Hi. My name is Ana and I suffer from migraines. I’m not here to complain. In the grand scheme of migraines, I am lucky. While I’ve had a number of debilitating migraines in my life, they seem to pale in comparison to what I’ve seen other people suffer from.
Still, with migraines, I need a constant arsenal of supplies to help me get through them. After speaking with my doctor, I got prescription medication for the pain, but that only helps so much. I was also told to cut out a number of things in my life that will induce a migraine (alcohol, among a surprising number of other foods and drinks). On top of restricting what I eat and drink, I have adapted a number of easy-to-use remedies.
One of my go-to migraine relief products is an eye mask. Many people can become light-sensitive when they experience a migraine. For me, it varies from migraine to migraine. Sometimes, my migraine feels like nothing more than a dull headache. But that dull headache can last for up to five days and it will feel like that all day long. I am not often light-sensitive, but my eyes are very tired. I like eye masks, not for blocking out light, but for the added pressure on my face.
When my head hurts, I like to press on my eyes to try and relieve the tension. I have three gel eye masks stocked in my fridge, just in case a migraine hits. While the cool sensation feels amazing, it eventually wears off. Which is why I have three of these masks. So, once one mask is warm, I switch it out and put the warm one back in the fridge and pull out a fresh cold one. This is not a foolproof plan. It requires me getting up out of bed when I really would prefer to sleep off a migraine.
After finally getting a weighted blanket, I happened to also discover that weighted eye masks exist. Given my affinity for eye masks, I thought it was honest-to-God designed with me in mind. It wasn’t. But I am going to be vain for the sake of this article, and pretend that it was. I love my weighted blanket and I’d hoped I’d love this eye mask as well.
I’ve had this mask for a few weeks now, and sadly, I have had some headaches and migraines in that time. While that sucked for me, it did give me the chance to test this out. I’ve used it for a standard night’s sleep without a migraine and on a night when I was suffering from that dreaded head pain. I am happy to report that this weighted eye mask is a great addition to my migraine relief kit.
As I expected, I enjoyed the extra weight that this provided my tired eyes. It does a great job blocking out light (for those who need to know that). My main focus was on how the pressure worked for me. I use a 20-pound weighted blanket for sleep and that is just right for my body. Similar to my blanket, this mask wound up being the perfect weight for me. It is designed to distribute .75 and 1 lb. of weighted pressure. It feels like a light press to the face, similar to a hug around your body. It evenly distributes that weight to my eyelids and the area under my eye.
My one concern was how this would feel on my face. I love my gel eye masks because they are cool and I don’t have to worry about my face getting all hot and sweaty. I was nervous this weighted eye mask might make my face too warm to sleep comfortably. Thankfully, I was safe and not hot. I was sad to not have that cool sensation, but it was also nice that this remained the same temperature all night long (as opposed to my earlier mentioned gel eye mask issue).
I did have a slight issue with the eye mask, but that might have to do with my hair and not the mask itself. This did slip off my head a few times. However, I felt like that might to do with my hair since I use products to keep it soft. I would have tried sleeping with my hair in a bun to avoid this issue, but as I’ve written before, I can’t sleep with my hair in a bun, as it will cause neck pain. Thankfully, this really wasn’t much of a setback and I’ve gotten continued good use out of this.
I like to sleep with this eye mask after a really long day, either at work or after an eventful weekend. I now always grab this when a migraine hits. I can draw my curtains closed, snuggle under my weighted blanket, and slip this mask on my face before I pass the fuck out.