Effective Natural Headache Remedies: Holistic Relief

I've found that pressure helps, too, actually in conjunction with hot and cold packs.

Atmospheric pressure changes can have an enormous effect on your whole body. During a career of flying airliners, with pressure changes several times a day, it can be debilitating. The problem is that sinuses have very small drain holes that can be easily plugged with mucus. This traps a volume of air in your sinuses and when the atmospheric pressure rises or falls, creates pressure, negative or positive, in your sinuses that can cause a whole range of symptoms. Sometimes it just makes you feel tired and worn out; sometimes headaches; it may feel like your eyeballs or teeth are going to be pushed out of your head. Look at a picture of a skull to see how close your sinuses are to things you really don't want to be pushed on. Things it's like eyes, teeth, brain. The material between your sinuses and these other things is extremely thin. I have more than once had a dentist trying to inject Novocain in my gums, pop through into a sinus cavity and have the Novocain run out my nose. That's how thin it is and how easy it is for that pressure to push on surrounding things. The trick is keeping those little drain holes open.

I think that MOST headaches have to do with your bowels. When the poisons leak out of stopped up bowels, you get headaches. If you get colonics and take enemas and also add to your diet castoria and syrup of figs, then that may help you tremendously. Hope this helps all of you that have headaches. I do not get them because I have always eaten a diet rich in figs, dates, fiber and things that push stool out easily. I also do castor oil packs and I get a colonic about once every 6 months.

I suffered from headaches as a child and as an adult. Someone told me to cut out eggs from my diet and rub magnesium cream on my forehead everyday. Lo and behold, the headaches are gone completely. They come back if I eat eggs or soy (all chinese food). The magnesium cream is from Bioinnovations- Dr. Becker's products.

Not only does this work, but it's been enhanced with the use of a device known as the Cryotron, only some dr's have it so far, but it works great!

I'm laughing so hard I have tears running down my face, almost as severe as when I snort cayenne pepper!!! Yes, thanks for the belly laugh--what a great remedy for a headache! I find the cayenne pepper brings temporary relief only. I have concluded that my sinus headaches are about irritation and believe that practicing mindfulness about life's irritations help me reduce the number and severity of these irritations. What did help recently was applying a few drops of peppermint oil to a tissue and relaxing while breathing it for the hours it took for the headache to finally go away.

Massage cured my headaches

I began having headaches, often debilitating ones, and even a migraine, the day after a bout of vertigo. I went to several doctors and tried all sorts of remedies over several very trying weeks, to no avail. Finally I went to a neurologist who figured out that I was having "tension headaches" caused by tightness in my neck and shoulders. The tightness was likely a way to avoid the vertigo. Within minutes of massage and gentle head movements to relax the muscles, the headaches melted away. The immediacy of the result was stunning. I followed up with several professional massages.

For 15 years I had daily chronic headaches with an occasional migraine. I saw many DR's and "headache specialists". Most wanted to put me on anti-seisure meds with horrible side effects. At one point, I was on mobic(prescription pain killer) and muscle relaxants, and sometimes the very popular anti-migraine meds.

I found a "alternative medicine" center in So. Cal. who put me on a Myers' Cocktail IV with additional Magnesium. Within a few days of the IV magnesium, my headaches are gone. It's such a relief! Unfortunaltly, I have to do an IV about once a month or they come back. One side effect is that I'm very relaxed and a little sleepy afterwards. Note: I've taken LOTS of magnesium pills with no help, and have cut out all MSG and other triggers.

Dear Mary,

I have used White Willow Bark over the years on and off. No one in my family has ever had a side effect. But of course, that does not mean there are no side effects. Everyone is different. Some cautions that I read about in my Herb reference books are the following:

Mark Penderson, author of Nutritional Herbology, reports of at least one instance of someone finding it to be too harsh for his stomach. At the same time, Philip Fritchey, in Practical Herbalism, explains why it is gentler on the stomach than aspirin.

Philip Fritchie, in his book, Practical Herbalism, cautions that anyone with an aspirin allergy should probably avoid White Willow because it contains Salicin, which is the precursor to acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin.)

Because of the risk of Reye's disease, aspirin is not recommended for children with the flu or chicken pox. For that reason, it may be wise to not give children white willow any time aspirin would not be recommended.

I would tend to think that because aspirin thins the blood and should not be taken prior to surgery, white willow could have the same effect. But I do not find any information that says it does. In fact, Philip Fritchey, in his book, Practical Herbalism, lists it as a remedy for internal bleeding. But I would tend to err on the side of caution and not use it a couple of weeks prior to surgery.

I hope all of that does not sound scary or intimidating. White Willow is considered very safe, and we have found it to be so. Humbart Santillo, author of Natural Healing with Herbs, offers no cautions in his description of White Willow.

~Mama to Many~

Lemons or Limes with Salt and Pepper" remedy for headaches. My wife gets headaches and often, and we have concluded that she gets 2 types of headaches, one caused by her neck/back injury and the other cause is unknown. When the headache is caused by her neck/back, the pain begins in her neck/back and eventually spreads to her head. Usually from sleeping in a poor position, or being at the computer too long, and sometimes it just seems to start for no reason. The only remedy we have found for headaches that begin from the neck/back is painkillers and ice packs on the forehead/temples, which doesn't work very well.

However, sometimes she gets headaches that do not begin from the neck/back, and we have tried the heated lemon with salt and pepper remedy, and it has worked. 4 our of the last 6 headaches did not begin from the neck/back, and it cleared up those 4 within a matter of 5-20 minutes. She has never had a headache last only 20 minutes in the last 7 years, usually they last 12-36 hours, so we know the lemon was the remedy. The other 2 headaches that it didn't work for had began in the neck/back. So I would say that so far it has worked 100% of the time for her headaches that did not begin from the neck/back injury.

She tried the apple cider vinegar, but it didn't work for her headaches. But we now take it daily for all the other potential health benefits.

Thanks earthclinic!

Navratna oil: I've recently experienced the benefits of this oil and would highly recommend it to anyone for relieving stress, headaches and body aches. I massaged the oil on my scalp (especially the center of the top of the head) and within minutes felt a cool sensation (like an air conditioner was turned on inside me) spread across my head. My shoulder and head aches disappeared, I felt stress dissolving and I slept well that night. It helped relieve my brother's headache when I tried it on him. You can find it online or in most Indian or Ayurvedic stores. It touts other cures as well, but I only listed the ones that I can testify to.

I get frequent headaches all the time and I was complaining to a co-worker about having them. She suggested that I try cayenne pepper (crush up the capsules) and snort a little in each nostril.I was sk eptical and never tried it until a month later. I had another headache and the same co-worker asked me if I tried the cayenne pepper. I told her that I had not tried it yet. I pulled the capsules out of my purse and thought: "Why not try it." The next thing I knew I was snorting cayenne pepper at my desk and within minutes my headache disappeared. I did experience burning in my nostrils for at least 15 minutes (only use a small amount). Some of the pepper went down my throat which was okay with me because I have stomach trouble. The point is-is that the cayenne pepper worked. If I ever get another headache, I will definately use this remedy again!!!

I have read with interest all of the remedies for headaches as I get them often and cannot find a cure for them. I have tried the cayenne pepper one but it did nothing for me. I have also tried the one with apple cider vinegar and honey but here again nothing happens. I don't know what else to try as I am allergic to vitamins and am sceptical of any that have vitamins included in them.I am succeptible to cold sores and why I do not have too much acidic acid as you find in fruits.I am frustrated by this dilema and my doctors, yes, I have been to a few ,are baffled by this condition also.I will always check into your site to see if there are any other cures out there.

Lavender oil cures migraines and headaches. I use essential lavender oil under my nose so I can smell and breath it in. The smell clears your nasal passages and it much easier to fall asleep. I also use an ice pack over whichever side of the forehead I have the migraine. I fall asleep easily and the headache subsides.

Avoidance of OR ALTERNATIVELY, WELL SAUTEED WITH WATER ADDED garlic & citrus. Also avoidance of prolonged viewing of certain Computer monitor LCDs and CRTs. Some are worse than others. Only some laptops are preferable since those contain only one CCFL tube. Some laptops contain 2 or more CCFL.

I look forward to trying apple cider vinegar for my acid reflux but would like to pass on some headache help. My mom and I have been chronic headache sufferers for several years combined. Four months ago I bought and read "The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook" and changed my life. I began using "trigger point" self massage and was able to get rid of my pain meds. Not even pain meds worked on my mom so when "trigger points" worked for me, I tried them on her. They worked wonders. I taught her how to self massage and she has all but eliminated over 30 years of chronic, debilitating headaches.

I know for a fact a simple way to reduce the pain in headaches is to apply pressure to your temples and rub in a circular motion, it works every time.

My naturopath tools me that a headache affecting the top of the head is usually your liver. You may want to try doing liver flushes.

For headache or any other pain, get a very strong hematite magnet & place it wherever you have pain. Hold it there until the pain subsides which should be very soon.