Overview
Headaches are one of the most common medical complaints in America. This is due to a variety of causes, but the primary factor involved in chronic headaches is stress. Migraine and cluster headaches are also becoming more prevalent. (See the Migraine headaches page for specific remedies.) Most people will either choose to live with the pain or will turn to conventional medicine to find some relief. While medications do seem to help with the pain of certain patterns, many people would prefer to avoid this route because of the cost, possibility of side effects, such as liver damage.
Fortunately there are a great number of natural treatment options for headaches that can effectively eradicate the cause of the headaches or, at the very least, reduce the pain to a more tolerable level. Identifying the cause of headaches is one of the central challenges that all practitioners face. In particular, migraine patterns can be mysterious and spontaneous. They can be due to food allergies, stress, hormonal imbalances, emotional issues, dehydration, trauma, genetic factors, heavy metal poisoning, or intestinal toxicity.
Natural Remedies and Prevention
Meditation
If you suffer from Headaches, meditation is an excellent discipline to restore health, balance, and awareness to your life.
Chinese medicine
One of the most intriguing aspects of Chinese medicine is that it looks for a unifying theme through the patient’s entire presentation, not just their distinct symptoms. As opposed to a quick-fix, herbal 'magic bullet' for headaches we can identify a pattern of disharmony that is based on all of the patient’s symptoms, along with their pulse and tongue diagnosis. This helps us to get a deeper picture of what is occurring. In Chinese medicine, we want to see everything improve, not just the presenting complaint. For instance, if a patient comes in with temporal headaches (pain in the side of the head), constipation and irritability, and they have tense pulses and swollen sides to the tongue, the Chinese medical diagnosis would be liver qi stagnation. This means that the liver isn’t functioning optimally and that the circulatory function of this vital organ is impaired. By regulating the liver qi, all of these symptoms are expected to improve.
In Chinese medicine, the type of headache that is occuring isn’t necessarily important. As long as the correct pattern is identified, the headaches should be treatable. Below are a few common headache patterns along with their herbal treatments:
Liver Qi stagnation: Temporal headaches, worse with the menses, PMS, irritability, menstrual cramps, gas, muscle tension and stiffness, red eyes, ear ringing.
Herbal formula: Xiao yao wan
Liver Heat: Temporal headaches, red eyes, ear ringing, rage, high blood pressure, jaw tension, subcostal pain, consistent agitation, dream disturbed sleep, more severe symptoms.
Herbal formula: Long dan xie gan tang
Liver Wind: Migrating headache, high blood pressure, dizziness, tremors, memory impairment, slurred speech
Herbal formula: Tian ma gou teng yin
Wind cold pathogen: Pain at the nape of the neck, occipital headache, ongoing cold/flu, dizziness
Herbal formula: Ge gen tang
Headache due to digestive weakness: diarrhea, constipation, headache behind the eyes, bloating, fatigue, sluggish after eating, food allergies
Herbal formulas: with diarrhea - Liu jun zi tang; with constipation -Ma zi ren wan
Blood deficiency: scanty menses, fatigue, empty feeling in head with dull achiness, pale, coldness, listlessness
Herbal formula: Ba zhen tang
Western herbs
Butterbur and feverfew are among the most researched Western herbs that have proven to be effective in the treatment of headaches.
Acupressure point
The acupuncture point Large Intestine 4 is an excellent area to apply pressure to when you have a headache. The point is located just off the second metacarpal bone between the thumb and ring finger. This area is usually tender with most headache patterns.
Supplements
5HTP
Some headaches are due to a serotonin deficiency. This is a natural precursor to serotonin that is also useful for insomnia, depression, and anxiety. Start with 50 mg per day, then add 50 mg per week up to 300 mg.
B vitamin complex
B vitamins are essential for maintaining a healthy mental and emotional balance and for warding off excessive stress. Take the recommended dosage of a comprehensive B complex.
Calcium and Magnesium
These are natural relaxing agents for the central nervous system. Many headache sufferers are deficient in these essential minerals. Supplement with 500mg daily of each.
Fish Oil
Essential fatty acids have been clinically proven to reduce all kinds of pain and inflammation in the body. Take 3-4,000mg daily with food.
Dietary Strategies
- Avoid foods that cause inflammation in the body, such as sugar, refined carbohydrates, caffeine, and alcohol.
- Avoid synthetic sweeteners such as aspartame.
- Drink 6-8 glasses of filtered water daily
Exercise
People who suffer from headaches are generally more sedentary. Exercising 20-30 minutes a day, 4-5 days per week is recommended.
Source: Kevin S. Doherty, LAc., Dipl.Ac., MSOM
HERBAL MEDICINE AND TREATMENTS FROM MAMAHERB™
Headache Home Remedy Using Tea And Lemon Juice
Ingredients: Tea, Lemon Juice
Conditions: Chronic Illness,Headache
Headache afflict almost everyone at some time or the other. Most headaches are functional, being caused by temporary upsets, and are not related to any organic changes in the brain. They are often natures warning that something is wrong somewhere in the body. Headache is also known by Migraines and [URL(T) migraine]Migraine[/URL]. The actual pain, however, arises from irritation to nerve endings in the shoulder, neck, and scalp muscles, and also in the smooth muscles encircling the [URL(T) blood]blood[/URL] vessels which severe these areas. [URL(T) lemon]Lemon[/URL] [URL(T) tea]tea[/URL] is very effective in resolving the symptoms of Headache. [URL(T) black-tea]Black Tea[/URL] is made from the dried leaves of Camellia sinensis. [URL(T) lemon-juice]Lemon Juice[/URL] is a universal remedy for many disorders.
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Headache Home Remedy Using Cinnamon
Ingredients: Cinnamon
Conditions: Chronic Illness,Headache
Headaches afflict almost everyone at some time or the
other. Most headaches are functional, being caused by
temporary upsets, and are not related to any organic
changes in the brain.
They are often nature's warning that something is wrong
somewhere in the body. The actual pain, however, arises
from irritation to nerve endings in the shoulder, neck, and
scalp muscles, and also in the smooth muscles encircling
the [URL(T) blood]blood[/URL] vessels which serve these areas.
The common causes of headaches are allergy, emotional
[URL(T) stress]stress[/URL], eye strain, [URL(T) high-blood-pressure]high blood pressure[/URL], a [URL(T) hangover]hangover[/URL],
infection, [URL(T) low-blood-[URL(T) sugar]sugar[/URL]]low blood sugar[/URL], nutritional deficiency, tension,
and the presence of poisons and toxins in the body.
[URL(T) allergies]Allergies[/URL] are often the unsuspected cause of headaches.
The foods to which some people are allergic and which can
trigger headaches are [URL(T) milk]milk[/URL] and milk products, chocolates,
chicken, liver, [URL(T) alcohol]alcohol[/URL], and strong cheese. Sneezing and
[URL(T) diarrhea]diarrhea[/URL] are further indications of an allergy.
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Headache Home Remedy Using Mulleins
Ingredients: Mulleins
Conditions: Chronic Illness,Headache
Headache is a common pain and anyone can suffer from headache. [URL(T) stress]Stress[/URL] is the prime cause of headaches. For instance, if you work on computer for a longer period of time, you tend to have headache. However, whatever the causes of headache may be, they really create discomfort for us. Verbascum lasianthum flowers extracts, has very potent anti-inflammatory action. Verbascum lasianthum flowers extract has been used in traditional folk medicine to treat numerous diseases. Verbascum lasianthum flowers extracts are a natural alternative to commonly used anti-inflammatory drugs like Dolonex (Piroxicam), Brufen (Ibuprofen) and Voveran etc. Verbascum lasianthum flowers extract can be used with confidence for treating Headache. Verbascum lasianthum flowers were found to possess significant antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities, per os without inducing any apparent acute toxicity or gastric damage.
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Headache Home Remedy Using Veronica anagallis
Ingredients: Veronica anagallis
Conditions: Chronic Illness,Headache
Headache is a common pain and anyone can suffer from headache. [URL(T) stress]Stress[/URL] is the prime cause of headaches. For instance, if you work on computer for a longer period of time, you tend to have headache. However, whatever the causes of headache may be, they really create discomfort for us. [URL(T) veronica-anagallis]Veronica anagallis[/URL] aerial parts extracts have been used in traditional folk medicine to treat numerous diseases. Veronica anagallis aerial parts extracts are a natural alternative to commonly used anti-inflammatory drugs like Dolonex (Piroxicam), Brufen (Ibuprofen) and Voveran etc. Veronica anagallis aerial parts extracts can be used with confidence for treating Headache.
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