Get a whiff of this finding by Alan Hirsch, MD, director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, IL. In his study of 50 migraine patients he found that the scent of green apples made headache pain fade.
Migraine pain was found to improve more during an attack when the subjects sniffed tubes containing a green apple smell than when sniffing unscented tubes (data presented at the 1997 annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Headache).
"It could be a distraction effect, so that the subjects were thinking about the smell instead of their pain. Or it could be that the smell actually reduces muscle contractions in the head and neck, reducing the pain," explains Dr. Hirsch.
Why green apples? Previously, Dr. Hirsch found that the smell reduced anxiety. "Since people with migraines say their headaches worsen when they're anxious, we thought the odor might be helpful." Other pleasant smells might bring relief equally well, and the effect may work on other forms of pain also, he says.
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