How to Achieve Natural Headache Relief

June 26th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in Health Research

We all get headaches from time to time. If you are lucky, a headache rarely happens to you. Others are not so lucky and have headaches on a regular basis. We all know how difficult it can be to get through the day with a headache that you just can’t shake.

There are a lot of medications for headaches at your local drug or discount store including aspirin and NSAID drugs. People who have migraines and other serious headache issues often require prescription medication. The problem is that using medication to treat headaches regularly can be hazardous to your overall health.

You can get natural headache relief and avoid these medications. Here are some suggestions:

  • White Willow Bark - White willow bark is what aspirin is made of. In its natural form, it helps relieve your headache but is less likely to cause stomach upset. You should not combine white willow bark with aspirin or NSAID medications. You can get white willow bark at a health food store near you.
  • Apples - Eating an apple every day has always been said to keep the doctor away and it may keep headaches away as well. For best results, eat a whole apple when your stomach is empty once a day.
  • Lemon - You can use lemons in a variety of ways for headache relief. You can make lemon tea with lemon juice and regular tea. You can also make a lemon paste from the skin and put that on your forehead. If you are overheated and have a headache as a result, try pressing lemon peels to your forehead.
  • Sandlewood - When crushed and made into a paste, sandlewood applied to the forehead can help relieve headache pain.
  • Cayenne Pepper - The capsaicin in cayenne pepper is known for its ability to increase the size of blood vessels, which helps relieve headache pain. Cayenne pepper is available in capsules or in the spice form. You can add a tiny amount of the spice to water or tea and drink for headache relief.
  • Rosemary - Rosemary also helps increase the size of blood vessels to relieve pain. Rosemary tea made by mixing fresh rosemary with boiling water and steeping is good for headache relief. Other ways to use rosemary are to inhale the boiled rosemary water steam or to use rosemary oil on your forehead.
  • Cinnamon - Headaches caused by exposure to cold can be cured with cinnamon paste applied to the forehead.
  • Eucalyptus - This herb is said to help tension headaches. Eucalyptus oil applied to the forehead will help relieve headache pain. You can keep a piece of cloth with eucalyptus oil on it with you and inhale that when you feel a headache coming on.
  • Ginger - Ginger helps relieve swelling, upset stomach and migraine headaches. There are many forms you can use including whole ginger, ginger capsules and ginger tea.

No one wants to have a headache but if you get one, there are many ways to relieve the pain. Often you can get more relief from natural headache relief than from medication. Consider an herbal remedy next time you get a headache.

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Treating Ailments Using Herbs

January 17th, 2009 | No Comments | Posted in Family Health

We all have a medicine cabinet or drawer full of over the counter medications to treat coughs, colds, headaches and more. Why does making yourself feel better have to be so complicated? It doesn’t have to be so hard to treat simple illnesses. If you know how to use herbs to treat your illnesses, your life will be much easier. You can’t possibly have one of every herb that exists but don’t worry, most herbs work in more than one way.

The following ideas will help you use herbs to treat you and your family.

Garlic is known for its ability to fight infections, especially bacterial infections. You can eat whole garlic cloves in their raw form. You can also use garlic juice for ear infections; just add a few drops of the garlic juice in the infected ear.

For fungal infections like swimmer’s ear, athlete’s foot and more, you can use apple cider vinegar.

If you are not already taking a prescription medicine for depression, you might try taking a form of St. John’s Wort or Gingko Biloba to help combat your depression and improve your mood.

To treat those annoying hiccups that just won’t go away, let some peppermint leaves or chopped dill steep in hot water and then drain. Drink this liquid and the hiccups will be gone.

Aloe vera is a great natural treatment for painful burns. You can find it in many different forms including gels, creams and you can even use the gel straight off the aloe vera plant itself.

Drinking valerian tea made by soaking a piece of valerian root in hot water before you go to bed will help you sleep. Valerian root is said to be effective in treating insomnia.

Applying a paste of cayenne pepper and olive oil to your joints that are affected by arthritis can help with pain relief. It might be a little painful the first few times you use this paste but it will help and future treatments will be less painful.

For hot flashes, you can start incorporating soy into your diet on a daily basis. You can also take a small amount, about 1/3 tsp, of black cohosh a few times a day.

Ginger will help with most headaches and nausea. The ginger can be eaten whole in amounts of about 1/3 tsp a few times a day or the ginger can be made into a tea that you can enjoy. Even using ginger in your recipes will give you some headache or nausea relief.

You can make a liquid to apply to bruises and inflamed areas by pouring hot water over the dried flowers of calendula and using a washcloth to apply the liquid to the affected areas.

This is just the beginning; there are many more possibilities as to what you can do with herbs. Using herbs will save you from those expensive and time consuming doctor’s visits and from buying medicine at the pharmacy. Keep a variety of herbs in your house so you are ready for whatever comes up.

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