Headaches can be really frustrating. If you have regular headaches , you might find that they interfere with your ability to work or even enjoy recreational activities. But for as common as headaches are, headache care is sadly lacking. And many people find that they can’t find good headache treatments, or that their headache treatments have serious side effects.

But there are some home headache remedies that sometimes work that you can try. They might seem a little wacky, but they all pass the home care questions.

Eat Ice Cream for a Migraine

Intentionally giving yourself a headache might seem like a terrible way to treat your headache, but it can work. You see, one cause of migraines is irregular blood flow in the brain, and eating ice cream or drinking an icy drink too fast stimulates blood flow to the brain, which can serve to normalize the system and resolve your migraine.

Visualization Cure

Visualization is a proven headache treatment. You can try it on your own, but an easier approach is to just watch this popular YouTube video, which has thousands of supporters advocating it. They claim that it works for them, and maybe it will work for you, too.

Sex

Having a headache is the most cliched excuse for not wanting to have sex, but maybe it should be one of the most common reasons to have sex. Again, because sex stimulates blood flow in the brain, up to 60% of migraine sufferers experience relief from their headache due to sex.

Others, though, report that sex worsens headaches. Give it a try to figure out which group you’re in.

Chamomile Tea

You might think that something as simple as a cup of herbal tea couldn’t have the power to resolve your headache. And it might not, but it could. Chamomile has anti-inflammatory properties, which can reduce swelling in the brain that can contribute to pain.

And if chamomile doesn’t do it for you, don’t give up on tea. Instead, try some of the other options that have also been shown to be pain relievers: cinnamon, ginger, and peppermint.

Spicy Foods

Another entry in the pain relieves pain category. The chemical that gives chilis their spiciness, capsaicin, is a powerful anti-inflammatory compound, and has been reported to be a great pain reliever. There are many potential approaches to using the power of capsaicin. You can apply capsaicin creams or compounds directly the origin point of your headache. Or you can put some capsaicin cream under each nostril. Or if you’d rather, you can just eat a lot of spicy food. It should be enough to make you sweat significantly.

Caution: for some people spicy food is a migraine trigger.

Lavender Oil

Smell is a powerful migraine trigger, but it might also be the secret to curing your migraines. The use of certain smells has been shown to relieve migraines, and one of the best-performing smells is lavender oil.

Foul Language

Many carpenters will “swear” by this remedy: the string of bad words you release after hitting your thumb with a hammer actually does result in significant pain reduction. Are you a little nervous about letting loose with filthy language just because you have a headache? Good– it works best for people who don’t regularly use foul language.

After You Try Home Remedies

If you’ve tried home remedies without much success, TMJ treatment is a nontraditional, drug-free, nonsurgical approach to migraine treatment that often works really well. If you would like to learn whether TMJ is to blame for your headaches in Columbia, SC, please call (803) 781-9090 for an appointment with a TMJ dentist at Smile Columbia Dentistry.