Home Remedies For Headaches

Top Ten Home Remedies for Headaches

Before putting industry-manufactured chemicals into your body, you may want to try some of these home remedies for headaches. Being a migraine sufferer, I’ve accumulated them from various sources over the years.

One note before we begin. These are not scientifically tested or ordered in terms of effectiveness. We are all individuals and many people will respond to one remedy that will not respond to another. Different strokes for different folks, as the saying goes.

So without further ado, here they are:

Vigorous Exercise: This may seem counterintuitive, but a good hard workout can get your heart rate and your circulation going at such a rate that when you finish your body will relax and the headache will have magically disappeared. The idea is simple, the same way that you muscles warm up and help you to avoid injury, so do does your head during a good exercise session. So next time you get that headache, try throwing on your Nike’s and taking in a good run.
Water + Caffeine + Water: Those that believe in this method say its one of the best home remedies for headaches brought on by hangovers, fatigue, tiredness or hunger. Simply drink a couple of big glasses of water wait 10-15 minutes, drink a can of soda or have a cup of coffee, then top that off with another couple of glasses 10-15 minutes after the caffeine dose. The water helps you to re-hydrate your body; the caffeine helps with tiredness. (If you drink coffee or soda regularly, try two cans of soda or cups of coffee instead of one.) With tiredness and hunger, this sequence should be followed up by eating a regular meal an hour afterwards. This will help you avoid the crash that comes if you just try to eat when you have a hunger headache.
Hot Shower Method/Water Treatment: Another of the home remedies for headaches is one of a number of water treatments. This is especially suited to sinus headaches. The way that it is often recommended is to take a warm wet towel and apply it to the forehead. This is fine, but even better is to get into the shower, turn your showerhead to massage mode and let it pound your forehead for a bit. It will feel like your headache is breaking up—as if you took a jackhammer to it.
Cold Bath/Change of Temperature: Another variation on the water treatment above is the cold bath method. Often a summer headache is caused by excessive heat. Many of us can’t afford or don’t have an air conditioner, but we do have bathtubs. Draw a room temperature bath (don’t make it too cold right away or the sudden change in temperature may actually worsen your headache), get in and wait for it to cool you down. You might add cold water as you go. Just sitting relaxing in the bath might actually be enough to relieve your tensions as well. If this is impractical in the middle of the day, try a spray bottle to your head and arms periodically.

Touch Treatments/Pressure Points: Another way of relieving sinus headaches is to press on them with your fingers. Often putting pressure on the right spot near your headache will relieve the pain right away. For some people it makes the headache disappear altogether, although I’ve not noticed this myself. This is also an excellent treatment when the medium of pressure is warm water—as in the shower method.
Peppermint leaf tea: I have heard that one of the secret home remedies for headaches is peppermint leaf tea (sometimes with the addition of rice cakes). Why does this work? Why not some other tea? I have no idea, but this is the rumor. Who knows, maybe it will work for you. I’m just passing it on.
Relaxation Therapy: One of the best ways to relieve headaches caused by tension is to practice relaxation therapies. Just close your eyes and focus on your breathing, count the breaths in--1, 2, 3—count the breaths out—1, 2, 3. Repeat. Think of a nice calm place. Do this for 15 minutes, go back to regular life for half an hour, and then do this again until your headache is gone.
Massage: A variation on this is massage. The healing touch on your body’s muscles will send relaxation up your body and help you relax all over.
Detox tea + diet: There are many herbal teas that can help you detox from nicotine, excessive caffeine, fast food and lack of sleep. Research which teas work best for this and then try some. This is more of long-term solution for those who are getting frequent headaches from these causes. They only work well if you combine the teas with a more temperate approach to cigarettes, coffee, diet, and late nights. By themselves, the teas really won’t help all that much.
SEX: Yeah, that’s right. One of the best-known home remedies for headaches is a good romp in the bedroom. It combines the healthy effects of a good work out with the post-coital relaxation of a muscle relaxant. So next time the wife uses the old “I have a headache” excuse, you can tell her you have just the thing for it. (Oh, and ladies, if you don’t have a man handy, studies show that self-pleasure for gals is just as effective. Not the case for men, however, sorry guys!)
Screensaver self-hypnosis: I throw this one in as number 11 because it is so ridiculous. I have heard however, that you can get rid of your headache by getting a screensaver with twirling swirls (like a hypnotist uses in b movies) and then staring at the center while repeating “Headache be gone! Headache be gone! Headache be gone!” I guess if you’re desperate, it’s worth a try. While you’re at it, you might also look up “gullible” in the dictionary. I’ve heard they don’t have it defined in there.

Of course, if none of this works, I’ve heard there is something called Advil. You take a couple and your headache disappears. It’s probably just a rumor though.