When you have a toothache holding an ice pack on your cheek may reduce the swelling but it wont take most of the pain away. Incredibly, the safest, most simple drug-free way to relieve toothache pain is to rub ice wrapped in gauze into a muscle in your hand.
In one study at McGill University in Montreal, the majority of patients found that the ice massage reduced the intensity of their toothache pain dramatically.
To find the right spot to place the ice, follow these instructions:
- Use the hand that is on the same side as the tooth pain.
- Locate the muscle on the side of the hand that bulges when you press your thumb against your forefinger. Its the hump that forms in the V where the fingers meet.
- Now open you thumb. The area to be massaged is where the hump was. This area is called in acupuncture the hoku point which the Chinese have known about for at least 5,000 years.
- Massage the hoku point with the ice wrapped in gauze for seven minutes. If your hand starts to feel numb, remove the ice. The seven-minute ice massage should give you between fifteen minutes to a half hour of relief from pain. Thats enough time to get you to the dentist pain-free or to ease the discomfort after a root canal or extraction. You can repeat as needed.
Robin Westen writes about health for national magazines.
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