Natural Measures for Treatment and Prevention of Headaches
Nearly everyone gets a headache at one time or another. In fact, headaches account for more doctor’s visits than any other health condition. The tension headache is the most common variety, which usually begins in the early afternoon or evening, and feels like a steady tight band around your head. The pain can sometimes radiate up your neck and the back of your head.
Headaches are common in pregnancy, as well as before your period, related to the effects of the changing hormones within your body. However, many women claim that pre-existing headaches like migraines often improve when they are pregnant.
On the rare occasion, a headache can be caused by a serious health problem, especially when persistent, severe, or following an injury. If you are pregnant and developing high blood pressure, a headache could be a sign of a potentially dangerous condition known as preeclampsia, which must be prevented ideally, and addressed promptly by your provider. However, in the majority of cases, a headache signals your body’s reaction to a variety of stresses, such as:
Overwork
Emotional upset or worry
Muscle tension
Too much time on the computer or smart phone
Not enough sleep
Too much sleep
Eye strain
Improper posture
Teeth grinding
Strong sun or bright light
Irritating stimulation like too much noise or a strong unpleasant smell
Feeling too hot or too cold
Stuffy rooms
Fluorescent lighting
Motion sickness
Nasal or sinus congestion
Infection
Low blood sugar
Poor diet or overeating
Sensitivities to certain foods
Exposure to toxic substances like tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, certain drugs and medications, chemicals, food preservatives, gases, fumes, insecticides and even household products
Headache Prevention
Minimize time online, especially addictive stressful apps, social media and computer games. Avoid things (like certain agitating movies, blasting hard rock or rap music and the news), and people (like those who are angry, stressed out, negative, down, fearful, critical or demanding) that agitate your mind and raise your internal tension. Surround yourself as much as possible with calm, centered people, things, sounds and places that inspire, relax you, cause you to feel at ease, and restore you to inner peace and serenity. For some, this means being around nature, beautiful art, soothing music, or close family and friends.
Learn how to recognize early sensations of emotional and muscular tension so that you can:
Get out of the stressful situation for a few minutes until you are feeling more calm.
Do some stretching and exercise activity like dancing to release the built up tension and move emotional energy through the body.
Practice slow deep breathing, meditation, QiGong, Tai Chi, yoga (especially Yin, prenatal, gentle and restorative), progressive muscle relaxation techniques (yoga nidra), or prayer.
Take a walk outside.
Use natural light as much as possible, or lamps and dimmer lighting when indoors when indoors
Take a relaxing bath with a few drops of lavender oil.
Watch a funny movie or video.
Read these recent blog posts on natural remedies for stress and ways to manage your emotions.
Get in the habit of reducing inner tension and increasing feelings of centeredness and calm by taking a “healing interval” for a few minutes several times each day using any of the above mentioned techniques or the following breathing exercises. They are totally safe, easy, without side effects, and are extremely health-enhancing natural tranquilizers, especially if you do them often. They disengage conscious attention away from thought and outside stimulation and relax your nervous system.
The following breathwork exercises are simple to do and can be done any time and place. For example, while traveling, waiting in line, resting, before rising in the morning and going to bed at night, in the bath, on the toilet, or whenever you feel stressed or triggered.
Sit up straight but comfortably, with your eyes closed, internally keeping your gaze between your eyes, or open and focused on a nonmoving distant object or place like where the floor meets the wall. While breathing be mindful, and just observe and release any muscle tension working your way slowly from head to toe. This is meditation, combined with the benefits of breathwork.
Breath Awareness
Start with being more conscious about your breath, and simply focusing all of your attention on your breathing. Get curious about all the details of your sensations as you inhale and exhale, without trying to change anything. Notice what you are currently seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, tasting. Just watch without judgment. This brings you to the present and is deliciously relaxing.
Deep Abdominal Breathing
Exhale slowly with an audible sigh, releasing all muscle tension, especially in your jaw and breathing diaphragm muscle.
Inhale slowly through your nose for a count of 4. Imagine a pump expanding your abdomen, and lower back, down to your pelvic floor, causing you to inhale. Allow ribs to expand with air, then inhale air into your upper chest towards your collarbone and shoulders.
Exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of 4. Release effortlessly, in the same order you inhaled, returning to baseline, your abdomen, ribs, then upper chest. With each exhalation, try to let go and relax even more.
Repeat this cycle a total of 8 times or at least a few minutes. You may need to play with counts, using a count of 3 or maybe even 5 or 6. But keep the counts of inhale the same as the counts of exhale.
Then extend, or double the exhale. For example, if you are inhaling to a count or 3, exhale to a count of 6, or if you are inhaling to a count of 4, exhale to a count of 6. And repeat this cycle for several minutes.
Triangle Breathing
Inhale for a count of 3 or 4, exhale to the same count of 3 or 4, then pause for the same count of 3 or 4, while consciously and deeply relaxing your diaphragm muscle of respiration, as well as all other muscles. Repeat for several cycles or a few minutes.
Box Breathing
Another great breathing technique that disengages your conscious attention from thought and relaxes the nervous system, and can be done any time, is box breathing. With this exercise, you add a timed pause between each inhalation and exhalation.
Set a timer for 5-10 minutes.
Inhale deeply into your belly as above for a count of 3.
Hold without tension for a count of 6.
Exhale to a count of 6 while consciously relaxing more and more.
Hold again without tension for a count of 3.
Repeat until your timer chimes. You may love this so much you will want to do it longer.
Breathing In Varied Ratios
Play with the ratios and counts of inhalation, exhalation and the pausing in between them. For example, exhale slowly through your mouth with an audible sigh. Inhale slowly through your nose for a count of 4, hold for a count of 7, then exhale through your mouth for a count of 8. Repeat for a total of 8 cycles.
Forced Exhalation Breathing
One more breathing exercise to try is forced exhalation:
After a normal breath, try squeezing as much air out as possible using your intercostal muscles.
Next, allow the breath to come in naturally and deeply, but automatically.
Repeat the cycle for several minutes or as long as you like.
See what feels best for you in each situation. Make these sorts of deep breathing and breath awareness practices, meditation and authentic yoga a regular part of your daily routine, even for 20-30 minutes.
Practice abdominal breathing as much as possible so it becomes habitual. This is the ideal form of breathing, as opposed to rapid shallow breathing. Do this by imagining a pump expanding your abdomen and lower back, which causes you to inhale. The pump then releases effortlessly, which causes you to exhale. Then there is a natural pause until you need to inhale again.
Don’t hesitate to schedule a session with me if you need more guidance with mastering breathwork and experiencing its transformative power.
Conscious Relaxation
Notice habits of increased muscle tension, especially around your upper back, shoulders, neck, forehead and jaw, and make an effort to release these tightened muscles while doing slow deep abdominal breathing. Ask someone to massage these areas or treat yourself to regular massage therapy.
It would be very beneficial to you if you could learn how to relax the muscles that are tensing up. It is an essential skill for labor and can be used in any stressful situation. Set aside a 10-15 minute time slot, like during one or two of your “healing intervals,” to focus on releasing all of your muscles:
Get into a comfortable position.
Breathe slowly and deeply while thinking about relaxing each muscle from your head down to your toes.
Visualize feeling heavy and limp like a rag doll, or like your napping dog or cat.
Life is stressful and always has been, and eliminating all outside stress is not an option. But, you can learn to activate your own relaxation response and quiet your nervous system not only with breath work and relaxation techniques, but also by making a conscious effort to be aware of anxiety provoking, tension causing thought patterns that are not serving you. And to stop them or shift your attention to something more positive and ultimately change your mental state.
You have the capability to change your attitude and reaction to your life experiences to more health enhancing responses. For example, you can surrender to and totally accept unpleasant events over which you have no power, and/or you can view them as a wake-up call, an opportunity for personal growth, development and redirection. You can try to focus as much of your attention as possible on the present moment, literally without letting your thoughts wander into the past or imagined future.
For more information about this and other great ways to improve your physical and emotional well-being, read Natural Health, Natural Medicine by Dr. Andrew Weil, Practicing the Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle, Loving What Is by Byron Katie, and Prescriptions for Living by Dr. Bernie Siegel.
Make a conscious effort to work on increasing your own feelings of forgiveness, appreciation, love, joy, optimism, and healing, while letting go of anger, resentment, envy, fear, sadness, and negativity. Do not be afraid to seek counseling if you need help with this. It is helpful to express your worries, resentments, anger, sadness and other troubling feelings with a sympathetic ear, but more effective to move these emotions through your body and release them through conscious connected breathing type of breathwork. It is also critical to develop skills of self-mastery and empowerment.
Additional Self Awareness and Care
Keep a written record of your headaches to increase your own awareness of situations in your life that proceed your headaches, and make needed changes if possible. Sometimes it’s as simple as:
Taking a daily nap or just lying down for a few minutes with your eyes closed in a quiet room.
Getting a mother’s helper for the afternoon or morning rush.
Making sure you don’t forget to eat breakfast or lunch.
Deleting foods with monosodium glutamate and other chemical additives in processed foods.
Getting some fresh air or moving away from cigarette smoke.
Saying “I’m sorry but I can’t help you this time” when you are overworked.
Having your eyes checked and getting new glasses.
Notice your posture when standing as well as when sitting. Make sure your back is straight and lifted using your stomach muscles, your pelvis is tilted forward and your shoulders are relaxed and down. Avoid high heels.
If your headaches are related to awkward posture and chronic muscle straining, you may benefit from osteopathy, acupuncture, and/or the Alexander or Rolfing deep massage technique, in addition to regular yoga practice.
Pay attention to your diet and don’t skip meals, especially if you are pregnant. Make sure you are drinking at least 64 ounces every day of filtered, spring or well water between meals, at least 20–30 minutes before or 2 hours after eating. Eat enough of a variety of healthy, ideally organic, whole foods like:
Fresh fruits and vegetables
Whole grains
Seeds, nuts, nut butters and nut milks
Beans, tofu and tempeh
Whole organic eggs
Wild Alaskan salmon
Limited organic chicken and turkey, beef, buffalo, venison, or lamb
Fresh organic raw whole dairy - ideally goat or sheep
Make sure you are eating at least 80 grams of protein daily. Use healthy fats like organic cold expeller pressed extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and butter instead of refined vegetable oils and partially hydrogenated vegetable fat. Limit highly processed refined white flour foods made with lots of chemical additives, unhealthy fat, and sugar. Avoid coffee, even decaffeinated, and all other products with caffeine, like soda, chocolate, and certain over-the-counter medications. Salt your food to taste with quality mineral dense sea salt.
Small frequent meals that include fat and protein and fresh whole foods are preferable to fewer large binges, to keep your blood sugar stable. If you are eating a carbohydrate like fruit, a starchy vegetable like corn or potatoes, or a grain, make sure to eat it with a protein or fat like nuts, nut butter, meat or dairy, to prevent the rapid rise, then drop in blood sugar that can cause headaches from eating high sugar and white flour foods. Take your prenatal supplements - including fish oil - to ensure you are getting the additional nourishment you need beyond what healthy diet can provide. Make sure to take iron if you are anemic and prevent constipation so that you are having daily bowel movements to release rather than reabsorb toxic waste that can cause headaches, and trigger migraines.
Get at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise 5 times per week. Brisk walking, dancing, swimming, cycling, and low impact aerobics are all great choices, especially during a healthy pregnancy.
Ensure you are getting 7-8 hours of sleep if not pregnant. If you are pregnant, aim for more sleep by going to bed earlier and/or waking later, as well as taking a short daily power nap. Even if you can not sleep, laying down in savasana (the yoga corpse pose) focusing on breath and gazing internally between your eyebrows for 20 minutes will do the trick.
Natural Treatment for Headaches
Reputable brands of supplements and remedies I recommend below include Innate Response, Wish Garden, Gaia, Herb Pharm, Wise Woman Herbals, Pure Encapsulations and Eclectic Institute, or any of those in my online holistic apothecary.
SINUS HEADACHE
If your headache is related to a mild infectious illness or the flu, refer to my post on natural remedies and suggestions for treating infections. This includes sinus infection, which is indicated by:
A steady pain in your forehead
Pain around your eyes and nose
Post nasal drip
Cough with thick sometimes yellow or green nasal congestion
In this case, pay particular attention to increasing your fluid intake and liquefying your secretions with a humidifier or vaporizer during sleep, steam inhalation with essential oils, and nasal douching with a Neti Pot. Use plain nasal saline spray. Strengthen your immune system with lifestyle modification, herbs, supplements and homeopathy. At the start of sinus trouble, put hot wet towels over your upper face for 15 minutes 3-4 times per day, eliminate milk and all other dairy products, and avoid smoking. If your sinus headache is triggered by allergies, take stinging nettle herb in capsules or infusion. You can make your own by steeping 1 large handful of dried nettle leaf in a quart of boiling water for at least 4 hours.
If the natural remedies in the aforementioned post do not help and your symptoms worsen or do not improve, please contact your practitioner. If your sinus headaches are chronic, they may be due to allergies, which are not covered in this handout. However, osteopathy, acupuncture, homeopathy, and mind/body work can be very helpful, as well as working with an integrative or holistic allergist physician.
MIGRAINE HEADACHE
If you get migraine headaches, which are usually felt as one-sided, severe, throbbing pain, often preceded by an “aura” like visual disturbance and associated with nausea and vomiting, as well as intolerance to light, noise and motion (and many other variant symptoms), there are things you can do to prevent them:
Eliminate all coffee and caffeinated products during headache-free intervals.
Note what else triggers your headaches and avoid them. Common triggers include:
Chocolate
Red and white wine
Strong flavored aged cheese
Processed meats with nitrites
Fermented foods like soy sauce and miso, especially with monosodium glutamate
Sardines, anchovies, and pickled herring
Artificial sweeteners like aspartame
Strong synthetic fragrances in perfumes, body care products and incense
Certain medications
Keep a headache journal to help you become more aware of what triggers your migraines, what makes them worse and what makes them better, so you can be more aware and empowered to prevent them or treat them most effectively. You may benefit from doing an elimination diet for 3 weeks, to see what common foods might be responsible.
At the first sign of a migraine, drink 1-2 cups of strong coffee, take 1-2 Advil (only to be used occasionally in the 1st or 2nd trimester of pregnancy) or Aspirin if you are NOT pregnant. Lie down in a dark room focusing on slow deep breathing. For maintenance, Dr. Adrew Weil recommends to take the following daily over 1 ½ - 2 months to notice your response:
Magnesium, 500 mg 1-2x/day
Calcium, 500 mg 1- 2x/day
Vitamin B2 400 mg daily
Coenzyme Q 10, 100-150 mg 1-2 x/day
Get biofeedback training to master your autonomic nervous system and increase the temperature of your hands (a wonderful technique you can use to abort an attack). Do hypnotherapy with a trained professional, to go beyond what is conscious and experience effective healing.
If you are NOT pregnant, take Petadolex’s supercritical freeze dried extract of Butterbur, 50-100 mg 1-2 times per day, that is free of toxic PAs, and Feverfew, at least 100-150 mg, with at least 0.2% parthinolides, or a combination formula of these herbs. Dr. Aviva Romm additionally advises trying either Melatonin 3 mg or 5 Hydroxytryptophan 200 mg every day, ideally taken before bed. It may take several weeks to months to notice the full benefit.
Dr. Weil suggests changing the way you think about your migraines: “View them as electrical storms in the head, violent and disruptive, but leading to a calm clear state in the end. Let yourself have a headache once in awhile. Be with your headache, as it’s a good excuse to drop your usual routine and go inward, letting accumulated stress dissipate. As you come to accept them in this way and see them as serving a purpose in your life, you may not have them as often.”
THE OCCASIONAL HEADACHE
To remedy the occasional headache...
Eat a nutritious wholesome snack with complex carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fat.
Get off the computer or smart phone and get some fresh air.
Lie down in a quiet place with your eyes closed, and take a nap if possible.
Apply an iced or warm pack or a cool or warm dampened washcloth to the area that hurts.
Rotate your head slowly and evenly around in each direction, lift your shoulders high and then lower them.
Massage your aching muscles - especially jaw, neck, shoulders and temples of your head with Tiger Balm alone, or almond oil blended with a few drops of each or any combination of your favorite essential oils of Chamomile, Vanilla, Melissa, Lavender, Rose, Geranium, Frankincense, Jasmine, Marjoram, Basil, Citrus, Sandalwood, Rosemary, Eucalyptus, Peppermint, and/or Neroli. You can also add them to your diffuser, into your relaxing very warm, Epsom Salt bath by candlelight, in a spray bottle to sprinkle in your space, and onto your pillow if needed.
Try this healing visualization:
Choose a comfortable spot to sit or lay down for at least 15-20 minutes.
Close your eyes and focus internally between your eyebrows. Block out light with a soothing weighted lavender eye pillow, and mute sound with a noise reducing ear muff headset.
Breathe slowly in from your abdomen, expanding your ribs and lungs up to your collarbone to a count of 3 or 4.
Pause, then exhale to a count of 3 or 4 and release all the tension in your body.
Repeat this cycle a few times, each time releasing more with each exhale.
Imagine the pain and tension melting away down into the ground, or a spiritual light shining on your head filling you with light and releasing all the tension and head discomfort out into the surroundings.
Then imagine yourself sitting, reclining, walking or floating on a cloud blissfully in your favorite place, where you feel the most joy and relaxed. Really visualize what it is like to be there, use all your senses.
When you feel calm and more comfortable, hang out there as long as you want.
When ready to return, transition slowly back to a calm alert state of being.
Visualization is amazingly effective, if you really open your mind, use your imagination, and practice this self-healing skill on a regular basis.
Drink a relaxing herbal tea with lemon or lime juice, mint or a dash of honey to taste. Repeat as needed throughout the day. Good choices include Chamomile, Lavender, Lemon Balm, Motherwort, Hops, Skullcap, Catnip, and Passionflower.
Helpful herbs include the following. Try one at a time as indicated and see what works best for you. Tinctures are taken best in a small amount of water or followed by juice:
Ginger, especially effective at the earliest sign of a migraine or daily as prevention. Take 1-2 capsules or 1-2 dropperfuls of the tincture once or twice per day.
Passionflower. You can take capsules with at least 0.8% flavonoids, as directed on bottle 2-3 times per day as needed, or 1-2 dropperfuls of tincture 1-2 times (after the first trimester).
Skullcap tincture 1-2 dropperfuls, capsules as directed especially if your headache is keeping you from sleep.
Chamomile tincture 1-2 dropperfuls.
Lavender Oil can be taken in capsule form or 1-2 dropperfuls of the tincture if not pregnant.
Lemon Balm in one higher dose for sleep, as directed on the bottle, or in lower doses of 200-300 mg early evening and before bed. This can be quite sedating, so take precautions.
Motherwort ½ - 1 dropperful of the tincture no more than every 2 hours, or up to 3 times per day for tension headaches, after the first trimester.
Renowned herbalist, midwife and physician Dr. Aviva Romm recommends Jamaican Dogwood tincture, 15-20 drops every 4 hours up to four times for the occasional severe headache, as well as cannabis (if not pregnant or breastfeeding). You can take the CBD from hemp oil, as it is gently calming, and can relieve headaches without the potential risks of the THC component of cannabis on the developing fetus. Results from anecdotal evidence and preliminary research, although sparse (as is common with most natural remedies in pregnancy), are promising. Make sure it is absolutely pure, and from a reputable source who can recommend proper dosing or from pharmacies licensed to dispense it. It is usually taken as several drops under the tongue.
In The Natural Pregnancy Book, for more severe tension headaches, Dr. Romm suggests St. John’s Wort (½-1 tsp), Black Cohosh (¼ tsp every 4 hours) and Cramp Bark (½ tsp every 4 hours) alone or in combination. She also advises another herbal medley in adjunct, to support liver and digestive functions, for more mild but recurrent headaches: Dandelion root and leaves, Yellow Dock root, Blue vervain (after the first trimester) and Burdock root. Take any of these tinctures up to ½ tsp alone or in combination 3-4 times per day.
Definitely get osteopath or chiropractor treatment, to gently restore anything out of alignment.
If you are pregnant and nothing else helps, you can take an occasional Tylenol (acetaminophen) 500 mg tablets every four hours until you feel better. But consult your practitioner before taking any other medication, since many products sold over the counter contain substances that are not safe to take during pregnancy (like aspirin or ergot), and their regular use can actually worsen your headaches.
If you are NOT pregnant, you can use over-the counter medications containing ibuprofen, aspirin, or acetaminophen as directed, if the more natural measures are not effective and you do not have any other health problems that would contraindicate their use. But before reaching for these medications, try 1-2 grams of Curcumin (Turmeric) a natural herb studied to be as effective for pain relief than most of these over the counter synthetic analgesics without their associated potential risk of toxicity.
If you need more personal guidance, schedule a consultation with me.
Contact your practitioner if your headache is not relieved by these suggestions and:
Persists beyond 24 hours
Occurs frequently
Is getting worse
It is unusual for you or severe
It occurred after a head trauma or prescribed medication (like birth control pills)
It is accompanied by other unusual symptoms such as a stiff neck or high fever, unexplained vomiting, weakness of part of your body or difficulty speaking, lack of coordination, visual disturbances, dizziness, increased swelling around your face, hands or legs, or sudden weight gain (especially if you are pregnant and/or have high blood pressure)
For those with any sort of chronic headache pain in which serious causes have been ruled out and none of the natural or allopathic remedies help, consider reading the book The Mindbody Prescription By Dr John Sarno, MD. He’s an amazing pioneering physician whose brilliant approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people without drugs, physical measure or surgery. To release stress and trauma in the body that may be responsible and transform your health and well-being, do conscious connected type of breathwork, and open to its miraculous effects. Also check out Brandon Bays’ book The Journey, and her website for more information and her intensive workshops. These are extremely effective mindbody cutting edge methods that have also lead to transformational healing for thousands of people around the world.