Posted by gary g on November 26, 1998 at 00:23:02:
read a writeup of a research project where they put 1 group of CHers on oxygen and a second group on refrigerated ambient air, administered same as the O2;
they claimed results were statistically equivalent in relief factor...who knows....BUT:
that led to bright idea time (I'm one of those ENTP Gyro Gearloose types)
bought 4' of clear plastic flexible tubing at the hardware (off a bulk roll, less than $1/ft); like aquarium aerator line only much bigger - about 1/2" diameter;
tucked one end along bottom, into back of refrigerator freezer compartment, then led the rest out thru the frozen food, which left about a foot free to extend outside the freezer, tucked that end loosely inside
at first sign of headache, open the freezer, pull out the loose end and shut freezer door loosely (just short of pinching hose shut)leaving balance of hose in place;
stick hose end a little bit, snugly, into nostril on headache side, and inhale slowly, pinching other nostril shut; exhale through mouth;
keep it up, see if it helps
I've been doing it as partial relief for established attacks for a couple weeks, and it helps enough to be well worth doing - in fact, have a chair stationed by the 'fridge just for this trick; 2 things happening here: with the door mostly shut and all the contents acting as a heat sink, the freezer keeps up with the air drawn in from the room; and doesn't thaw the goodies; to demonstrate the numbing effect - dangerous ? I doubt it, the air will be about 0 degrees F, and here in Maine we call that a nice February day, and stay out in it all day long just for the fresh air good luck !!!!!!!!
today I decided to experiment, got on it immediately at earliest sign of 2 different attacks; each one: 10 minutes - stopped the buggers cold
(yeah,I know, puns are lowest form of humor, I'm in 7th week of CH - that's pretty low too
1. REALLY cold air being delivered into a critical area of attack site, numbing it
2. if I remember my HS physics correctly, we're also boosting the 02 content of our lung capacity inhalation, because the room air greatly contracts when cooled, getting much denser, which means a lot more O2 molecules in each inhalation (the opposite of not getting enough at high altitude, where the low pressure allows the air to expand, reducing 02 per liter)
after a couple snorts, you probably won't be able to feel the coldness - might think it's not working - OK, maybe - but then suck a little thru your mouth - COLD!!! thus proving you're numbing the sinus area, because you can't feel the cold anymore