Over 23 million Americans will experience the pain of a migraine headache. Three-quarters of that group will be women. Pounding, and throbbing are words used that describe headaches.

The hallmark of a migraine headache is pulsating head pain. The pain is often localized to one side of the head and frequently occurs behind the eye or near the temple. You may also vomit or feel nauseated, become hypersensitive to light, sound, or smells, feel dizzy, or experience visual disturbances. Symptoms are aggravated by movement. Migraine intensity ranges from uncomfortable to completely disabling and can last anywhere from several hours to several days.

There are a wide variety of natural treatments for migraine headaches which include the following:

• An old popular remedy for relieving migraine headaches is to make a compress using cabbage leaves.  The vegetable leaves should be dampened and mashed, and then placed in a rag and applied onto the forehead before going to sleep, or whenever is convenient during the day.  The compress should be changed when the leaves become dry.

• Lemon rinds have also been found beneficial in the treatment of migraines.  The rinds should be ground up as a fine paste in a mortar then applied to the forehead.

• Some vegetable juices such as carrot, spinach, beet and cucumber, have also been found helpful in treating migraine headaches.  Mix ¾ cup of spinach juice with 1¼ cup carrot juice to make about 2 cups of the combined juices.  For the second combination, ½ cup of each of beet juice and ½ cup of cucumber juice with 1¼ cups of carrot juice.

• Mix 2 parts lemon balm, 1 part valerian, 2 parts chamomile, and 1 part Hawthorn.  Boil 8 tsp of the mixture in 4 cups of water for 10 minutes.  Drink a cup when pain appears.

• Another traditional remedy consists of drinking 1 Tbsp honey mixed with ½ Tbsp garlic juice.

• Cut cucumbers in slices and gently massage in a circular motion around the sinuses for about 5 minutes.