack on neck with head emersed in steam (fill up a sink w/ scaulding water and cover head with a towel)
Helps clear the sinus so I can dance @ a faster pace

I also used to grab ice and walk the streets like a schizophrenic during an episode (no offense to any) coffee in hand and in my PJ's talking to myself [smiley=laugh.gif]

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Sylvan on Mar 18^th, 2005, 11:01pm

ice, definately ice.

And if i could push the ice pack through my eye and directly onto the pain - i would!

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Redneck on Mar 22^nd, 2005, 10:35pm

A cold wet rag, ice hurts, heat hurts, cant move. If I ever get up and start moving around everyone leaves the house :-[

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by survivor13 on Mar 23^rd, 2005, 12:04am

the colder the better! heat intensifies the pain for me!

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by aj8694 on Mar 23^rd, 2005, 10:05am

for me it's heat ..... and lots of it

Title: Re: Poll: Hot or ice on the head?
Post by Damon on Mar 26^th, 2005, 11:02pm

Rock'n under a hot shower if out of trex