Essential Oils for Headaches: A Natural Way to Say Goodbye to Pain
If you are one of those people who have become dependent on pain relief medications to cure their headaches, then you will be glad to know that another alternative cure is available to you and these are essential oils for headaches.
With the stressful lifestyle nowadays, it is almost natural for most people to experience headaches and since the pain can really affect how you function through the day.
Someones first instinct is to grab an over-the-counter (OTC) pain medication that can instantly relieve you of the pain.
These medications are actually really effective and their effects can last for hours, thus letting you go on with your work, studies, and errands comfortably through the rest of the day.
However, taking pain reliever pills constantly is bad for your body.
First, it can affect the health of your liver, which is in-charge of filtering everything that you put in your body.
Second, being dependent on such type of drugs can make your body need higher doses in future pain attacks.
This is why some people have come to the point where they need to take two pills instead of one to alleviate their headaches, which further brings harm to the liver.
Fortunately, there are ways to cure that pain away naturally. One is to use cold compress.
This is because most headaches are caused by increased pressure in the area and a cold pack can help lessen that pressure.
At the same time, soaking your extremities (hand and feet) in warm water can do the same thing because it promotes blood flow away from the head thus lessening pressure.
For some people, however, they have observed that alternating a cold and hot compress on their head works wonders.
It partly depends on the type of headache that you are having as there are many depending on their causes, such as tension headache, cluster headache, and migraine.
Another natural way to alleviate headache is by using essential oils. Before you say that this might be some folklore passed on by old generations, you will be surprised to know that 200 years ago the British Pharmacopoeia actually stated that lavender oil is good for relieving headache.
However, by the middle of the 20th century, people have become more in favor of chemical-based drugs and have forgotten the effectiveness of essential oils as headache remedies.
Luckily, things are changing again as more and more people now prefer the natural methods because they are less harmful to the body and they do actually work.
In fact, aside from headaches, oils can cure several illnesses and conditions. There are essential oils for anxiety, for weight loss, for toothaches, for improving immunity, and many more.
Curing Your Headaches with Essential Oils
For migraines, some of the oils that you can use to cure it are basil, peppermint, ylang-ylang, and wintergreen. You can choose from any of these or you can combine them.
You can also try a blend of lavender and ginger oils. Migraines are often caused by dehydration and photosensitivity, and they can be very painful.
Some people even find it hard to do simple tasks once they have a migraine attack, which is why having these oils by your side all the time can help you get rid of the symptoms.
For cluster headaches try chamomile, ginger, eucalyptus, peppermint, or lemongrass.
These oils are better applied topically, although it may cause irritation to some people due to an allergic reaction. If that happens, switch to another type of oil.
This is why it is better to test each first to know if you are allergic to any of them before creating your own blend.
For tension headaches, which is caused by stress and are usually felt at the sides of the head, try peppermint oil. If your headache was caused by a bad food that you ate, rosemary and lavender oils usually work best.
Generally, here are the other oils that you can use to treat headaches: helichrysum, spearmint, clove, marjoram, patchouli, frankincense, cinnamon, and jasmine.
As you can see, most of these oils have a cooling effect, making them ideal remedies for headaches. Some work because of the substances present in them that help stop pain impulses from reaching your brain.
How to Use Essential Oils to Alleviate Headaches
The best way is to apply it topically, but first find a carrier oil to mix with any of these oils.
Carrier oils are used for the purpose of dilution because some essential oils can be too strong and may cause irritation when applied directly on the skin in high concentration. Examples of carrier oils are coconut oil, almond oil, and jojoba oil.
Just mix a few drops of these oils together and rub on the affected area.
You may also try aromatherapy instead of topical application. For this, you will need an oil diffuser to efficiently disperse tiny molecules of the essential oils to the air.
Try using any of these essential oils for headaches and see for yourself how effective they are.
Once you have found the right oil that works best with your type of headache, you will be saying goodbye to those OTC pills and you will be more confident that you are not adding any harm to your body because you have decided to stick to natural treatments.
