Stress, tension and pressure on the blood vessels and nerves can lead to debilitating headaches. Everyone experiences them occasionally and the most common treatment is taking aspirin or other pain relievers. One of the problems with taking drugs to relieve the pain is our bodies’ tendency to build an immunity to them. If you’d like to avoid taking pills, there are a number of natural home remedies that can help relieve your headache.

Aromatherapy can be used to reduce the pain from tension headaches. Sandalwood, eucalyptus and peppermint are especially effective and have a soothing effect that can relax the nerves.

Also, self massage can relieve tension. Many headaches occur because of tension in the neck and around the shoulders. Massaging these areas reduces the tension and can either ease or eliminate the pain from the headache. If you don’t have someone who can massage your neck and shoulders, you can do so yourself by using your fingertips.

Certain foods and beverages also help to alleviate headaches. For example, grape juice, bananas, fish and spinach have been known to relieve the pain. Foods that have a high level of magnesium such as whole grains and dark green vegetables can also reduce the symptoms.

If your headache persists, try placing a cold or hot pack on your neck. Some people respond better to cold packs while others respond to hot packs. You’ll need to try both to see which works best for you. Headaches are commonly caused by stress and tension. Most of the home remedies described above are focused on eliminating the source.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 5:59 pm and is filed under Home Remedies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.