Posted by Bennie Sue (63.11.65.111) on February 11, 2000 at 06:51:54:
In Reply to: Steam posted by Trey on February 11, 2000 at 01:29:18:
I,too, benefit from breathing steam. The heat feels wonderful, and it clears the stuffed nostril. It is very interesting that many people require extreme cold to soothe a CH, while some of us can even abort one if we apply extreme heat very early.
This diversity in our preferences interests me a lot, and I wonder if it has any significance in the overall study of CH.
I expect it would not suit a person who perspires heavily during an attack to think of adding more heat. In my case, I cannot tolerate any kind of cold on my head or even on the rest of me.
If CH is primarily a neurological, secondarily a vascular phenomenon, perhaps the preference for cold or heat is purely a personal thing unrelated to CH proper. I benefit from the heat, which I assume is a dilator of blood vessels, but I also get immediate relief from an Imitrex injection which constricts blood vessels. Do you use Imitrex to good effect also?