A Note on Headache Medicine:

I just want to make a note here about the various headache medicines you might be confronted with in the drug store. Most headache medicines, with the exception of sinus headache medication, consist of the same ingredients--give or take several milligrams of caffeine.

Willow Bark tea is another great natural headache remedy. Where as feverfew is often ingested as a preventative migraine therapy, white willow bark tea is taken when the symptoms of a headache are present. Willow back works like any aspirin does because it contains salicylate, the active ingredient in many pain medications.

Peppermint tea is a very popular natural migraine headache remedy. As a natural relaxant, it is often beneficial for migraine sufferers who might also be suffering from a combination of migraine headaches and tension headaches.

Bay leaves are also considered a natural headache remedy. As it turns out, Bay leaves are an ingredient often called for in many fine foods. The National Headache Foundation provides a list of three healthy recipes that are least likely to trigger a migraine, one of which contains Bay leaves. A tea may also be made from the Bay leaf, if you don’t mind the odd taste.

Natasha has suffered from chronic headaches for a long time and no amount of medication seems to help her when she has a migraine episode. She is proof that getting rid of headaches isn't always easy. Some might say Western medicine has failed her and millions of other chronic headache sufferers. She even tried blood pressure medication, despite a lack of high blood pressure, in the hopes that it was a cluster headache (a rare type of headache caused by high blood pressure). That only served to make her tired and depressed. Her current physician seems to think her headaches are hormonal. Regardless, any medication they’ve given to her, including birth control pills, have side effects she’d rather not deal with. She’s looking into a holistic approach and will perhaps post the results in the future. In the spirit of good will for both tradition western medicine and alternative medical practitioners, we’ve included the most common types of headaches and the doctor-recommended treatments, as well as natural herbal headache remedies in the sidebar to the right.

Types of Headaches and Headache Treatments

Treatment of a vascular headache, or migraine, involves extended observation and documentation by a physician or migraine specialist. The sources of migraine headaches and the proper treatment of them is a problem western medicine still hasn't made much progress in finding a solution to. In light of the medical community’s lack of answers, many have turned to herbal and natural headache remedies.