Blog

Best all natural solutions to migraines

The crushing, debilitating pain of a migraine is impossible to ignore. It destroys the ability to function normally, sometimes for days at a time. The causes are varied: a fluctuation in hormones, light that’s too bright or an increased level of stress, to name a few. Regardless of the cause, the result is enlarged blood vessels in the brain that stimulate nerve endings and can mean symptoms like pain, nausea and blurry vision.

Traditionally, migraine sufferers have turned to a medical doctor for aid. This usually results in a drug prescription that sometimes works, but more often does not. Worse than that, many of these drugs have side effects that range from the merely unpleasant to the downright nasty.

That’s why so many migraine sufferers are turning to natural remedies that are not only efficacious, but also don’t induce any harmful side effects. One of the most prominent natural solutions to a migraine is butterbur. Butterbur is an herb that clinical studies have shown is capable of limiting the severity of migraine symptoms and even decreasing their occurrence.

Butterbur, also known by its scientific name Petasites hybridus, is harvested from the roots of the butterbur shrub. For centuries, this natural remedy has been used to combat pain, spasms and fever along with asthma and stomach ulcers. Scientists who have studied the herb believe that it reduces inflammation and relaxes blood vessels. Butterbur can be found in most organic grocery stores and pharmacies. Most experts recommend taking it twice daily in a dose from 50-100 mg.

Feverfew is a well known homeopathic remedy that’s been used for centuries to treat a range of ailments. It has some of the same effects as butterbur and scientists have discovered that it includes some of the same components that are found in aspirin. A regular dose of feverfew is often combined with extra magnesium and Vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin. Magnesium can be taken in a dose of between 200 and 600 mg daily which riboflavin should be supplemented at approximately 400 mg every day.

Sometimes, an herbal tea can be enormously soothing, and that’s particularly true when it contains ingredients known to help reduce migraine symptoms. Most people can find cayenne pepper, ginger and peppermint in their cupboards. Mix them together using a one inch section of fresh ginger, just a tiny amount of cayenne and a teaspoon of dried peppermint. Add two cups of boiling water and allow the mixture to steep. After about 15 minutes, it’s time to remove the herbs, sweeten the tea with honey and sip. Ginger and peppermint soothe nausea as well as helping to relieve pain, making this a doubly important remedy.

Lavender is also useful when it is steeped in a tea. Alternatively, it can be immensely beneficial in herbal hot packs and sachets. It reduces inflammation, lessens spasms and generally helps to take the suffering away.

Other potential remedies don’t involve herbs at all. Eastern medicine has long relied upon the simple practice of tying a band around the head just above the eyebrows. It is believed that an elastic headband can sufficiently restrict blood flow to ease pain and discomfort. Other migraine sufferers swear by the paper bag trick, in which they spend 15 or 20 minutes breathing into a paper bag at the onset of the migraine. It is thought that inhaling previously exhaled air dilates cerebral arteries because exhaled air consists mainly of carbon dioxide.

Still other natural remedies include almonds. A dozen of these nutritious nuts ingested at the early warning signs of a migraine can bring relief because of the natural salicin, essentially an aspirin, that each nut contains. An herbal foot bath can be immensely soothing, drawing blood away from the head and relieving congestion. Place powdered ginger or mustard in a basin, then add hot water. Immerse your feet and put a cold compress on your forehead or neck for welcome relief.

Natural migraine solutions abound, and any or all of them can be effective. However, some remedies work better for particular sufferers than for others. As a result, experimentation is required to discover the best natural solutions for you.

About the author

Katelyn Roberts works with Trishia Laucklier is a fitness and nutrition enthusiast who is helping men and women alike gain confidence and pride with natural anxiety remedy from nativeremedies.com.