Essential Oils for Headaches

Top Essential Oils for Headaches

How do essential oils treat your headache? Essential oils are loaded with health benefits that help reduce stress and inflammation, improve circulation, and provide overall relief and immune support. Headaches are especially common in women due to frequent hormonal fluctuations. For instance, women will experience a drop in estrogen before and during menstrual periods. Using essential oils for headaches during pregnancy or menopause can help. Here are five essential oils for headache relief.

1. Lavender

Lavender essential oil can help relieve tension and stress with its anti-anxiety, anticonvulsant, sedative, anti-inflammatory, and antidepressant properties. Research confirms that these properties are a result of its high linalyl acetate and linalool content. Lavender oil can relieve the associated symptoms of headaches, such as sleep problems and restlessness. Low serotonin levels also contribute to migraine headaches, and lavender can help regulate serotonin levels and control nervous system pain.

In a placebo-controlled study published in the journal European Neurology in 2012, researchers found that lavender oil can effectively manage migraine headaches. In the study, 47 participants inhaled lavender oil or liquid paraffin for 15 minutes. Headache severity was then recorded every 30 minutes for a two-hour time frame. From the 129 headache attacks, 92 responded partially or entirely from the lavender oil. Only 32 of 68 headache attacks improved from the liquid paraffin placebo. You can relieve tension headaches and stress by applying a few drops of lavender oil to your temples, wrists, and neck.

2. Peppermint

The ability to stimulate blood flow and inhibit muscle contractions makes peppermint oil an effective essential oil for tension headaches. Peppermint oil for headaches can be applied on your temples and forehead for relief. According to research published in the German journal Der Nervenarzt in 1996 , peppermint oil provided a safe and effective alternative remedy for headaches. Forty-one participants with 164 headache attacks were analyzed in the study. Another study published in the journal Phytomedicine in 1995 found that the combination of peppermint oil and ethanol was an effective treatment in reducing headaches in 32 people.

3. Rosemary

Rosemary essential oil has been used to treat poor circulation and headaches for centuries due to its analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and stimulating properties. It can also reduce potential headache causes such as digestive problems and stress. To take advantage of rosemary essential oil for headache relief, simply add it to soup, water, or tea when you experience a migraine or headache. You can also rub a couple of drops of rosemary oil and peppermint oil, plus a teaspoon of coconut oil to your forehead or temples. In a study published in the journal Addiction and Health in 2013, internal use of rosemary essential oil helped alleviate withdrawal symptoms in patients with a history of opium addiction, including headaches, insomnia, and nausea.

4. Eucalyptus

Eucalyptus oil comes from the eucalyptus tree or the Tasmanian blue gum tree, and it works to alleviate the sinus tension associated with migraines and headaches. To use eucalyptus oil, combine it with a carrier oil such as jojoba, sweet almond, avocado, and coconut, and apply to your temples, forehead, chest, and the back of the neck. A study published in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine in 2013 found that the anti-inflammatory effects of eucalyptus oil can reduce edema formation in 52 patients who underwent knee replacement surgery. These effects are also thought to benefit people with tension headaches.    

5. Chamomile

Roman or German chamomile is another good essential oil for relieving headaches at night due to its anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and sedative properties such as isobutyl angelate. In an article published in the journal Medical Hypotheses in 2014, researchers hypothesized that chamomile oil could help relieve migraine headache pain. Chamomile oil also encourages relaxation, and can treat the conditions linked with headaches such as depression, nervous tension, and irritability.