Natural Home Remedies for Headaches
With mounting work pressures, erratic food and sleep schedules, family demands and a skewed lifestyle, headaches are but a given nowadays. Almost every third person suffers from some form of headache or the other – some stress-induced others induced by other factors.
Headaches can be crippling, but popping pain-relievers very frequently can be killing for your vital organs. Fortunately, several natural home remedies exist that can work wonders in alleviating almost all kinds of headaches. Try these home remedies and relieve yourself of headache pains in natural non-threatening ways!
- Make Essential Dietary & Lifestyle Changes
First and foremost, one must make essential changes in their lifestyle including diet. It is a known fact that certain food types act as triggers to headaches and their consumption may be a cause of recurrent headaches affecting their severity as well as frequency. Foods such as chocolates, peanut butter, food containing monosodium glutamate (MSG), fermented food items like alcoholic beverages and wine, as well as some fruits like banana, Avocado etc. are said to trigger headaches.
Each of us have our triggers and identification and management of these is one of the best remedies for headaches. It is advised that one take into account that their diet is either free of or has minimum levels of such food types.
Proper hydration, regular exercise (walking, cycling, playing outdoor games or yoga & meditation) have significant impact on lowering propensity of the body to suffer from headaches.
Try adding Magnesium and Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) to your daily diet as low levels of these two essential minerals have shown to induce headaches. Magnesium is found in the required levels in foods like figs and pumpkin seeds. Almonds and sesame seeds are high in Vitamin B2. Add more of these food to your diets.
- Use Essential Oils As Head Rubs
Try essential oils like Thyme, Rosemary Oil, Lavender, Peppermint Oil, Basil Oil when in pain. Head rubs using these essential oils have very good effect in the treatment of headaches and give quick relief. Let’s check out how to use each of these oils for quick relieve from a bad headache!
Thyme & Rosemary Oil: Thyme & Rosemary oils are good sources of carvacrol, which acts like a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent (very much like ibuprofen in action!) and provides fast relief. Dab a few drops of these oils on your forehead and temples and rub it into your skin gently, till absorbed.
Lavender Oil: This essential oil works wonders with its soothing fragrance and is found to be a very useful home remedy in the treatment of headaches. You can apply lavender oil topically on your forehead or simply inhale lavender oil vapors by adding a few drops in 2-3 cups of boiling water.
Peppermint Oil:Peppermint oil is very effective in the treatment of tension headaches because of its ability to help control the blood flow in the head by opening up the blood vessels and sinuses for more oxygen to reach the bloodstream.
Basil Oil:The benefits of basil are not unknown to us. But did you know that basil oil is a very good muscle relaxant and is extremely effective in relieving tension headaches? Try this strong-scented herb to treat headache at home, naturally.
- Try Ginger, Chamomile or Basil Tea
While these essential oils can be used topically, a refreshing cup of tea could be your perfect remedy when suffering from headache. Try drinking chamomile, rosemary, peppermint, basil or ginger tea. These flavors infused with the goodness of these natural ingredients and the caffeine contained in tea are good pain relievers.
Chamomile tea has natural ingredients that help to ease pain, while compounds in rosemary tea help by preventing the headache from worsening.
You may also try a freshly-brewed cup of black tea with cloves added to it. Cloves anti-inflammatory properties help countering headache pains.
- Flaxseed
Another major cause of headaches involve inflammation. Many foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids help in providing headache relief. Flaxseed, which is rich in these fatty acids, can also be used in oil form or as whole seeds, as a natural home remedy to fight headache pain effectively and naturally.
- Ginger
Ginger, a very common kitchen ingredient, has been used to treat headaches since time immemorial. Its anti-inflammatory properties inhibit prostaglandin synthesis that causes migraine pain. What’s more, ginger has been found to help with nausea as well that commonly comes with a migraine attack.
Check out these amazing ways of using ginger for treating headaches at home!
- Prepare and drink some ginger juice by adding ½ tsp. ground ginger in a glass of water or mix ginger juice and lemon juice in equal parts and consume this concoction twice a day.
- Prepare a head-rub by adding 1 tsp of dry ginger powder in 2 tbsp. of water and apply on the forehead.
- Inhale ginger vapors by adding dry ginger or raw ginger to boiling water.
- Invest in some good ginger candies to munch on.
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