Natural mint oils are good for headache

Naturopathic remedies can help with headaches
We do not always have to resort to the tablet. Even natural home remedies that have been known for millennia can help with headaches. One of these natural miracle products is mint oil. The advantage: It has almost no side effects and consists of natural compounds. In smaller studies, the effectiveness has already been demonstrated.

Mint oil can help with tension and headaches. Picture: Corinna Gissemann-fotolia

Headaches can differ greatly in their intensity, localization and duration and can be triggered by a variety of causes. Often, those affected rashly resort to painkillers, which, however, may mean no help and, moreover, cause serious side effects.

As a natural alternative to the headache tablets, Johannes Gottfried Mayer of the research group Klostermedizin therefore recommends mint oil. The herbal extract has significantly lower risk of side effects and has almost the same effect as paracetamol and Co, the expert said.

Antispasmodic and analgesic effect from naturopathy
In the opinion of Johannes Gottfried Mayer, tablets are far from necessary for all headaches, especially as the different active ingredients can sometimes cause considerable side effects if used more frequently. Also, there is the risk that "the regular intake of painkillers in turn lead to headaches," warned the expert from the research group Klostermedizin. According to Johannes Gottfried Mayer, various types of mint have been used in natural medicine for millennia as a home remedy for headaches. According to the person skilled in the art, various plant species have "essential oil with a high content of menthol", which has a cooling, antispasmodic and analgesic effect. "Peppermint is by far the highest proportion of menthol", Mayer emphasized.

Mint oil has similar relief to paracetamol
The vegetable oils should be "applied externally" for headaches by being "rubbed into the temples, forehead or neck", explained Johannes Gottfried Mayer. In this way, the mint oil unfolds in headache according to the expert almost the same efficacy as paracetamol headache. The oil is available as a diluted with water and alcohol extract in small vials or as a roll-on, so Mayer on. Despite the extremely positive effect of mint oil in headaches, however, this herbal treatment method has its disadvantages. Because in children under the age of six years, the mint oil should not be used, as convulsions in the respiratory tract and asthma-like seizures could be the result, warned the expert of the research group monastery medicine. (sb, fp)