What Essential Oils Are Good For Headaches?

According to the National Headache Foundation, there are a number of types of headaches from those caused by stress and tension to others, such as migraines, that tend to run in families. Essential oils have a number of properties that can help alleviate certain types of headaches. The most effective essential oils contain chemicals called terpenes, which are anti-inflammatory, and esters, which are anxiolytic, or anxiety-reducing.

Chamomile

Several types of chamomile essential oil can help alleviate headaches. Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) and German chamomile (Matricaria recutica) are both recommended by Julia Lawless in her book "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils" for their ability to alleviate headache, including tension headaches and migraines.
Chamomile is extracted by steam distillation from the heads of the chamomile flower. It yields a pale blue watery liquid with a sweet, fruity-herbaceous fragrance. Chamomile essential oil contains esters and terpenes, chemicals with anti-inflammatory and anxiety-reducing properties.
Chamomile oil can be inhaled or used in a bath or massage oil. Adding a few drops of chamomile oil to a teaspoon of a carrier oil, such as grapeseed or almond oil, makes a soothing massage oil that can be applied to the forehead or temples.
Chamomile essential oil's only drawback is its price. An ounce of the precious liquid can run as much as $73 in 2010.

Lavender

Chamomile is often paired with lavender essential oil for their mutual calming effects. There are mainly three types of lavender essential oil: true lavender (Lavandula angustifolia), spike lavender (Lavandula latifolia) and lavendin (Lavandula x intermedia). True lavender is the most expensive, and lavendin is the least.
Although lavender can be grown anywhere in the world, most of the oil comes from France. Italy and Bulgaria also produce lavender essential oil, although they are thought to be of lesser quality than French lavender.
According to Lawless, lavender contains more than 100 constituents, with those grown in higher altitudes containing more esters, which might account for French lavender's headache-fighting abilities. Research conducted in 1999 at the World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology found that esters had anxiolytic properties. Headaches because of stress and anxiety might benefit from lavender application or inhalation.

Mint

Peppermint essential oil (Mentha piperita) is extracted from the flowering herb that is easily recognized by its deep green leaves that yield a sweet, minty fragrance when pinched. It contains a high concentration of menthol and menthone, alcohols that have uplifting properties. It also contains inflammation-reducing esters.
Valerie Gennari Cooksley, author of "Aromatherapy: A Lifetime Guide to Healing With Essential Oils," says that peppermint is a mild analgesic. She recommends blending peppermint essential oil with lavender essential oil in a base of vegetable oil for a soothing tension headache massage oil.

Other Essential Oils

According to Lawless, other essential oils that can help reduce headaches include citronella, cumin, eucalyptus, grapefruit, hops, lemongrass, linden, sweet marjoram, rose, rosemary, rosewood, sage, thyme and violet.