Posted by M on October 04, 1998 at 02:29:29:
I have been 'working through' my clusters for five weeks now, and have purposefully not taken any meds in order to get an accurate history of duration, intensity, and frequency. I am going on the fifth week with only two days headache free and an average of 2 per day. As all, or most of us know, relief comes in different ways for different people and frequently in different ways each time we each have a CH...sometimes a hot shower brings some peace, other times perhaps another method works.
Interestingly, I have releived, or entirely eliminated the pain six or so times in the last month by...are you ready for this one...chewing gum. Now, of course, it could be entirely coincidental (that is, perhaps the CH was running its own course of thirty minutes or so and dissipated on its own), but it occurred to me that the activity of the jaws muscles might contribute to relaxing the facial and side of the head tension/pain associated with a CH (if nothing more, it distracts one's concentration from the pain of the CH).
Searching for some connection, as we all do, I asked my dentist a few days ago if the gum theory is plausible. His response was that it is...that when one chews gum it releives the tesion in the jaw and facial muscles and releases the adverse acidity built up in those muscles (yes, I get the wonderful facial/scalp/neck muscle and nerve sensations that are painful enough to cause you to avoid touching the face or scalp or even your hair).
So, with the foregoing in mind, perhaps some of you would be daring enough to shove a wad of gum in your mouth (use more than you would normally chew) and grind away on it (on the CH side of your face) during an episode. A casual apporoach is good at first but if that is not soothing, chew it like Mae West would...with vigor and character...have to find your own pace.
Look forward to any comments from those of you that give this one a try.