Migraine may bring severe pain to life, but if you take proper steps you can enjoy a good life. Many renowned peoples despite of having migraine are success in life and enjoying a good life. We have listed some natural home remedies which may help you to relieve migraine pain.
Avoid bright lights and loud noises. Bright lights and loud noises over-stimulate your nervous system and worsen your headache. Try to avoid such situation as far as possible and adjust yourself in shadow and low noise situation.
Exercise and yoga: Exercise release endorphins that interacts with receptors in your brain that reduce pain.(1) Regular workout or yoga helps you to prevent headache. Exercise also reduces stress and helps to sleep better. However you should avoid exercise during the time of migraine attack.
Regular eating and sleeping habit: Try to eat at regular interval of time. Skipping meal can also trigger migraine attack. Try to go to bed at the same time in every night, skip TV, reading etc while in bed. Sleep at least for 7-8 hours in a day.
Managing trigger: Find out what can bring migraine pain for you. Watch your food, which can trigger migraine headache for you. Try to avoid processed and salty food, aged cheese, artificial sweetener, preservatives in food as much as possible. Be careful during menstruation, menopause, pregnancy and other time of hormonal change.
Use of Essential Oil as home remedies to relieve migraine pain:
Some aroma therapy gives good results in migraine attack patients. There are many essential oils that can help you relief from headache or migraine attacks along with some other benefits such as reduce inflammation, muscle spasm, swelling and pain. Here we picked up the best for migraine headache. Essential oils are safer and effective use for relief of headache and you are in control of your dose. It is a gentle and natural way to reduce stress, relieve pain and improves circulation. However people having frequent migraine attack, should consult with healthcare provider. When buying essential oils make sure that they are in pure form, therapeutic grade and preferably organic.
Using essential oils for headaches is a natural approach to ease your headache in a healthy way. There are many essential oils used for treatment of headache. Essential oils are normally safe, however overdose should be avoided. You should use carrier oil along with essential oil. Here we have picked some best of such oils.
Peppermint Oil
Peppermint oil is an excellent essential oil used for aromatherapy. Local application of peppermint oil generates long lasting cooling and soothing effect. It has properties of energizing, relieves muscle contraction and nausea.
Peppermint oil is well tolerated by body and cost effective than usual headache therapies.(2)
A study was published in the International Journal of Phytotherapy and Phytopharmacology with combinations of peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil and ethanol reveals that the combination of peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil and ethanol can increase cognitive performance while having a muscle-relaxing and mentally relaxing effect, but has little influence on pain sensitivity when applied locally in forehead. It was found that there was significant reduction of pain sensitivity to headache when applying combination of peppermint oil and ethanol preparation. (3)
Another important study of locally applied peppermint oil, by spreading largely across forehead and temples, on tension-type headache including analysis of 164 headache attacks of 41 patients of both sexes ranging between 18 and 65 years of age, suffering from tension-type headache-showed that a 10% peppermint oil in ethanol solution efficiently alleviates tension-type headache. Peppermint oil thus proves to be a well-tolerated and cost-effective alternative to usual therapies. It showed that Peppermint oil reduced headache notably just after 15 minutes of spreading it.(4)
How to use:
Mix two to three drops of peppermint oil with carrier oil such as coconut oil and rub it on forehead, back of neck, temples and shoulders. Dilution ratio for Sensitive skin: .5 to 1 percent dilution = 3 to 6 drops of essential oil per ounce (30 ml) of carrier oil, For Normal, healthy skin: 1 to 2.5 percent dilution = 6 to 15 drops per ounce (30 ml). You should avoid use of peppermint oil on children under age of 30 month. If you have sensitive skin, apply in a small area first before using it to a large area.
Lavender Oil
Lavender essential oil is excellent aroma therapeutic remedy with having pleasant beautiful smell, help you to relax. It has variety of therapeutic and curative properties including relaxation, tension and stress/ anxiety relieves, calming agent, depression effective treatment in neurological disorder
A mixture of essential oils including lavender, basil, juniper, and sweet marjoram is shown to reduce sleep disturbance and improve overall well-being in older patients. In a study on thirty-one hospitalized patients, administration of lavender odor showed a trend towards an improved quality of daytime wakefulness and more sustained sleep at night. (5)
Lavender essential oil is used as an anxiolytic drug, a mood stabilizer, a sedative, spasmolytic, antihypertensive, antimicrobial, analgesic agent as well as a wound healing accelerator. A study on lavender essential oil inhalation treatment in migraine attack patients results-from 129 headache attacks in cases, 92 responded entirely or partially to lavender. It concluded that inhalation of lavender essential oil may be an effective and safe treatment modality in acute management of migraine headaches. (6)
How to use:
You can diffuse 4-5 drops of lavender oil in home or office to improve mood, relieve stress and for better sleep. Dilute lavender oil with lotion or carrier oil such as sweet almond oil and rub in body parts such as temples, hand, wrist or back of neck (near carotid artery) to relieve headache or stress. Dilution ratio for Sensitive skin: .5 to 1 percent dilution = 3 to 6 drops of essential oil per ounce (30ml), For Normal, healthy skin: 1 to 2.5 percent dilution = 6 to 15 drops per ounce (30 ml)
Or you can use it by dropping 5 to 10 drops in bathtub to take bath. If you have sensitive skin, mix essential oil with 1 tablespoon of carrier oil before adding to water.
Or you can use a diffuser to mix with water for using office as well as home.
Eucalyptus Oil
Eucalyptus oil has wide range of benefits such as antibacterial, pain relieving, cleaning air, anti fungal, useful for colds etc. In Brazil people use Eucalyptus for the treatment of various medical conditions such as cold, flue, fever, and bronchial infections. Study revealed-inhalation of eucalyptus oil has a pain relieving effect to people having pain. (7)
In a research based study, found that cineole (main component of eucalyptus oil) is effective and safe treatment for sinusitis and contain no antibiotics.(8) With diffusion of 1,8 cineole, viruses, bacteria and fungus in air can be reduced. When 1,8 cineole acts as an analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, mucolytic, expectorant, increases cerebral blood flow, and reduces tension headaches-relief is the key result. Essential oils high in 1, 8 cineole are known to help reduce congestion, perhaps calm a spastic cough and therefore reduce tension in the head, upper body and sinuses. Mucus congestion can be reduced by inhalation through steam or essential oil inhaler. Eucalyptus – Eucalyptus globules and Eucalyptus radiate are two varieties of eucalyptus containing high in 1, 8 cineole.(9)
Having properties of anti fungal, antibacterial and antimicrobial, eucalyptus oil containing 1,8 cineole, may help in reducing nasal blockage and clear the airways thus reduce sinus tension which can leads to headache or migraine attack. If nasal blockage is a trigger for you, you may use eucalyptus essential oil of Eucalyptus globules or Eucalyptus radiate variety.
How to use:
Mix two to four drops of eucalyptus oil with a carrier oil such as olive oil or almond oil (at a dilution ratio for sensitive skin: .5 to 1 percent dilution = 3 to 6 drops of essential oil per ounce (30ml) of carrier oil, For Normal, healthy skin: 1 to 2.5 percent dilution = 6 to 15 drops per ounce (30 ml)) and apply it topically to the chest, back of the neck, temples, throat and forehead.
Steam inhalation of hot water combining with eucalyptus oil may also help you to reduce nasal blockage. Add 3 to 7 drop of eucalyptus oil to boiling water in heatproof tub. Cover your head with a towel and breathe through nose keeping eye close.
Cold Compress:
Many people use cold compress therapy to relieve pain caused from injury. In a study with clinical trail conducted in 2013, revealed that by utilization of adjustable wrap containing two freezable ice packs targeting the carotid arteries at the neck, significantly reduced pain in participants with migraine headaches with maximum pain reduction at the 30 minute time point. (10)
You can take pack of ice from freeze and apply back side of the neck near carotid artery when you feel migraine attack. You can choose your favorite blend of essential oil while applying cold compress.
Alternatively you can buy headache hat or wrap to take cold therapy in home to relief migraine pain.
Bottom line: Migraine relieving way acts differently in different people. If these remedies help you to remove your migraine headache, it will be my pleasure. Some vitamins, minerals and herbs also works better in relieving migraine pain.
You can also read eight common migraine triggering factors
Disclaimer: Information provided here are generalized information for educational purpose only, not intended to provide one to one health consultation or replace practice of a qualified practitioner. Different people may have different health condition and may have different reaction to the same food. Hence it has been advised to consult with health care provider before application of any of above guidelines. Source & ref. 1. https://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/exercise-depression#1 2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8805113 3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23196150 4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8805113 5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3612440/ 6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22517298# 7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3703330/ 8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15064633 9. http://naha.org/index.php/naha-blog/staying-healthy-using-essential- oils-rich-in-cineole/ 10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3727573/
