Natural Headache Remedies That May Surprise You

 

Headaches are bad news when you have one. Having allergies, I have had more than my share of them. What I’m about to share with you is not meant to diagnose what the cause of your headache may be, it is simply to inform you about some wonderful natural headache remedies that may help ease your suffering.

Natural Headache Remedies Through Essential Oils

Even when I was small, I remember my mother would always have a bottle of eucalyptus essential oil in our house. It was one of the treatments she used for sinus congestion for opening up nasal passages before later turning to it for help in relieving my allergy headaches.

What I like about using eucalyptus essential oil for an allergy or a sinus headache is how it helps you breathe better with the way that oil works on inflammation.

However, I want to advise that you should never apply any essential oil directly to your skin without mixing with a carrier oil first. Otherwise, you could suffer a permanent allergy that you don’t want to have. The only exception to this rule is using lavender essential oil.

Carrier oils that you can use are ones like jojoba oil or black cumin seed oil that have anti-inflammatory properties that can better assist for this cause than traditional moisturizing ones like coconut oil and olive oil.

A safe route using an essential oil for adults is to go with a 2% dilution. In other words, four drops of the essential oil to two teaspoons of the carrier oil is what I use. This is more than enough for your headache massage.

Rosemary essential oil is another that could rescue you from a headache. The reason this is a good choice is because it has anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving powers in its components. Just like with the eucalyptus essential oil, mix it with your carrier oil before massaging it into your temple and forehead and then relaxing with it on.

Still, peppermint essential oil also can help you out in a fix. This is especially handy to use when your headache is brought on by stress. Treating yourself to peppermint oil massage can improve blood flow enough to lessen pain.

When tension is crushing your skull with headache pain, you can use lavender essential oil on your forehead. This particular essential oil helps muscles relax enough to the point that the pain starts to lift and relaxation finally sets in. There is evidence based on a European study that lavender essential oil can also be promising for relieving migraine headaches as well.

Natural Headaches Remedies Through Massage and Pressure Points

Something that really helps me through headache pain is not only massaging my temples, but locating the source of pressure points on my head, neck and shoulders. I am a big fan of Bonnie Prudden and myotherapy for erasing trigger points for ending pain. I own several of her books and have used her techniques for headaches, backache and even with some jaw pain with wonderful results. I’ve linked to her headache video for you to see the technique in action.

Counteract Headaches From Histamine in Foods and Drink With These Natural Headache Remedies

Depending on the origin of your headache, you can get a terrible headache from foods or drinks because of too much histamine.  For some reason, some systems can never break the histamine n down for the body to deal with it like other people. Certain susceptible people prone to migraines and often allergies may want to avoid certain high histamine foods and drink that could result in a headache.

Foods to be wary of are ones such as onions, garlic, aged cheeses, chocolate, cured meats, alcohol, vinegar, and fermented foods are some risky ones that could cause you a problem. If you notice a pattern of a headache after eating one of these foods, you might want to avoid that food or drink in the future.

This post and these natural headache remedies are only a place to start. If you find yourself with a daily headache, or your pain gets worse, or if these natural headache remedies or over the counter pain medications do not help, or if you’re noticing other symptoms, please take care of yourself and see your family physician.  You also might want to read my earlier post on rebound headaches in case you’re accidentally making your headache worse.