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21 years
I was reading on a blog that to heal a migrane submerging feet and hands in cold water and putting a frozen bag at the base of the skull (back of the neck) helps. Is it true?
Feb 20, 2014

Dr. Rania Mousa General Medicine
That may be effective in some patients(note that hands and feet are put in warm hot water not cold water and the cold compress on the base of skull) to know why then try to know what happens during a migraine attack .
Migraines begin when blood vessels in the brain contract and expand inappropriately. This may start in the occipital lobe, in the back of the brain, as arteries spasm. The reduced flow of blood from the occipital lobe triggers the aura that some individuals who have migraines experience because the visual cortex is in the occipital area.

When the constriction stops and the blood vessels dilate, they become too wide. The once solid walls of the blood vessels become permeable and some fluid leaks out. This leakage is recognized by pain receptors in the blood vessels of surrounding tissue. In response, the body supplies the area with chemicals which cause inflammation. With each heart beat, blood passes through this sensitive area causing a throb of pain.
So putting a cold compress in the back of the skull (where the occipital lobe is)will constrict the vessels that are dialated in the second phase (headache throbing pain) which then will be helpful especially that the blood will go to the extremeties to dilate due to warm hot water .That is a theory that works for some you can try if it will work for you
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