Headaches and Peppermint Essential Oil

Headaches and migraines have plagued me most of my life. I remember many a miserable day not wanting to see anyone or do anything but lay with an ice pack on my head to minimize the pain. During my teen years, since I had much less responsibility than I do now, I usually would choose the ice pack in bed and try to sleep it off. If that did not work or I could not go to bed, I resorted to some Advil. Those of you who have suffered migraines know that it is next to impossible to go on with life when you have one. There is no pretending you feel good when it feels like there is a 2 × 4 stuck in your head.

When got I married, multiple changes came into my life. Probably one of the biggest for me was a major improvement in my diet. Praise the Lord! The diet changes resulted in fewer and fewer headaches and almost no migraines. Although they are rare now, I still have headaches from time to time especially when I am pregnant. I have not quite figured out if this is hormonal or due to other issues. With Advil out of the picture, due to its long-lasting ill effects, I needed something else to provide immediate relief. I found this especially true when pregnant with my second child. My first, who was only 8 months old when I conceived again, still needed my attention even when I felt like I could not get my head off the pillow. After reading and researching extensively, I came across something that was simple, affordable and very effective: Peppermint Essential Oil. All I do is rub the oil on my temples or wherever there is pain. This has been a lifesaver for me! I cannot praise its effects enough! It provides a cooling sensation that is similar to an ice pack, but keeps me mobile.

We now have two adorable small children and I regularly help my husband with our business. It has become impossible for me to find the time to sleep off the occasional headache during our busy days. The peppermint essential oil has come through for me time and time again. At night, I still sleep with an ice pack if I have a headache. To effectively double the cooling effect, I apply the peppermint oil as well. This provides a tremendous amount of relief while I sleep and almost always completely rids me of my headache by morning. The only caution I have is not to use it too frequently throughout the day as that would cause my skin to desensitize, making it less effective.

Since I almost always have a bottle with me wherever I go, I have shared my peppermint oil with many others when they happen to mention they have a headache. So often they have been surprised and thanked me for such an effective remedy. Only one warning: be careful to avoid contact with the eyes. When this happened to me once, I flushed my eye with running water until the pain and burning eased.

Other Uses:

About a month ago I was dealing with the flu and fever. I always try and do whatever it takes to get better quickly, so I immediately started reading whatever I could on remedies for fever. I read that clove essential oil can do wonders. However, since I did not have any of the clove oil on hand I tried half a dozen drops of peppermint essential oil in a glass of water. It worked quickly to bring my fever down and I felt noticeably better the next morning.

During our recent vacation to Florida, a rash showed up on my legs. There were patches near my ankle and one on my thigh. At first, I decided to wait it out a few days, hoping it would clear up on its own. Unfortunately, I am not very good at waiting especially if it seems to be getting worse. Without my herbs nearby, I tried rubbing peppermint essential oil on the rash twice a day or whenever it itched. Within two days the rashes cleared up. I’m so glad I tried it!

Anytime we come in from outdoor activities (work or play) and are very hot and dehydrated, we drink a couple of drops of peppermint oil in a glass of water. It is at once refreshing and rejuvenating. It also helps if you drink it before you go outside on a hot day or before strenuous exercise to keep your body temperature cool.

Peppermint essential oil can also provide immediate relief for acid reflux, stomach upsets, etc. Just a couple of drops added to either hot or cold water does the trick.

And our favorite application is in ice cream. My husband loves peppermint essential oil in our homemade ice cream. I just add 5 drops or so to a half gallon of the ice cream mix before I freeze it. It makes a great minty treat!

Note: Only therapeutic grade peppermint essential oil (such as Young Living brand ) is suitable for internal use. Those with high blood pressure should use caution when using peppermint essential oil internally. Children under 6 years old or so should avoid the internal use of peppermint essential oil.

Judy
August 16, 2011 at 10:29 pm    reply?

Is it ok to use peppermint essential oil during pregnancy? I rubbed a few drops behind my ears and on the base of my neck to help relieve my terrible migraine and later read online that it should be completely avoided during pregnancy because it leads to miscarriages. I'm in my 1st trimester.

Bill
September 9, 2011 at 2:13 am    reply?

I have a comment about migraine headaches, I have had those nasty things for over 50 years, in my twenties they were debilitating, I was off work for 3 days each time, luckily it happened only 2 -3 time a year. In my thirties I found that using cannibus greatly reduced the migraines, to about 1/4 of their previous hurting.
About 7 years ago.in a health food store a woman told me that 500 mg Niacin would stop the migraines, and it does work if you catch it early enough, the Niacin has to be Non-Flush, or you will turn red.
in 2009, I decided to stop using sugar, as a way to lose some of my belly, not that it is protruding, what I found, after about 3 months, no more migraines, unless I have sugar, then I revert back to the Niacin. Sorry I didn't know these things 50 years ago. Also without sugar, my teeth got whiter, and I lost 15 lbs.

jenny
November 26, 2011 at 2:20 pm    reply?

Peppermint oil is wonderful for headaches and adding some lavendar to it helps with migraines also. Something that I found out while I was pregnant-acupuncture worked wonders on my migraines. I started getting acupuncture done about the 4 month and I didn't get a headache the rest of my pregnancy. I would get it done once a month. No side effects from it either. Hope this helps someone.