There are few things more disconcerting in life than suffering from a headache; the tightness across your forehead, the pounding of hammers that appear to be directly connected to your brain and the sheer discomfort of the pain. Mild headaches can be just as debilitating as severe ones and your first instinct might to be to go to the medicine cabinet and take some painkillers.
Although these can be effective for a short time, they don’t actually address the underlying cause of the headache and merely provide temporary relief from the symptoms but little more. The good news is that there are a number of natural remedies that can make a real difference to how you deal with headaches, and more and more people are turning to these as a way to help alleviate the problem.
Headaches can affect both work and personal life, make you irritable and poor company, or in bad cases confine you to bed, so considering different options to deal with them could make a real difference to you.
Your life is probably filled with a multitude of things you have to do, and often the stress of juggling your work/life balance can lead to headaches because your body is instinctively reacting to that stress by tensing and then knotting up muscles, especially in the neck, the shoulders and upper back. This can lead to a tension headache, so you need to consciously relax, breathing deeply to help both body and mind to de-stress and dropping shoulders rather than having them hunched up. If practised regularly, yoga is a good way to help the relaxation process, focusing mind and muscles in a way that can often prevent headaches from occurring.
Essential oils
Whether your headache is caused by stress, a cold, an allergy or a migraine, essential oils have been used for centuries to alleviate the pain associated with them. Peppermint oil, eucalyptus and sandalwood oils are among the aromatherapy products that can help to address the problem, by gently applying them to the temple and under the nose.
Essential oils for headaches are ideal natural options when you don’t want to take chemical alternatives. All Headache produced by Élanveda combines eight oils that b include birch, sandalwood, lavender spike, peppermint and eucalyptus to soothe even the most unpleasant headaches..
Even peppermint oil on its own has pain-relieving qualities so you can try what works best for you.
You may remember as a child that if you had a headache your mother would apply a cold compress to your forehead to relieve the pain and discomfort. There are gel packs available nowadays that can help deal with a headache in exactly the same way as a cold compress would work. For some headaches, a hot compress can help, such as towel soaked in warm water.
Taking the natural route
The popularity of natural remedies is a part of taking control over the care of your own body and mind. Everyone can do it if they want to, so exploring what is available may be the best way of dealing with your headache problem.