Natural Remedies for Headaches & Migraines

If you suffer from migraines, then you don’t need us to remind you of how excruciating the pain can be.

In today’s society, we are able to click a button and in a matter of seconds, complete any sort of transaction—whether we are setting an appointment, making a purchase, or maybe even filling a prescription. It is now the year 2017 and we live in a world where people forget that there was a time when individuals had to write down directions by hand, read a map, and/or even – (GASP!)—get lost for a little while and try to identify familiar landmarks.

In a society where we all want the quickest fix to all of life’s problems, one would think we would have mastered a quick solution to some of the most common health issues that we deal with. Many times, we do not even realize that we are part of an experiment or a study to see if a product, such as a medication for headaches and migraines, provides the relief we are looking for.

Fortunately, there are some natural, home remedies that can be utilized to help with your headache and migraine relief:

Lavender Oil, Peppermint Oil, and Basil Oil:

Lavender oil, basil oil, and peppermint oil can help with headaches and migraines.    Two to four drops of lavender oil for every two to three cups of boiling water are recommended when inhaling lavender-oil vapors as a headache treatment.  Lavender oil can be either inhaled or applied topically, but should not be taken orally.  Peppermint oil opens up the sinuses so that more oxygen can get into the bloodstream, and this is helpful due to headaches and migraine pain being a result of poor blood flow.  Basil, as we all know, is an herb used on pizzas and pastas, smells good, tastes good, and the oil derived from it actually works as a muscle relaxant, so it helps for headaches and migraines caused by tension and tight muscles.

Diet Modification:

There are specific foods that affect the frequency and severity of headaches and migraine pain.  Some are chocolate, peanut butter, fruits such as avocado, banana, and citrus, meats like bacon and hot dogs because they contain nitrates, and onions.  In addition, foods containing monosodium glutamate (MSG), foods containing tyramine, (an amino acid found in red wine), and foods that are pickled or fermented.  What can be helpful, is using a food diary to track these trigger foods and how you personally react to them.

Magnetic Therapy:

Maybe you know somebody with a magnetic pill or headband, or somebody who wears magnetic jewelry.  Magnets are known to stimulate hormone production within the body.  When magnets are placed around the head, the electromagnetic pulses generated by the magnetic field will cause increased electric activity within the brain.  Serotonin is the hormone that controls mood, commonly associated with migraine, stress and depression.  Melatonin is responsible for the internal body clock, it is associated with insomnia, seasonal dysfunction disorder and migraine. Magnetic fields around the head will gradually increase the bodies levels of serotonin and melatonin plus magnets are known to increase the blood levels of what are considered to be the bodies natural pain killers, endorphins.  The combination of the increase of these three hormones will help prevent the initiation of a migraine, or if you are already suffering from a migraine, the duration and intensity of the migraine will be greatly reduced.

There are many other home remedies that can help, but it is important to remember we are all created differently and our bodies and minds react differently than one another.  We can’t tell you what will work for you, but at least yuu can have peace of mind knowing there are natural healing alternatives that exist and it is just a matter of figuring out what works for you!