One Ingredient Headache Relief

This is a remedy I have been using for a long time now, but I always seem to forget to write about it.  Today I am finally exposing one of my most used natural remedies.  Through high school and college I used to have headaches quite frequently.  Each time one struck I would take 1000 mg (2 extra strength) of Tylonel. The drug in Tylonel, acetaminophen, can cause liver damage from chronic use or large doses.  I knew this wasn't good for me, but waiting out the pain of a headache for hours wasn't very appealing either.  I wanted to find an alternative, and it was one of the first things I looked up in my book 1001 Natural Remedies by Laurel Vukovic.  Here is it.

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The simplest, most effective way I have found to relieve a headache is a lavender massage.  I dab a couple drops of lavender essential oil on my fingers and use that to massage my temples.  I close my eyes and breath deeply while doing this.  I was shocked the first time I tried it by how quickly it works!  In my experience, this remedy is nothing short of amazing.  Lavender has soothing and calming properties which make it ideal as a tonic for the nervous system.  It emotionally refreshes and relaxes while physically relieving tension and pain.  I luckily do not suffer from migraine headaches, but I have read that lavender works to treat even those as well. Note:  Most essential oils cannot be applied to the skin undiluted, lavender is an exception.

Other options for its use would be to add the lavender essential oils to a carrier oil for a larger massage, make a soothing eye pillow containing dried lavender, a tutorial for which you can find here, or add a few drops of the essential oil to a bath and soak.

Warning:  There are certain circumstances where using lavender would be inadvisable, such as being pregnant or nursing or while taking certain prescription medications.  Always check first if you have concerns.

How do you treat headaches naturally?