27 Dec 4 Natural Ways to Beat a Migraine
4 Natural Ways to Beat a Migraine
Guest blog by Erin Knight, creator of the Migraine Freedom Plan
Believe it or not, it is possible to not have migraines at all any more – if you heal your brain and heal your biology. But healing does take some time – often there are a number of root causes and bringing your digestion, hormones, stress response, etc back into balance can take many months or even a couple of years.
So what do you do in the mean time? Continue to suffer or limp along with the solutions you have?
Of course, you want as many relief options as possible and bonus if they are natural, right?
Here are four relief techniques that have been impressively successful and popular with my community of migraineurs. Have them ready so that you can try them next time you feel the earliest twinge of a migraine coming on…
#1 Ginger capsules
You may be surprised to learn that in a small double-blinded clinical study the effectiveness of using 1/8th teaspoon of powdered ginger for migraines was on par with the drug sumatriptan.
How to use it? Try 2-3 capsules (or 1/8th to ¼ teaspoon stirred into water) at the very earliest warning signs of a migraine and repeat after hour or two.
This becomes a go-to strategy for most of my clients, who report that ginger is extremely helpful in knocking down migraine pain, so why not give it a try?
#2 Acupressure Points
Apply a tiny drop of peppermint essential to various acupressure points and massage gently (the points are likely to be tender). There are many, many points that can help, but easy ones to start with are:
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The spot right inside your eyebrow (be careful not to get any peppermint in your eye)
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The webbing between your thumb and forefinger (skip this one if you are pregnant, but otherwise it is especially good for sinus pressure)
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The top of your big toe (if you have pain in your face)
#3 A Grounding Foot Massage
Spend about 5-10 minutes massaging a grounding essential oil like frankincense, cedarwood, or vetiver into your feet (preferably in a dark room).
If you can extend the quiet time, perhaps spend a few more minutes listening to a migraine meditation track or soothing music.
#4 Don’t forget the basics
Ask yourself if could be dehydrated or hungry!
Even if you don’t feel thirsty, it’s helpful to drink as much water, herbal tea or bone broth as you can to stay well hydrated and flush out anything that may be overloading your systems (for example, accidental exposure to MSG, being overloaded by air fresheners or cleaning chemicals, walking through a garden that was just sprayed with pesticides).
What’s the best time to try these headache relief tricks?
If you can get away and do these things (and anything else you have found helpful in the past) as soon as possible, you’ll increase your chances of stopping the migraine process before it becomes full-blown.
Should I try one at a time to know what is working?
My clients tell me that it’s really the combination of using multiple methods that is what it takes to completely stop a migraine.
So know that you can layer and do several techniques, repeating until the symptoms subside. For example, if you start with the ginger caps and a foot massage and find that it takes the pain down from an 8 to a 5 – repeat it again in an hour for even more of an effect.
About the Author
Erin Knight, FDN-P believes that no one should miss out on life because of migraine headaches. Erin has her Masters in Pharmaceutical Engineering from the University of Michigan and advanced training in functional nutrition and nutrigenomics. She suffered with debilitating migraines for over a decade before uncovering the underlying biochemical issues and went on to reverse engineer what worked to restore her health. This led to the development of her 4-step Migraine Freedom process that is now a blueprint for thousands of people looking for root-cause solutions to their migraine pain.