Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Wi-Fi gives me a headache

This is topic Wi-Fi gives me a headache in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 02-17-2010, 01:52 PM:

This is total random post, but I was wondering if anyone else had this problem:

I usually can 'detect' wireless signals because they give me a headache. Especially if I am near the origin of the signal.

I originally ran into this problem when I bought a FM transmitter for an MP3 player I had. When I turned the thing on in my car, it gave me a screaming headache. Convinced there was something wrong with it, I brought it back to the store and traded it for another one. I had the same problem. When I say 'screaming' headache, I mean - blinding, deafening, and horrible.

Fast forward to more recent times: I now realize that when I am near a wireless router, that I get a splitting headache. Typically I can 'feel' it pulsating in my brain. I now have a Wi-Fi phone and whenever I get a headache, I check to see if there is any wireless signals around - and there usually are. When I move closer to the signal, I can definately feel it stronger too.

I was just wondering if ANYONE else has had this happen to them.
I know this is really random, but it's been bothering me....

Posted by Sean McKinnon (Member # 612) on 02-17-2010, 04:05 PM:

wow that's wild. The theatre I work in is blanketed with in house wifi coverage for every seat in the building (almost 800 seats), My desk is actually right next to the equipment rack for the wifi system and I don't feel any negative effects from it.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-17-2010, 04:23 PM:

Dennis, sounds like you're very close to being able to participate in Film-Tech simply by thinking about it. If you can whip the headache problem, you'll have it made....and think of the porn possibilities! [Big Grin]

Posted by Mark Ogden (Member # 43) on 02-17-2010, 04:31 PM:

quote: Sean McKinnon
I don't feel any negative effects from it.

At least you don't now.

Not to scare people, but the Wi-Fi headache phenomena is addressed in this truly unnerving article from the February issue of G.Q. about the potential dangers of cell phone/PDA/Wi-Fi usage. You may think that the danger has been overblown, but read the article. Frighting stuff.

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 02-17-2010, 04:36 PM:

I don't want to sound alarmist, but you should mention this to your physician.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 02-17-2010, 05:19 PM:

The "Cell phones cause brain cancer" stigma has been around for decades now. Whether it has any truth or not, I do not know.

I know my head and ears can hurt when I am listening to certain high frequencies. I am fine around a CRT television. I can hear the squeal, but it doesn't bother me. However some lower (but still high) frquencies drive me nuts if they are too loud. It friggin' hurts! Klipsh speakers cause me much pain. I am a person who LOVES loud movies, games and music, but I constantly complain for them to turn the damn thing down when I watch movies at the Regal Colorado Mills or Riverpoint theaters (seems to be only the big houses in both, probably a certain speaker model). It's very, very painful for me.

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 02-17-2010, 06:10 PM:

A microwave oven works by injucting microwaves into the food, cooking it! This is the same thing a cell phone is doing to your brain. It has lower power, so the effects happen slower, but, over time, that cell phone is cooking your brain. It's too bad that the greed heads in this country are allowed to have so much power, and don't care who they hurt while they are lineing their pockets. Would you like frys with that cooked brain?

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-17-2010, 06:33 PM:

Could this be why so many teenagers are so stupid? Brain-fry caused by cellphone?

Posted by Chris Slycord (Member # 4239) on 02-17-2010, 06:35 PM:

Just because microwave ovens use similar wavelengths doesn't mean that we are going to be cooked by wifi. If I put you inside a room that had a minuscule amount of this same radiation such that it raised the temperature inside your brain by 1/10th of 1 percent, you wouldn't see your brain fried over time. Why? Because we have a feedback mechanism that tells your brain what temperature the various parts of the body are at and it compensates for that. Your body keeps itself in a dynamic equilibrium (homeostasis), with things kept in a normal range.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 02-17-2010, 08:03 PM:

Dennis, you could hire yourself out as electronics bug detective. You'd just have to walk slowly around a room and you'd be able to detect the location where any spy bugs were planted! [Cool]

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 02-17-2010, 08:07 PM:

Probably pays better than theatre management too!

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 02-18-2010, 09:35 AM:

Hey Mark:

That article just helped me make a major decision in my life.

Thanks.

Posted by Bruce Hansen (Member # 281) on 02-18-2010, 07:32 PM:

Many years ago, I worked on CBs, and I can tell you that even at 27Mhz, and low power, you can still get an RF burn.

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 02-19-2010, 01:56 PM:

The GQ article has started making me paranoid, especially as I just started carrying a cell phone AND I live near a cell tower or two.
At least I won't die alone....

Posted by Michael Barry (Member # 237) on 02-19-2010, 06:43 PM:

http://skeptoid.com/episode.php?id=4117#

Here's another take on cell phone radiation.

Always remember that the placebo effect and confirmation bias are very powerful factors - not to be discounted.

One way to account for them is to organise a double-blind test. See if you can identify if the wi-fi is on or off without knowing which is which. If you can score consistently better than chance, than you may be on to something.

For what it's worth, no-one has yet been able to pass this test.

Posted by Joe Elliott (Member # 4006) on 02-19-2010, 08:11 PM:

Maybe it triggers a migraine. Everyone has a migraine trigger. Mine is bright lights. Black lights, strobes, or if I look into a bright spot where the light comes through a gap between the lamphouse and projector. You may just be sensitive to that particular wavelength, which also happens to be your migraine trigger. See if there are any sensations or spots in your vision before the headache sets in. When you feel or see those signs, take a heavy dose of aspirin or other pain reliever, see if it curtails the headache.

Do the headaches go away quickly when you get away from the router, or does it take a hour or so? If it takes longer, could be a migraine.