Best Essential Oils for Headaches

Essential oils are beneficial for many reasons including improving various conditions, including headaches.

For those unfamiliar with essential oils, they are natural concentrated compounds extracted from plants. The essential oils are obtained via distillation, cold pressing, or other methods.

The essence of essential oils offers unique aromatic compounds from the plant barks, leaves, rinds, roots, and seeds that they are extracted from.

READ: 5 Essentials To Living Longer & Healthier

What essential oils are good for headaches, including migraines and tension headaches?

There are a few essential oils that work best for headaches, including migraines and tension headaches.

Migraines, which are characterized by a sensitivity to sound and light, can cause throbbing in a particular area with varying intensity.

Tension headaches can be triggered by lack of sleep, poor posture, and stress, with pain on both sides of the head.

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The essential oils that are good for these headaches include:

• Chamomile Oil – acts as a sedative to relax the body and soothe muscles.
• Eucalyptus Oil – improves respiratory conditions leading up to headache tension and pain.
• Lavender Oil – anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving with calming properties.
• Peppermint Oil – contains menthol to help relax muscles and ease pain; stimulates blood flow and eliminates inflammation.
• Rosemary Oil – reduces stress and insomnia, relieves pain, improves circulation, and relaxes tense muscles.

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The best essential oil for sinus headache

Eucalyptus oil is also good for sinus headaches, which feel like an infection in the sinuses. There is pressure around the cheeks, eyes, and forehead with sinus headaches.

Eucalyptus oil opens up nasal passages, clears sinuses, and relieves the tension that causes sinus headaches.

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Essential oils for hormonal headaches

Peppermint, lavender, and rosemary oils work best for hormonal or menstrual headaches, which begin before or during a woman’s period.

If you experience these headaches every month with every menstrual cycle, these oils will be lifesavers.

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Essential oils for spinal headaches

With spinal headaches, pain is triggered when fluid leaks from the spine, messes up the fluid pressure around the brain, and stretches the nerves of the brain.

Lavender, peppermint, and rosemary oils help ease the pain associated with spinal headaches.

Essential oils for other types of headaches

There are other types of headaches that essential oils can help:

• Temple headaches – temporal arteritis – makes your temples tender to the touch with a throbbing that may be constant. Peppermint oil can help those experiencing these headaches.
• Dehydration headaches – triggered when the body loses electrolytes and fluid. Peppermint, orange, and tangerine oils can help those experiencing these headaches.
• Hangover headaches – alcohol-induced headaches, which can continue the day after drinking alcohol. Peppermint oil has been beneficial to those with hangover headaches.
• Pregnancy headaches – characterized by a “squeezing pain” or an ache at the back of the neck or both sides of the head. Peppermint oil has been beneficial to women when dealing with pregnancy headaches.

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How to use essential oils for headaches

Essential oils can be applied directly to and massaged into the temples and forehead. It is advised to dilute the essential oils due to how concentrated they can be.

Aromatherapy diffusers can also be beneficial, as they fill the room with the essential oil that is used in the diffuser for the scent to be inhaled.

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Recipe for DIY headache essential oil

There are a variety of brands to choose from for the essential oils that you need or want. If you have a copper still, or even a crockpot, you can make your own essential oils at home.

Using dried plants is best, and safe, if you’re just beginning and new to making your own essential oils.

Fresh flowers can also be used but contain a high moisture content, which can increase the risk of mold in your oil. If using your own plants, picking them early in the morning is best for the highest infused oil content.

Cold pressing and steam distillation, the most common method, are the methods you can use to separate the oils from the plant.

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Whether you choose the more reasonably priced route to get essential oils (by doing them yourself) or choose to purchase from the many brands that provide many oil options, be sure to research which essential oils will work best for you.