headache relief naturally?

**want2live** · 04-05-2010 03:02 AM

I have muscle-tension headaches most days and often the headache can carry on for days. I use pain killers more than I would like just to get by. I am treating the muscles with regular massage, exercise, clean diet and relaxation techniques.

I have to give up coffee for medical reasons now and it has often soothed my moderately nasty headaches enough to get by without painkillers. I'm hoping to find a natural alternative and have found on google that many sites recommend ginger. I'm just wondering has anyone here has tried it and found relief, and if so how much you need to take and if its best as a tea or a tablet?

I'm also interested if anyone has had success with aromatherapy with lavender, eucalyptus or peppermint (or any other); or with feverfew (herb).

I have a doctor's appointment soon and am trying to come up with some options to discuss rather than defaulting to drugs for relief.

**ItsASecret** · 04-05-2010 07:53 AM

Naturals can work, but you need to be careful with what you read online because most of it is going to be sites trying to sell their 'new proven method!!!' with little to no education of the product. The real potential of naturals lies in the actual plant so in this case ginger root. Based solely on the chemical composition (there are thousands of chemicals in plants so it is rarely known which chemical is actually giving the benefit) in the plant it often means a rediculous consumption of the said plant to get the said benefits. I know with some remedies like green tea you would literally need to consume liters a day to get the proposed benefits just because there is so little of the active 'beneficial chemical' in the dried leaves-lots of people swear by it but it really really depends on the quality of the tea leaves and mass produced packages simply will not have great quality. Same goes for ginger, to get the benefits it could be mean eating raw ginger in huge quantities which no one is going to recommend because that is simply impractical for something like ginger...plus it probably is not going to be pleasant to eat it. Caplets could work but again because of soooooo many compounds in ginger how does anyone know that the chemical they put in the caplets is the active one giving the benefit?

My advice if you are wanting to go herbal, natural or whatever is to go to an actual herbal store. Not ones that claim to be certified but have a grade school teen working the counter selling the drugs...you want a store that has a professional with an education in the material. They are very good at what they do, if they know their stuff, and can probably provide you with a list of natural extracts and things of the like for your headaches.

**want2live** · 04-05-2010 05:11 PM

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.

I guess the thought of ginger as a method of treatment really appealed to me because its a whole-food that your body could easily process and dispose of as with any other whole-food. I worry that when it is reduced to extracts that it becomes similar to a lab produced chemical/drug which being a non-wholefood gets processed differently. From what I have read lately on diet whole foods are easier to process within your body because they come with the necessary components to aid in digestion whereas processed foods require you to draw on reserves of those components or worse, if they're not available, draw nutrients from your skeleton.

So now I wonder if there's really any benefits to going natural... I love treatments like hot and cold treatment because you don't have to worry about using drugs but they only go so far. But maybe ginger tea could still be useful in the way I've found coffee useful - to help cope with the headache by just bringing it down a few notches???

If there's anyone here who swears by ginger tea or aroma therapy I'd love to hear from you.... Of course I know I may be clutching at straws but anyone who has suffered from something for so long knows how you are willing to put hope into just about anything....

**caterpillar79** · 04-05-2010 06:30 PM

I always have ginger tea every time I don't feel good, i.e. headaches, sore throat/cough. And ginger tea, I meant slicing a piece of fresh ginger root and boil it in a tea pot and drink the tea (decoction). It works. you can add a little bit of honey to suit your taste.

As for headache prevention, you need to be hydrated sufficiently to avoid getting one. Drink more water if you don't already.

**want2live** · 04-05-2010 07:04 PM

Thanks caterpillar. I drink heaps of water but I still get headaches from muscle tension. The muscle tension is really bad and is mainly in my neck and shoulders. It was triggered when I was working a lot of hours in a stressful office job in front of a computer but has stayed for several years even after getting out of that environment. When funds allow I intend to get extensive testing to try to ascertain if there is anything unbalanced in my vitamin, mineral or hormone levels. In the meantime its good to have some options to try to live with the pain.

Thanks for the preparation instructions for ginger tea - when I get some fresh ginger I'll try that.

**caterpillar79** · 04-05-2010 07:09 PM

Have you been to a chiropractor? I was examined by one and was told it was because of some misalignment in my upper spine (headaches, muscle pains/tension on neck and shoulders).The doc's consultation was free because he was having a promo for teachers at that time which I took advantage of, maybe you could find one in your area, too.

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