Lavender Flower Power

Lavender for Migraine Treatment and Other Ailments

As I continue to learn more about natural healing methods, I am amazed again and again how many healing plants, full of all the medicinal power of a pharmaceutical, but without the side effects, grow right in our own backyards. Take the lavender flower. It's common enough that I can find it growing in the front yards of several houses in my own neighborhood, yet powerful enough to heal a whole variety of ills. My naturopath recommended using lavender in a bath to help my eczema, and not only has it helped nicely, but I'm absolutely loving the whole experience of bathing in scented water and coming out feeling so relaxed (did I mention it's a mild natural sedative) and fresh smelling. It does take quite a bit longer than a shower, but if it helps my condition and provides a mini-spa experience at the same time, I guess I'm willing to give up a half hour of free time activity.

What I learned from my naturopath is that lavender has thousands of years of history as a medicinal herb. It was used all over the Middle East, India, Greece, Macedonia - basically the whole ancient world - for more than two thousand years, and eventually spread from Greece across Europe, becoming part of the Medieval English pharmacopeia as well. It was used for scenting laundry, healing skin problems, relieving insomnia and anxiety, and most interesting of all for me, treating migraine headaches.

Migraines have been part of my life for a long time now. Not because I suffer from them myself, but because I am married to a chronic migraine sufferer. Now when I say chronic, I mean someone who has them so bad that he's actually been hospitalized for migraines, been unable to work because of them, lost all sense of normalcy because of these cursed headaches. So of course we've tried it all - the Imitrex, Frova, Botox shots, etc., etc... All the pills the doctors could prescribe. And still, they barely made a dent. We didn't really think the lavender would do much - I mean, after all, if the big guns of pharmaceuticals couldn't do it, how was the humble lavender plant going to? Well, all I can say is that we've had some astounding success recently. Now, just to clarify - it's not just lavender that the naturopath has been giving him. She recommended combining lavender with other herbs that all work synergistically.

The only off the shelf product we've found so far that fits the bill is one called MigraMedic. It's got a lot of plants I've never heard of, plus a few that are very common. Surprisingly, his migraines are nearly gone now that he's been taking it for a couple months. We are stunned of course, but happy. You just never know what treasures might be right there in your own backyard.