Migraine Self-Care Remedies That Ease Pain Fast at Home—No Prescriptions Needed
Plus find out how to prevent future migraine attacks
Key Takeaways
- Simple migraine self-care tricks can ease pain in as little as 25 minutes without meds.
- Natural migraine treatments like cold therapy and ginger rival medication for fast relief.
- Preventing migraines starts with hydration, stress control and tracking your triggers.
If you suffer from migraines, you know that this type of splitting headache can leave you down for the count for hours or even days. And when one strikes, you want to do whatever you can to soothe away the pain and speed your recovery. The good news: There are simple strategies that can alleviate discomfort even once your migraine has become full-blown. Here, discover the best migraine self-care strategies—plus ways to help prevent migraine attacks in the future.
What is a migraine?
A migraine is a neurological disorder that can cause throbbing pain on one side of the head, nausea and vomiting. It may also be accompanied by sensitivity to light and sound. “The pain can also switch sides, migrate or involve the entire head,” adds Nicholas Tzikas, MD, a neurologist with Yale Medicine and an assistant professor of clinical neurology at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, CT. “Left untreated, migraines can last anywhere between four to 72 hours.”
Two of the most common migraine triggers for women are hormonal changes and stress, reveals headache specialist Susan Hutchinson, MD, a board-certified family practice physician, director of the Orange County Migraine and Headache Center in Irvine, CA, and author of The Women’s Guide to Managing Migraine. Other causes of migraines may include diet (such as caffeine or alcohol) and genetics (a family history can increase your odds of chronic migraines).
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Prescription migraine treatments
There are a wide range of prescription medications that can help reduce both the frequency and intensity of migraine attacks. These include a class of drugs called Triptans (like sumatriptan and rizatriptan) and a class of drugs called Ergotamines (like ergotamine tartrate and dihydroeergotamine) in combination with caffeine. Your doctor may also suggest antinausea medications to help with nausea or vomiting.
In addition, some doctors recommend beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, antidepressants or antiseizure medications to help reduce the frequency of migraines. There’s also a newer class of drugs specifically designed for migraine prevention known as calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitors, which includes erenumab and galcanezumab.
The best natural migraine self-care remedies
Prescription medications aren’t right for everyone, and they rarely eliminate all the symptoms of a migraine. Here, the best migraine self-care tips to get you through the thick of it.
Apply a cold pack
Place a cold compress, such as the TheraICE Headache Hat, to your temples and scalp when you feel a migraine coming on. Cooling this area constricts blood vessels and tames inflammation, plus it has a numbing effect to dull discomfort. And it works. A study in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine found applying a cold pack to the forehead for 25 minutes at the first sign of a migraine reduces pain by 30 percent. Plus, 12 percent of people in the study were able to stop their burgeoning migraine completely and did not need to take pain-relieving medication.
Relax in a dark, quiet place
Light and sound can make migraine pain worse. If you can, close the door to your bedroom and draw the shades, then lie down for about 20 to 30 minutes for a little migraine self-care break. “A dark, quiet room decreases the external stimuli of bright light and noise that could either be aggravating the migraine attack or be the actual initial trigger for the attack,” explains Dr. Hutchison. Blocking out additional stimuli “helps to ‘calm’ the hypersensitive nervous system and can also be a relaxing experience. As soon as someone feels a migraine coming on, they should try to decrease external stimuli. This can shorten the duration and/or lessen the severity of the migraine attack.”
If you find yourself unable to retreat to a dark, quiet room, try donning a pair of sunglasses or rose-hued glasses. Lenses tinted with FL-41, a rose-colored hue, helps filter out specific types of light that can trigger migraine, such as fluorescent, blue or green light. And wearing the rose-tinted glasses regularly can help thwart future attacks. A study in Headache found those who wore the glasses for four months experienced up to 74 percent fewer migraines per month. One to try: Terramed Migraine Glasses FL-41.
Press this migraine relief spot
Another migraine self-care strategy that helps is acupressure. Simply use your thumb to apply pressure to the “LI-4 spot” on your opposite hand. You can find it in the fleshy space between the base of your thumb and index finger. Press down on this point and firmly massage in a clockwise fashion, then reverse for two to three minutes.
Research in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine found pressing on the LI-4 spot can help alleviate nerve inflammation, inhibit pain-activated regions in the brain, and provide pain-relieving effects.
Sip ginger tea
Ginger tea has long been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to ease headaches. Now, a study in Phytotherapy Research found the spice reversed a burgeoning migraine as effectively as the migraine medication sumatriptan. Plus, ginger didn’t come with some of the medicine’s side effects such as dizziness, heartburn or drowsiness. To make your own brew, steep 1″ of sliced fresh ginger or 1⁄4 tsp. of ground ginger in 8 oz. of hot water for five to 10 minutes. Add lemon or honey for taste, if desired, then enjoy.
Tip: You can also apply ginger oil directly to painful areas as a soothing migraine self-care remedy, recommends Dr. Tzikas. “According to some studies, diluted ginger oil massaged into your temples and neck can alleviate pain, and the aroma may help with nausea,” he notes. Simply add a few drops of ginger oil to a small amount of carrier oil, such as coconut oil or almond oil, then massage the mixture into your temples or neck at the base of your skull using firm, circular motions.
Migraine self-care remedies that prevent future flare-ups
While migraine self-care tips can help you deal with pain in the moment, odds are you want to curb your risk of ever having a migraine in the first place. These smart moves can help:
Drink plenty of water
Even mild dehydration can raise your risk of future migraine attacks. A study in the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience found that when women who suffered from migraines drank about eight glasses of water a day, they had a significant reduction in the severity, duration and frequency of their migraines.
When you’re lacking adequate fluids, your brain and other tissues in your body contract. And as your brain shrinks, it pulls from the skull, puts pressure on the nerves and causes pain. But when you consume water and other fluids, the contraction stops and the pain disappears. Make it easy by filling up a reusable bottle, like the leakproof BrüMate Era Flip, and toss it in your bag so you can stay hydrated on the go.
Practice yoga
Turns out enjoying some relaxing yoga poses and stretches can ward off future migraine attacks. Research in the International Journal of Yoga found that practicing yoga regularly (about five days a week) can significantly reduce the frequency and intensity of migraines. Yoga helps prevent migraines by relieving tension and anxiety, improving circulation, and increasing healing blood flow to the brain. Interested in giving it a try? Check out this migraine self-care yoga video to get started.
Track your migraine triggers
“Start keeping a diary or headache journal to track what seems to appear hours or days before a migraine,” says Dr. Hutchinson.If you notice you get migraines after you eat certain foods, don’t get enough sleep or are stressed, this can provide valuable clues you need to make any dietary or lifestyle changes. “Once you start figuring out what your triggers are, you can try and prevent them.”
Start journaling
Journaling can be a helpful tool in easing migraine-triggering stress, says Dr. Hutchinson. The key: Using a type of journaling known as expressive writing, especially if you suspect your migraines might be triggered by emotional stress. In this practice, you spend about 20 minutes daily writing about your thoughts, worries and feelings. “Women have so much stress in their lives, so it’s vital they take time to de-stress,” says Mark Menolascino, MD, author of Heart Solution for Women.
Getting your emotions down on paper can be cathartic, allowing you a safe place to vent and release pent-up tension. And research proves it works. A study in JMIR Mental Health suggests journaling can decrease anxiety, a top migraine trigger. And Yale-trained physician Aviva Romm, MD, says writing down one thing you did each day that made you feel good about yourself can boost the benefit even further. “Optimism and gratitude release hormones that counteract the stress response and rewire the brain,” she says.
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