Head Over Heels (TFF)

A friend of mine who was into new age cures-and really introduced me to them and homeopathic healing-suggested I try alternative medicine to cure my headaches. I suffered from migraines for a good chunk of my adult life, and they are pure misery-plain and simple. If you don’t have migraines, you don’t understand how horrible they are-and how much you will do to stop them from occurring in the first place.

One suggestion I had been given was to try a peppermint oil hand massage. According to aromatherapy, peppermint is supposed to be good for alleviating headaches. Most essential oils are heavily concentrated, so you need a carrier oil to dilute them to prevent skin irritations and reactions.

To make the blend take 1 c carrier oil and 10-12 drops of peppermint essential oil and put into a air tight container or jar. Shake well before using to blend together. Massage a bit into the webbing between your thumb and forefinger. Believe it or not, it does help!

Head Over Heels

In my quest for migraine relief over the years, I started doing neti treatments at the recommendation of my yoga instructor 20+ years ago. She suggested that it would help balance out my head (?) and that it could prevent the debilitating flares I dealt with. While it may have not stopped the migraine express, it has helped alleviate some of the issues with chronic sinusitis I have had my entire life.


To do a neti treatment, its really simple.

You need a neti pot or sprayer or an empty sinus spray bottle or even a Dixie cup will work

Neti mixture, either commercially prepared or make your own (1/2 c salt, ¼ c baking soda, mixed together in air tight container)

Add a ½ tsp of the neti mixture to your neti device. Add warm water, stir till the mixture dissolves. Squirt it up one nostril and let it run out the other. (if it wont go through, you have a blockage-call your doctor for advice on that). Repeat on the other side.

I usually do a neti treatment in the morning and once more before bed, and it helps me from getting congested.

Over My Head

From the time I was in my early teens, I suffered from migraines. They weren’t just your run of the mill migraines either. These were the type to make you lay in a darkened room for days types of migraines. In fact, when I would get one I would wind up completely debilitated for days afterwards. To add insult to injury, some people did not understand how a headache would keep me from life, when all I needed to do is pop some aspirin.

They start with an aura or halo around everything. I have a hard time focusing my eyes. Within an hour or so I would become nauseous and sensitive to lights and sounds. My upper back and neck would become rigid and painful. I needed to lay down to keep the world from spinning like a wobbly top, a la “Inception”.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t any rhyme or reason for my migraines. Some people get them due to barometric shifts, others from stress, and another group would be due to hormonal shifts. Mine would come out of nowhere, and I could be down for the count for up to a week at a time. It was always hardest when I lived by myself, because I was self reliant. I needed to get up and get my own food and drink and feed the cat. I couldn’t count on anyone else, and it was a bit of misery. At one point, the headaches were so frequent and furious I saw a neurologist for fear of things being caused by something else. Thankfully, it wasn’t and they were “just” migraines. I wasn’t able to take any of the current migraine medications-their side effects actually made me sicker.

As I have gotten older, my migraines have lessened and lessened in their intensity after reaching a peak in my late 20’s. They are now controllable with Exedrin Migraine, and do not require days to recover. If I lay down at the outset and take the medicine, I can prevent a major attack. Since my surgery in December 2010, I have only had one real flare up, and that wasn’t even so bad.