Cool Face Mask Turns Into Over-Engineered Headache

Seeing his wife try to use a cool face mask to get through the pain of a migraine headache, [Sparks and Code] started thinking of ways to improve the situation. The desire to save her from these debilitating bouts of pain drove him to make an actively cooled mask, all the while creating his own headache of an over-engineered mess.

Void spaces inside the printed mask are filled with chilled water.

Instead of having to put the face mask into the refrigerator to get it cold, [Sparks and Code] wanted to build a mask that he could circulate chilled water through. With a large enough ice-filled reservoir, he figured the mask should be able to stay at a soothing temperature for hours, reducing the need for trips to the fridge.

[Sparks and Code] started out by using photogrammetry to get a 3D model of his wife’s face. Lack of a compatible computer and CUDA-enabled GPU meant using Google Cloud to do the heavy lifting. When they started making the face mask, things got complicated. And then came the unnecessary electronics. Then the overly complicatedĀ  and completely unnecessary instrumentation. The… genetic algorithms? Yes. Those too.

We won’t spoil the ending — but suffice it to say, [Sparks and Code] learned a cold, hard lesson: simpler is better! Then again, sometimes being over-complicated is kind of the point such as in this way-too-complex gumball machine.

13 thoughts on “Cool Face Mask Turns Into Over-Engineered Headache

  1. Actual migraines are different from “really bad headaches”, and have extra effects such as the visual aurora.

    Migraines are often caused by a chemical sensitivity, but the time between exposure and the migraine can be fairly long – sometimes several days – which makes determining the exact chemical difficult.

    If you suffer from migraines, try going on a camping trip for several days and reduce your exposure to chemicals: don’t wear makeup or use antiperspirant, eat simple foods, wear natural fabric clothes, avoid environmental allergens, and so on.

    If your migraines seem to get better while camping, you can then determine the triggers, and switch brands or otherwise eliminate them.

    Also: there are lists of chemicals that typically cause migraines that you can find online, you can try eliminating them to see if that helps.

    My migraines come 3 days after eating Chocolate, the timing is so exact I can just about set my watch to it. Eliminating chocolate from my diet keeps me free from the migraines.

    1. I dont have anyone in my life to experiment on, however from my experience and reading theough the publications of several practicing doctors, I have a strong suspicion that a hefty dose of niaicin (b3 without the amide) may help to reduce or negate migrains. It acts fairly fast and gives you a good flush. Also one of the best pain relievers I have ever used. Has a very positive effect on the brain for various conditions. I use dr. Abram hoffers research as a basis personally. I would be curious if anyone with migrains has ever tried this as a solution.

      1. I had been advised to try the high B3 dose treatment option for my migraines by my Neurologist after trying a couple of other common treatment medications first. The dosage was in the order of a entire years intake of B3 in each single pill! Unfortunately for me, this had no impact on my symptoms after a month of this treatment strategy.
        There seems to be a vast difference between migraine suffers triggers and the medications that have an impact on the frequency of episodes. Thankfully my Neurologist then recommended a basic blood pressure medication that reduced my migraine frequency by about 75%, which is a good an outcome as any other treatment out there, except perhaps for Erenumab.

    2. For some barometric pressure changes can be a migraine trigger as well (which is one of my triggers)… can also be hormonal…or there can be multiple triggers. It is helpful to keep a migraine diary, as at times one can review the diary’s info and hopefully find a migraine trigger pattern. Interestingly, after 40 years of suffering with migraines I am somewhat getting used to them and so I am able to function a bit through them. Since I get a migraine every few days having any functionality is better than none.

    3. Triggers can be internal too. I was getting weekly migraines due to poor digestive health and once I realized the connection I have been able to go years without them.

  2. My wife used to suffer from migraines. She tried just about every medication the doctor could throw at her. I was given an article that goes into detail about americans having low magnesium levels that caused heart disease and migraines. She started taking a magnesium supplement and has had 1 full blown migraine in the last 6 years. I’m not saying it will work for everyone as it did not help my sister. Just search migraines and magnesium and it may help. * I am not a medical proffesional and any advice given should not be used to treat or cure any condition. * * Magnesium in excess quantitys is gauranteed to give you the watery poops so beware this possible side effect. *

  3. mungo light fire

    mungo stick 3/8 copper pipe in fire

    mungo fill cooled, soft annealed pipe with sand and bend to fit wife’s head shape

    mungo then circulate chilled water after draining sand

    mungo happy with early bronze age technological solution but lacks website for HaD link, as electricity not invented yet

  4. Next try making one from TPU ala packrafts. Similar devices already exist for other areas of the body and consist of two layers of bondable material with a channel throughout, just usually not designed for the face.
    It’s the same kind of technology they use to keep astronauts thermoregulated in their space suits.

  5. Water melts ice faster you should just use ice and separate the water from it and filter the air through the ice to cool. Also if a wash cloth is wrapped around the ice and has air going through it is enough to keep the ice from sweating and keeps the ice dry and so it will stick to washcloth so no dripping water, ice last 5x as long if you do this.

Leave a Reply to shradCancel reply

Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.