All Sett Migraine Relief Cap review: A great hot and cold headache hat

Feeling a migraine coming on is a lot like watching a horror movie: You know that something’s coming, you’re on edge waiting for it, and you don’t know how bad it will be until it happens. For anyone who’s suffered through the particular misery that is a migraine, the symptoms are all too memorable. Severe head pain and sensitivity to light, sound, and smells only scratch the surface of your discomfort. When you add in other common symptoms such as nausea and vomiting, you get a really unpleasant feeling that you may never want to move again.

For those with chronic migraines, finding relief is often an ongoing struggle. There are many products that claim to help migraines, but few actually prove to be effective. With migraines impacting about one in five women and one in 16 men per year, it’s no wonder why medical markets are eager to find the perfect answer to this ongoing problem. The All Sett Health Migraine Relief Cap
(available at Amazon)

is one such solution.

About the All Sett Health Migraine Relief Cap

The All Sett Health Migraine Relief Cap’s concept is simple enough: it functions as a headache hat that can be used for cold therapy or heated relief. When worn, the chosen temperature is applied evenly all the way around the head while also providing gentle compression to the skull.

Using the cap is easy. Just put it in your fridge or microwave and follow the timing directions on the box. It wears just like any winter hat, and it will comfortably slip over most heads without issue. The design of the nose slit, and extra-long sides also means your chosen temperature can be applied to the top of the neck, base of the skull, and over the eyes, where migraine symptoms can often be worst. The slit also allows the cap to be used as a blackout item to keep triggering lights at bay while you recover.

As a woman who gets frequent migraines, I was cautiously optimistic when I first received this hat as a Christmas present. I’d tried all manner of migraine relief, and, with the exception of prescription medication, I rarely found much help. However, because ice cubes and ice packs were my usual go-to solution, my family thought this product might be a great alternative for me, so I decided to give it a go.

What I like about the All Sett Health Migraine Relief Cap

Flexible use between cool relief and heated comfort

I admit, I was skeptical when I first read that the All Sett Health Migraine Cap could be heated and cooled equally. It sounded like a great idea, but I’d been burned before (not literally, thankfully, but that’s a real possibility, so be sure to follow the directions).

What I found was that this cap wasn’t any more difficult to use than the flexible ice packs I keep in my freezer. In fact, because the hat doesn’t require a towel to keep it from being too cold, it’s faster and easier to use.

While the directions tell you to use the fridge to cool the cap for one to two hours (and that does work), my first time using it I actually cheated and tossed it in the freezer for 10 minutes instead.

Why? Because I forgot to put the hat inside the fridge while I didn’t have a migraine, and, when I had one pop up, one to two hours was far too long to wait. All Sett Health suggests getting multiple wraps for this reason, as it means one can always be ready to use. As someone who often forgets to put her ice packs back in the freezer until she needs them, this is probably the solution I’ll eventually end up adopting.

However, in a pinch, the freezer worked fine. Just be careful not to forget it’s in there, as it will likely get too cold for immediate use. You’ll also get a more even cooling across the hat by following the fridge directions as well.

Because my go-to method for mitigating migraines is usually ice packs, heat wasn’t a solution I had much experience with. I’d considered microwavable heated items before, but always ended up reading about them causing fires or burns and chickened out at the last second. Needless to say, I was very cautious going in when it came to adding heat to the All Sett Health Head Wrap.

I followed the directions for heating the cap precisely (no more than 20 seconds at a time in the microwave until it’s warm enough). It took a little trial and error to figure out what temperature was best for me, as I overheat easily, but, when I found the right threshold, it honestly felt rather magical.

Comfortable compression that keeps you moving

The first time I put on the AllSett Health Migraine Head Wrap, I excitedly exclaimed to my roommate that it “was like a weighted blanket for my head.” I’ve had hit-or-miss success with items that create compression, as sometimes, for me, they create a feeling of claustrophobia or cause pain after extended use.

This hat had the opposite effect. Even after my migraine had subsided, I didn’t particularly want to take it off. It was warm and comforting, and it felt like the gentlest hug around my skull that I never knew I needed. At room temperature, after the heat and cold had faded, I was still having a very pleasant time just feeling its presence around me.

Compression also allows the cap to stay on your head easily. My ice packs usually require one hand constantly applying pressure or sitting in a pretzel-like position so I can use a pillow to prop up the pack. This product has none of these constraints, and it comfortably stays on through any casual household activity, and even light stretches.

When I first received the All Sett Health Wrap, the picture on the box gave me pause, as it shows the hat extending over the eyes and around the nose. For someone who already gets wildly bored during migraines and rarely covers their eyes, the idea that this cap would require me to do so seemed stressful. However, after trying this headache hat out, I discovered its design lets it be comfortably worn both over the eyes, as well as further back on the head like a regular hat.

For those who want a true blackout experience, the All Sett Health Migraine Cap works fairly well. While it does let in a bit of light around the nose, this is still a significant improvement over a bright room, and it works even better in a dim area.

What I don’t like about the All Sett Health Migraine Relief Cap

Potential for major hat hair

My hair is naturally straight and generally behaving itself in most situations. However, when I have bangs, anything goes. Sometimes they do what I want, and sometimes they do whatever the heck this picture shows.

I made the mistake of wearing the cap during a get together with friends. I was excited to be able to participate still while mid-migraine, as in the past I would have had to excuse myself to some dark, quiet corner of the house. However, once the migraine cleared up and the cap came off, my bangs took on a life of their own.

Don’t get me wrong—if I have to choose between suffering a migraine and enduring a little hat hair, I’m choosing the hat hair all day every day. I’ve also found that with some careful work in how I put the cap on in the first place and resisting the urge to swivel it while it’s already on my head, I have much better luck getting my hair to stay in place.

That being said, if your hair is easily influenced by hats on a regular basis, you may find you have some really interesting hair days with this new migraine cap in your life.

Heat doesn’t last as long as cold

Though I loved the way that the warm hat felt when I had it on, I was a little disappointed by how quickly it lost heat. The cold cap stays comfortably cool for the full 20 minutes I tend to wear it, but the heat is gone much sooner.

The advantage, of course, is that, whereas the cold takes minutes to hours to take effect, heat can be applied in a few seconds. I did end up having to reheat the hat once or twice each time I used it, but, because I work from home and my microwave is a 20-step commute away, this shortcoming didn’t prove too cumbersome. For someone who is using it elsewhere, though, it could definitely be more of a hinderance.

It’s worth noting that my house tends to be pretty cold (between 67 to 69 degrees), so if you keep your space warmer, the heat likely lasts a longer time.

Does the AllSet Health Migraine Relief Cap work?

Yes, but manage your expectations

This cap is advertised as a source of migraine relief rather than a migraine cure, and honestly, that’s pretty accurate. As great as it was, wearing this relief that did not magically clear up my migraine.

Sure, it was disappointing to take the cap off and realize the migraine was still lurking, but it also doesn’t mean this product is a failure. On the contrary, this headache hat did what nothing else has been able to for me in the past: It provided some ease in symptoms that made my migraines more manageable.

I’m not throwing out my migraine medicine any time soon, as that’s still the ultimate cure to get rid of the pain once and for all. However, while I waited for that solution to take effect, I was able to participate in conversations, watch television, play video games, and more with minimal interference. If you have frequent migraines like me, you know just how huge that having added flexibility is.

Both the cold and the heat (and even the room temperature compression, for that matter) provided strong relief to the migraine-induced pain and nausea I was feeling. Though every migraine is different, so I can’t say for certain, I also believe wearing this hat has possibly helped shorten the duration of my symptoms.

Ultimately, the combination of my migraine medicine and the All Sett Health cap helped get rid of my migraines. However, the lack of daily disruption while I waited for pain to pass was huge. I do recommend the All Sett Health Migraine Relief Cap for chronic migraines, as well as headache relief. While not quite the magical cure we all dream about, it does its job well.

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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.