The Great Ganesha

No - I’m not insulting anyone here, so calm down. I suffer from the occasional migraine myself, and was intrigued by this new treatment which I read in (of all things) Men’s Health. It advocates crushing a chili in your hand and literally, rubbing it into your nostrils. There’s even an all-natural nasal spray that sprays chili into your nose! Gives a whole new meaning to ‘pepper spray’.

I couldn’t find that vignette online, but there’s a whole bunch of info on using chili peppers (and their “active ingredient” capsaicin) to cure all kinds of pain. Here’s something on spicy meals and how it all works:

The chemistry of that spicy meal is quite fascinating. Capsaicin dilates the capillaries in the mucous membranes and skin, which is why your nose runs when you eat spicy food, explains Eric Yarnell, ND, RH (AHG), adjunct professor at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington. The dilation of the capillaries by capsaicin permits more efficient circulation of nutrients into tissue and waste material out. This helps remove not only any superficial irritants to the nasal pathway, but also anything deeper in the tissue produced in reaction to the chronic inflammation that has been causing the sinusitis and headaches. [link] [via]

Picture Source: aaaai.org

Your Sinuses

If you’re desi, you’ve already experienced this effect. And if you’re a headache sufferer, then you’re probably wondering how opening up your sinuses will cure your migraine. It’s because they are linked:

…although different chronic headaches are diagnosed and categorized according to a particular variety, they all share many of the same main factors, and therefore they should all be preventable and controllable by the same methods.

Studies have shown that nearly 50% of diagnosed migraine sufferers also experience sinus symptoms as part of their headache patterns. The most common “sinus” symptoms of a migraine included nasal congestion and general stuffiness, clear nasal drainage, and watery eyes. However, those same patients also experienced the following symptoms of a migraine: moderate-to-severe pain, sensitivity to light, pain worsened by activity, and nausea. [link]

And that’s not all - capsaicin is even good for other kinds of pain:

For arthritis pain, capsaicin based creams have proven themselves to be highly effective, but when applied to the skin on a daily basis, the heat sensation can be too much for some people. In addition, applying a cream everyday can be inconvenient, and quite time consuming.

Recently though, manufacturers have come up with a capsaicin patch that can easily be applied in painful areas. Once applied, the capsaicin patch effectively blocks pain receptors and reduces inflammation after only a few days of use. [link]

Here’s Wayne Perry’s story. He’s the creator of Sinus Buster - the said nasal pepper spray which I talked about earlier.

As a chronic cluster headache sufferer, I discovered this effect purely by accident when I had an experience with a self defense pepper spray in 1992.

At the time, I was a self defense instructor making the talk show rounds, and I agreed to be sprayed by real defensive pepper spray for television news segment. Shortly before I had to do the demonstration, I got one of my terrible cluster headaches. If you’ve ever had a cluster headache, you’d know they are absolutely debilitating. Figuring I’d be on the ground riling in pain anyway, I went on with the demonstration.

Within seconds after the reporter sprayed me, my headache started to disappear. I had been on all kinds of headache drugs, but nothing ever worked like this. [link]

Incidentally, the chili - which we Indians love to call our own - isn’t native to India. It was brought there by the Portuguese, who picked it up from the Spanish who, in turn, got it to Europe after colonizing the Mexicans and other South American nations (read more chili history). However, right now desis are the largest producers of chilis in the world, with Guntur in Andhra Pradesh producing the most in India.

Picture Source: benhur.wordpress.com

So the next time you have a migraine, just snort some Hyderabadi biryani. Damn, I’m hungry!