With a migraine, a person suffers from an intense headache that may not go away for several hours or days. During this time, he becomes practically unable to work, because due to unpleasant symptoms it is difficult to perform even everyday tasks.
There are many ways to treat severe headaches, but not every person wants to poison the body with medications. Folk remedies for migraines will help get rid of unpleasant symptoms and will not harm your health. They have virtually no side effects, so they are safe even for children.
What is migraine
Migraine is a condition of malaise that is primarily associated with severe headaches. It is provoked by the blood vessels of the brain. As they expand, they compress the nerve endings and create pressure on the brain.
When a person is overcome by a migraine, he cannot lead a full life. Every movement, even slow and smooth, increases the pain syndrome. If migraine attacks recur with a certain frequency, you should immediately consult a neurologist. This specialist will prescribe a series of examinations that will help determine the causes of the pathology.
Essential oils
Essential oils are fast-acting folk remedies for migraines. They are usually used as aromatherapy. Oils of mint, orange, peach, cedar, rose, and olive are suitable for this. The procedure is carried out using an aroma lamp. Oils and water are added to a special bowl, then a candle is lit. Vapors relieve headaches, improve mood, and increase appetite.
Massage using essential oils is also considered an effective remedy for migraines. Lavender, chamomile, mint, olive, and eucalyptus are best suited for this. You will need to preheat a few drops of oil between your palms, then lightly massage the temple area with light movements of your fingertips for five minutes.
Migraine symptoms
Typically, migraines do not come on suddenly. First, the patient experiences some oddities of the condition, called migraine precursors. Most often it is mild confusion and blurred vision. Segmental loss of visual angle is noted. Patients who complain of regular migraine attacks report that they first gradually lose peripheral vision. Instead of a clear picture, they see a rattling spot spreading across the entire focus area. After 20 minutes, this symptom disappears on its own, vision returns to normal, but a pressing headache comes, which turns into a throbbing headache.
Migraines are often accompanied by nausea and severe photophobia. When trying to stand up, the patient experiences dizziness. And every movement gives off a strong pulsation in the head.
Water treatments
Warm baths and compresses are great for migraines. The soreness goes away if you put your head under a tap with warm water and massage the skin with light circular movements. Particular attention should be paid to the places where the headache hurts the most.
- Bath with mustard powder for feet and hands. A handful of mustard powder is diluted in a glass of hot water (not boiling water). The resulting mixture is added to a bucket of warm water. Legs and hands are lowered into it and held until redness appears on the skin. After the procedure, the body is washed with warm, clean water.
- Mustard seeds and sage leaves 3:2 are poured with cold water and left for at least half an hour. The infusion is filtered and added to baths (or used as a base for compresses and lotions).
- If part of the head turns red during a migraine, place the feet in heated water, and place a handkerchief soaked in cold water on the forehead. If the face has turned pale, then do the opposite: put your feet in cool water, and put a warm compress on your face.
Washing the abdominal area is a method that causes mistrust. But, according to patients, after 2-3 days of treatment, migraine does not return. Add 1 large spoon of salt or vinegar to a liter of water. Moisten the stomach with this solution and, without wiping, wait until the body dries. Such procedures are repeated 3-4 times a day.
Causes of migraine
Migraines can be caused by many factors or combinations of factors. First of all, this is due to the condition of the blood vessels. If they are not able to contract and expand in a timely manner, any temperature change can trigger an attack. If a vessel needs to expand in response to increased temperature or some other factor, but it remains in its previous state, aneurysms occur.
In addition, migraines are often triggered by hunger. When the brain does not receive glucose for a long time, it signals danger through a headache. Before you swallow the pills, you need to eat well. If a person is in conditions where there is nothing to snack on, a glucose solution or some kind of sweet placed on the tongue will help. The brain, having received glucose, will begin to reduce the severity of headaches.
Another cause of migraines is hormonal imbalance. It can occur during pregnancy. Many expectant mothers suffer from unbearable headaches, for which it is impossible to take a pill - an interesting situation is a contraindication for taking most effective painkillers. Hormones, due to pregnancy, are produced in different volumes. Obstetricians note that expectant mothers expecting boys are more likely to suffer from migraines than those expecting girls, which is directly related to the balance of female and male hormones.
Nervous stress also often causes migraines. If work activity forces you to constantly be in a state of stress, and the situation requires you to quickly make serious and responsible decisions, nervous exhaustion may occur. It leads to changes in blood pressure and increased heart rate. If the vessels do not have time to react to this by expanding, migraines occur.
Treatment of severe headaches
It is important to know! Pain in the head area is considered a prerequisite for most health problems, especially migraine: pathological changes in cerebral blood flow, colds, increased blood pressure, depression.
Before prescribing treatment, even with folk remedies, you should find out the root cause of the unpleasant disease. In any case, drug treatment must be carried out comprehensively together with traditional methods.
Folk recipes for severe headaches include the following herbs and homemade foods:
- Linden blossom;
- primrose;
- mint;
- lavender;
- valerian;
- green tea;
- sea salt and essential oils.
Recommendations
- Often, intense pain in the head area is caused by prolonged nervous pathologies, overexertion, including long-term depressive states. In this case, it is necessary to squeeze the area near the temples for several seconds and quickly release. So, blood flows to the brain and pain disappears. Prepare linden tea: you need 2 tbsp. plants, which are poured with 500 ml of liquid and boiled for about ten minutes. It is recommended to drink 250 ml of tincture in the evening. This method is considered not only a sedative folk remedy for migraines, but also eliminates intense pain, neurosis, and also has an excellent effect on attacks of short-term loss of consciousness.
- When treating migraines, the following folk method is also recommended: mix primrose, mint, lavender, medicinal rosemary and valerian root in equal parts. Add a tablespoon of plants and pour 250 ml of boiling water. Next, the substance must cool completely. You need to consume 500 ml per day.
- When intense pain is associated with a lethargic state and anemia (possibly a decrease in heart rate, enlarged pupils), tie a bandage around your head so that your legs and head are at the same level. Drink a cup of green or mint tea (a tablespoon of mint per 250 ml of liquid).
- Find painful areas on the scalp and massage. At first the movements are light, but over time the movements become stronger. You can use a special brush for massaging. Then find painful areas near the temples, above the eyebrows and between them and repeat the massage in these areas.
- You can also take a hot bath with sea salt or add essential oil. Lie in the bath for up to ten minutes, relaxing your whole body. Then massage your scalp using circular movements. Lie down in bed, make tea with lemon and soon the pain will disappear.
How to get rid of migraines at home
Due to the characteristics of the symptoms, it is important to reduce the level of irritating factors:
- Place the patient in a dark room without bright light sources. If it is daytime, the windows need to be curtained.
- Eliminates all noise, especially loud ones (turn off the TV, mute the volume on the phone).
- Provide fresh air breathing. To do this, you can open the window if it is not hot outside. Otherwise, it is better to use conditioner if possible. You need to set the temperature to +16˚C.
- Massage the cervical and collar areas. By accelerating the blood in this area, it will be possible to remove excess pressure from the brain.
- Hot ginger tea is an excellent pain reliever. Capsaicin, which is part of the root, has a pronounced analgesic effect.
- Put something sweet on your tongue.
- The popular “Star” balm can be rubbed onto your temples, forehead and neck along the hairline. During severe attacks, the bridge of the nose is also rubbed.
- Cold compresses on the forehead will narrow some of the blood vessels, the expansion of which caused the attack.
To completely get rid of pain, you need to try to sleep. As a rule, sleeping for 8-10 hours saves you from a migraine attack, allowing you to wake up as a healthy person.
Massage and breathing exercises
Many people prefer self-massage, which treats migraines and acts as an excellent method of prevention.
- Rub the scalp with your fingertips in a circular motion for several minutes. There is no need to press or rub too hard.
- The hair is divided into several partings. Each parting is carefully kneaded from bottom to top, in zigzags, in circles.
- Grabbing a thin strand of hair, pull it up until a slight pain appears. This goes over the entire part of the head.
- With open palms, slowly moving, they slide from the cheeks to the back of the head, neck, chin.
- Using your fingertips, press on the points of the line connecting the end of the ears and the outer edge of the eye.
- Squeeze your head on both sides with your palms and stay in this position for half a minute.
- Close your eyes and gently press on your eyelids with your fingers.
- You can use tea tree oil to soothe the pain. During the massage, they lubricate the temples and forehead, as well as the skin under the hair.
Relaxation and proper deep breathing will be an excellent way to get rid of pain. For 10 minutes you need to breathe through your nose, exhaling through your mouth. At the same time, close your eyes and keep your back straight.
Such exercises should be carried out daily, and at the first signs of hemicrania, massage the head until it disappears completely. Massage and gymnastics are recommended during pregnancy, since treatment of migraine with folk remedies is limited during this period only to such methods. You cannot drink herbal decoctions, take long baths, or limit yourself in food. A healthy lifestyle, giving up bad habits, long walks in the fresh air, swimming, and good sleep will help as prevention.
Prevention of migraines
When there is a predisposition to such a serious condition as migraine, you need to be able to prevent such attacks.
First of all, this is the sleep and wakefulness pattern. When a person is exhausted at work and no more than 4-6 hours are allocated for sleep, the body weakens, including the blood vessels losing their elasticity. It is important to accustom yourself, regardless of any difficulties and responsibilities, to go to bed at the same time and get up at a certain hour. The correct time to go to bed is considered to be 22:00, then you can get up at 7:00 fully rested.
Regular self-massage of the cervical spine with menovazine will help get rid of stagnation of blood flow, which is very important for the prevention of migraines.
Timely nutrition is another important condition that will protect against migraines that occur due to hunger. If a patient often experiences darkening of the eyes during a sudden change in body position, for example, when getting up from a lying position, you should try to do this smoothly, without rushing.
Vascular training is a prerequisite for migraine prevention. Every day you need to stand under a contrast shower. You can start with washing your face. First with warm water until a blush appears, and then with cold water. When home training becomes a habit, you can fit into your schedule a weekly visit to the bathhouse or sauna and subsequent immersion in an ice bath.