Headaches eh. Who needs 'em? Well, apart from the major pharmaceutical companies probably not too many folks relish the thought of a pounding headache that reverberates through your skull. Or the splitting, searing type that lances behind your eyes every now and again. And probably not the type that feels like the top of your head is about to split asunder.

As luck would have it, LegendaryMrsDude works in a pharmacy and so knows her stuff when it comes to tablets & medication. She's told me, several times, that different painkillers work differently for different people. Ibuprofen tends to work better for men, paracetomol is easier on the stomach than aspirin etc, etc. But this review is not here to offer you medical advice. Oh no! If you want that you must speak to your doctor or pharmacist!

So what is it then? Well, at it's most basic it's a stick. OK so it's not just any old stick and it's certainly not a twig. But a stick it is all the same - a stick of levomenthol.

It comes in a silvery looking plastic container with a clear plastic lid. It looks a little like a mis-proportioned lipstick container, shorter and "chubbier" but with the same twist action barrel to advance the contents a bit when it starts to wear down.

Once on your skin it starts to do "the business". Levomenthol has a strange cooling effect, I don't know the specific reason for it so I won't speculate as to what's actually happening. Suffice to say that within seconds of applying, it feels like there are 1,000 ice-nymphs blowing a gentle, icy breeze across your forehead. The effect is even better if you're sat in front of a fan or some other source of moving air. The result of this icy sensation is no small amount of tingling, some slight watering of the eyes and a reduction in the fury of your headache.

So far I've been more than happy with it, so much so that I carry a stick with me wherever I go - just in case. I also have a stick at home and a stick in the car. Plus I keep a stick in my rucksack for when I go walking. It keeps for ages, apart from the stick in the car. You see it would appear that the melting point of Levomenthol isn't all that high - and the temperature in my glove-box in the height of British summer must have got close to it because the last time I went to use the stick in the car I found it had gone "all horrible" lumpy and congealed rather than smooth and glossy, it had also "slumped" to one side of the container with some leaking out into the glove box itself.

In fact I will share with you a brief anecdote in that regard. You already know that I carry a stick of this wonderful stuff everywhere I go well around this time last year (November 2004) I was on a trip to the US but had been suffering from a sinus infection for the few days previously. Sinus infections and flying don't usually go well together and this time was no exception. A combination of vodka, 4head and just about anything else I could find didn't help me get rid of the pain during the flight and my sinuses, outraged at the treatment thay had just received, refused to settle down once I had landed. So on arrival at the hotel I pondered briefly what to do. It didn't take long before inspiration struck! My grandmother used to use menthol crystals in hot water to clear her cold - usually in a bowl with a towel over her head.

After about 30 minutes of half-sleep I got out of the bath and that was when it hit me. 1,000,000 ice nymphs blowing an icy gale across my entire body, stabbing me with 1,000,000 tiny icicles and then a light dusting in really fine snow. My skin was red and sore and every time I moved the slightest breeze caused the most incredible sensation.

But enough of my ramblings… is 4head any good?