Tag: headache

Herbal Roll-on Remedies for Headache, Sleep, and Cold & Flu – Garden Therapy
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Whenever I feel a little under the weather or sense that I’m coming down with something, these essential oil roll-on remedies are the first thing I turn to. These essential oil roll-on recipes are super simple to put together and really work. I’ll show you my favourite recipes to help relieve symptoms from headache, insomnia, and cold and flu viruses naturally!

Roll-on remedies are a quick and natural first line of defense against common (yet super annoying) ailments: headaches, disrupted sleep, and cold and flu viruses. They are made with high concentrations of herbs and essential oils in a gentle dilution of carrier oil that is convenient to use.

Today, I’ll share the three essential oil roll-on recipes that I turn to so I can avoid popping pills.

This post will cover…

Herbs have many different healing properties, depending on which you choose.

Do Roll-On Remedies Work?

In a word…yes!

Somehow, I’m always surprised at the effectiveness of my homemade roll-on remedies. Even though I use a lot of essential oils and remedies on myself and with my family, I still have the tiniest jolt of awe every time they work.

And why shouldn’t they? Herbal healing has been around for longer than me, or you, or Western Medicine, for that matter. The power of plants is something that you can easily harness into a pocket-sized roll-on bottle to help with little ailments before they get out of control.

I include essential oils in many of my recipes both for their scent and herbal properties.

Selecting Essential Oil for Your Roll-On Recipes

Before I give you the recipes for my roll-on remedies, I want to share a little about essential oil brands. I’m not affiliated with any essential oil network marketing companies and, to be honest, I’ve only tried a few of the products they offer.

Over the years, I have tried a large number of brands from traditional stores, though, and I like to shop around for different brands to experiment with. I use my nose and other senses to evaluate how the oils work for me.

I have researched and even chatted with the makers of a number of brands and have learned two things:
1. There is no certification or industry standard for essential oil brands, meaning the quality of the products is all over the map.
2. More expensive oils are not necessarily better. Some brands that have high price points have far inferior products than those with lower price points. Yes, ingredients are one reason for the price of the bottle, but that number is also influenced by marketing, customer demand, and supply scale, among other things. I used to bypass the inexpensive essential oils brands, thinking that they were of poor quality, when in fact the price of some brands is low because they produce so much that they are able to gain more economies of scale.
Do your research to ensure your essential oils are of good quality.

Are Roll-On Essential Oils Safe?

Essential oils are compounds extracted from plants, meaning they are supercharged with the plant’s aromas and herbal benefits. They’re potent and strong, one of my favourite herbal ingredients, and completely safe for use when used right.

When using essential oil roll-ons, it’s important to get the dose right. Typically, you never want to place pure essential oil directly on the skin. That is why I dilute it with a high-quality carrier oil to make it completely safe for skin application. Certain essential oils should also be avoided for skin use, such as cinnamon bark and oregano.

And as mentioned above, you want to make sure you’re using high-quality essential oils. So do your research into any brand before buying, regardless of price point. This will make certain that you’re actually getting results from your roll-on oil!

Essential oils will need carrier oils to be safely applied to the skin.

How to Use an Essential Oil Roll-On

I made three of my favourite roll-on remedies from the essential oils, and I used grapeseed oil as the carrier oil to dilute them.

To apply your roll-on oil, make sure to perform a patch test beforehand to see how your skin will react. To do this, wash your forearm with soap and pat it dry. Roll on your essential oil remedy and wait 24 hours to see if there is any kind of reaction.

I apply every one of my roll-on essential oils differently. Some I like on my face, behind my ears, on my chest, and even on the bottom of my feet. I noted for each roll-on oil how I like to use it, but experiment for yourself. Just make sure to keep the oils far enough away from your eyes!

So let’s put these oils to good use, shall we?

Headache Relief Roll-on Remedy

Add the drops of essential oil into the roller bottle and fill with grapeseed oil, leaving a bit of headspace for the roller cap. Pop the roller into the bottle and add the cap.

How to Use

When I first feel a headache coming on, I use this roll-on for headaches by creating a halo around my head. Rolling it around my hairline from my forehead to temple, around the nape of my neck, and back up to the starting point. If I catch a headache before it gets momentum, this remedy will help take it away.

Sleep Well Roll-on Remedy

Add the drops of essential oil into the roller bottle and fill with grapeseed oil, leaving a bit of headspace for the roller cap. Pop the roller into the bottle and add the cap.

How to Use

I apply this remedy before bed to help promote restful sleep. To use, I roll it behind my ears, the back of my neck, and the soles of my feet. I also apply hand and foot lotion at night, so I roll the ball in the palm of my hand, mix it in with the lotion, and then rub it into my hands and feet.

Cold and Flu Roll-on Remedy

Add the drops of essential oil into the roller bottle and fill with grapeseed oil, leaving a bit of headspace for the roller cap. Pop the roller into the bottle and add the cap.

This one has a lot more ingredients, but every drop is worth its weight in gold! Having gone through every single virus the last few years that my son was in daycare, I stopped getting 80% of them when I started using this combination.

How to Use

I apply this remedy in cold and flu season and when there is a virus going around. Usually, I roll it on my chest and the soles of my feet. I also use it as a hand sanitizer when I’m out in public and can’t wash my hands.

Thanks to their small size, you can bring these remedies with you on the go.

For fun, I added some fresh herbs to my essential oil roll-ons to help me identify them. I added a tip of young rosemary to the cold and flu remedy, and a few small peppermint leaves to the roll-on for headaches.

I also added small lavender flowers on the stem, plus some purple Centaurea Classic Artist Mix petals (because lavender doesn’t hold its colour in oil, but Centaurea does) to the sleep remedy.

Add fresh or dried botanicals for appearance.

But…you can go a bit more traditional by using a label maker to identify the name of each of the essential oil roll-on recipes, too.

Add labels, especially if you plan on gifting these remedies.

Either way, you’ll be sure to love these fantastic essential oil roll-ons. I recommend mixing them up so they are ready for you the next time you feel symptoms coming on. You’ll be thankful you did!

More Ways to Use Essential Oils

A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
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Stephanie Rose

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October 10, 2025
Vaporized Cannabis Mitigates Migraine Symptoms

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The inhalation of cannabis flower containing THC and CBD provides superior migraine relief compared to a placebo, according to clinical trial data presented at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society.

“This is the first placebo-controlled study in this space. It’s the first real — to me — compelling evidence for the anti-migraine effects of cannabis in humans,” the study’s lead researcher said.

Investigators affiliated with the University of California at San Diego presented the findings. They had previously documented their results in a 2024 preprint paper, concluding, “Vaporized 6% THC+11% CBD cannabis flower was superior to placebo for [migraine] pain relief, pain freedom, and MBS [most bothersome symptom] freedom at 2 hours as well as 24-hour sustained pain freedom and sustained MBS freedom and 48-hour sustained MBS freedom.”

THC/CBD cannabis was also superior to placebo at relieving migraine-related photophobia (light sensitivity) and phonophobia (sound sensitivity).

No serious adverse events were reported.

“Nearly one-third of migraine sufferers have tried cannabis for symptom management, and patients consistently report that it significantly reduces their pain severity and migraine frequency,” NORML’s Deputy Director Paul Armentano said. “These data further affirm patients’ testimonials.”

Survey data indicates that migraine sufferers frequently consume cannabis preparations to mitigate their symptoms and reduce their use of prescription drugs. A 2002 literature review of nine studies involving 5,600 subjects concluded: “Medical marijuana has a significant clinical response by reducing the length and frequency of migraines. … Due to its effectiveness and convenience, medical marijuana therapy may be helpful for patients suffering from migraines.”

Additional information on the use of cannabis for migraines is available from NORML’s publication Clinical Applications for Cannabis and Cannabinoids.

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July 23, 2025
CBD Provides Symptom Relief and Improvement in Gastroparesis – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

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Pharmaceutical-grade cannabidiol (CBD) relieved symptoms in patients with idiopathic and diabetic gastroparesis and increased tolerance of liquid nutrient intake after 4 weeks of treatment in a phase 2 randomized double-blinded, placebo-controlled study recently published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

There is “significant unmet medical need in gastroparesis,” and compared with cannabis, which has been used to relieve nausea and pain in patients with the condition, CBD has limited psychic effects with the added potential to reduce gut sensation and inflammation, wrote Ting Zheng, MD, and colleagues at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

The researchers assessed the symptoms of 44 patients (21 randomized to receive CBD and 23 to receive placebo) – each of whom had nonsurgical gastroparesis with documented delayed gastric emptying of solids (GES) by scintigraphy for at least 3 months – with the American Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society’s Gastroparesis Cardinal Symptom Index (GCSI) Daily Diary.

They measured GES at baseline, and at 4 weeks, they measured GES again as well as fasting and postprandial gastric volumes and satiation using a validated Ensure drink test. (Patients ingested Ensure [Abbott Laboratories] at a rate of 30 mL/min and recorded their sensations every 5 minutes.) The two treatment arms were compared via 2-way analysis of covariance that included body mass index and, when applicable,…

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November 13, 2023
Ketamine for Migraine: One Person’s Journey

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Nicole Safran was angry. After several years of different migraine treatments, one of her pain doctors suggested that it might be time to try a drug called ketamine. “Absolutely not,” she told her doctor. She knew about the drug’s shady past as a party drug known as “special K” and she didn’t want to be linked to it in any way.

But Safran was getting desperate. She had developed chronic migraine after a train accident in 2016 when she was 25. Years later, she was still trying to regain control of her life.

In retrospect, says Safran, she likely had undiagnosed symptoms of migraine from childhood, most obviously abdominal pain and nausea. But after the accident, which caused a serious concussion, her symptoms increased exponentially.

She had throbbing pain in her head, jaw, neck, and sinus area, tingling in the back of her head, light sensitivity, tinnitus, and phantom smells and visual effects (auras), among other symptoms. Doctors diagnosed chronic intractable migraine. “I basically had some level of head pain and migraine symptoms every day,” Safran says. And on many of those days, her symptoms were debilitating.

The effects on her work life were immediate. Her managers were confused. She simply wasn’t able to do what she could do before the accident.

“I was very close to losing my job.”

Her social life took a hit as well. “I’ve lost many friends throughout the process, even though I learned they probably really weren’t friends to begin with. But that’s really challenging when you’re in your mid-20s, living in New York City and your whole world comes crashing down around you and you don’t really know what the future holds.”

“People just constantly dismiss you and think, ‘Oh, it’s just a headache,’” Safran says. “No! It’s so much more than that. It is a full-body disease. It impacts every aspect of my life.”

To make things worse, her response to a laundry list of standard medications and therapies had been patchy at best. She could get some moderate relief some of the time, but nothing seemed to really cut through the constant barrage of migraine symptoms for any length of time.

And so in June 2021, after a long discussion with her doctor and some reading about the therapeutic uses of ketamine, she decided to give it a try.

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July 14, 2023
Teens Heal Differently Than Adults After Concussion

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March 22, 2023 — Layla Blitzer, a 17-year-old high school junior in New York City, was playing field hockey for her school last October and was hit hard by the ball, right above her eye.

She sustained a serious concussion. She’s also had neck issues and headaches for the last 4 months. “They’re so severe I still need physical therapy for them,” she said.

At first, the staff at the opposing high school where she was playing didn’t realize she had a concussion. “Even the referee said, ‘You’re not throwing up, so you’re fine,’” Allison Blitzer, Layla’s mother, said.

It was soon clear that Layla wasn’t “fine.” She consulted with a school-referred neurologist who diagnosed the concussion.

Similar Symptoms, Different Severity

David Wang, MD, head team doctor at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT, said concussion symptoms — such as headaches, dizziness, visual disturbances, light and sound sensitivity, mood and cognitive problems, fatigue, and nausea — are similar between adolescents and adults.

“But the symptom scores and severity are higher in adolescents, compared to younger kids and adults,” he said.

Moreover, the recovery time is longer.

“The effects of an adult concussion, especially in men, may be around 7 days, but 3 to 4 weeks isn’t unusual in teenagers, and it can be even longer in female teens,” Wang, who is the director of Comprehensive Sports Medicine in Connecticut, said.

The severity of symptoms, and how long they last, in teens “has to do with their stage of life because adolescents are going through puberty and in a rapid evolution phase, biologically, and are not neurologically mature,” he said. “The changes going on in their bodies may make them more vulnerable to the impact of a concussion, compared to younger children and adults.”

Similar to patterns found in adult women compared to men, girls tend to have more severe symptoms and a longer recovery, compared to boys — something Allison Blitzer was surprised to learn. Her older son has had sustained two concussions playing sports in high school, but after a couple of weeks, “he was fine and back at it.” Layla’s symptoms were more severe and long-lasting.

One of several possible reasons for the sex differences in concussion is that females generally have less neck strength, Wang said. Weaker neck muscles allow for more head acceleration following a blow, which results in greater forces to the brain.

Working With a Teen’s Recovery Time

Layla attempted to go to school 3 days after the concussion, but “it didn’t go well,” she said. The bright classroom lights disturbed her eyes. And most of the instruction was digital, on a computer or a projector, and too much screen time causes eye strain and headaches following a concussion.

“I couldn’t look up and I couldn’t do any of the work my class was doing,” Layla said. The noise stimulation in the lobbies, cafeteria, and elsewhere was overwhelming, too, so after 2 weeks, she stopped going to school.

Because Layla has several siblings, her home wasn’t consistently quiet either, so she isolated in her room.

“I fell behind in work,” Layla said, despite help from a concussion specialist who arranged with the school so Layla could have a reduction in workload, breaks, and extra time to complete assignments and exams.

Even after a few months, Layla was unable to keep up with her schoolwork. The school was “super supportive,” she said, but still didn’t understand how extensive her recovery time would be.

“It seemed like I was expected to be fully better much quicker. And although I’ve been improving, it’s almost 5 months since the injury and we’re in the middle of midterms, but I can’t take them because I’m still behind on my work,” Layla said.

In addition to headaches and memory issues, Layla experienced prolonged fatigue, which was worsened because of insomnia. The neurologist gave her medication for sleep, which helped the fatigue, but the headaches continued.

Finally, Layla consulted another specialist who was able to localize exactly where the headaches were coming from. He prescribed highly targeted physical therapy, which Layla attends twice a week.

“PT has been the most helpful for me and I’m finally beginning to catch up on my work, even though I’m still behind,” she says.

A recent analysis of eight studies (including almost 200 participants) looked at the effectiveness of physical therpay for post-concussion symptoms (such as headaches) in adolescents.

The researchers found evidence that physical therapy is effective in treating adolescents and young adults following a concussion, and that it may lead to a quicker recovery compared to complete physical and cognitive rest, which are traditionally prescribed.

Return to sports cannot be rushed, Wang said, not only because the person is still recovering and might not be “on top of their game” but because a second injury can be more harmful during recovery time.

“We call this “overlapping concussion syndrome,” he said. “The concussion is partially resolved, and the adolescent is functional enough to return to some playing, but then they get hit again. This complicates the situation and prolongs the recovery even more.”

‘Academic Quicksand’

Adolescence is a “challenging time,” Wang said. Teens are learning about themselves in the world, in school, and in their social group. An interruption in this process can disrupt the flow and make this process even more challenging.

“What we’ve seen with 2 years of teens who have missed school due to COVID is that they’re often not well adapted and not yet ready for the college environment,” Wang said. “These are critical maturation years. Similarly, when a teenager misses school or social activities due to a concussion, it increases the stress.”

Wang likens this to “academic quicksand,” and said, “it feels like the more the teenager struggles, the deeper they sink because the struggle itself can be so stressful.”

Layla can attest to this.

“The stress of being behind, especially in a highly competitive academic environment, has definitely caused me a lot of anxiety,” she said. “I see everyone in my grade moving up and I’m still catching up on old math units, doing one old unit that the class had finished a long time ago, as well as the one everyone is working on now.”

Layla sees a therapist for anxiety and finds it helpful. Her mother said it’s hard for Layla to watch her friends go out on weekends and knowing that wherever they hang out is likely to be too loud and too bright for her while she’s still recovering.

“This is an invisible injury and it’s hard to quantify or show someone else how much a person is suffering, so it’s very isolating,” she said.

Advocacy Efforts

Layla is an intern at PINK Concussions, a nonprofit organization focused on concussions in women, where she advocates for other teenagers who have sustained concussions.

When she was playing field hockey, “we weren’t wearing goggles or helmets because the hockey league felt there wasn’t enough evidence to support wearing protective gear for girls,” Layla said.

Now she’s working with her school’s athletic director and with the director of other private schools to change her league’s rules so that protective gear will be required in field hockey games.

“I think my concussion could have been prevented if I’d been better protected,” she said.

She’s also advocating for a more realistic back-to-school protocol.

“Some teachers might worry that students with concussions might delay returning to school,” Katherine Snedaker, a licensed clinical social worker and founder of PINK Concussions, said. “But our research found that students want to be back in school so badly, they were minimizing their symptoms to get back to school/sport before they were ready. Students were not using their concussion as an excuse to stay out longer.”

Layla said teachers “should be educated to expect that kids who have had a concussion may not be up to speed in work for some time. Some teachers may not be aware that recovery in girls and boys can be different. And they should know how to help a student successfully handle schoolwork again.”

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March 22, 2023
Supermom In Training: 4 Quick ways to simplify your life as a parent

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I’m always looking for shortcuts – quick hacks that will make my life just a little bit easier. Whether it’s taking a few extra minutes to get organized, or a few extra dollars to save my overall sanity.

If you’re hosting, get help! There’s no need to go at it alone. If you’re having a big group over, make it a potluck so everyone pitches in. Or, meal kit services like HelloFresh can streamline the whole process by delivering all the ingredients and recipes you need right to your front door (they even have an all-inclusive Thanksgiving kit too).

Meal plan. Take the time on the weekend to plan the dinners for the week. Take it a step further and prep some stuff for breakfast and lunch too (cutup veggies and fruits, meal muffins, and more). It will save you the headache of figuring things out in the moment day-to-day.

Organize some reciprocal playdates. If you need a few extra hours during the week, suggest to a fellow parent that you’ll take turns hosting playdates after school or on weekends.

Take time for you. You know what will make you a better parent – if you’re a happier, healthier parent. No, there’s isn’t always time in the day for alone time or a nap, but you can always find 10 minutes here and there for some quiet downtime, some yoga stretches, a walk, or just sitting quietly and decompressing.

A full-time work-from-home mom, Jennifer Cox (our “Supermom in Training”) loves dabbling in healthy cooking, craft projects, family outings, and more, sharing with readers everything she knows about being an (almost) superhero mommy.

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September 20, 2022
Launch of Migraine Cannabis Study Planned With Patient Support Group MigraineBuds, Chronic Pain Specialist Dr. Sana-Ara Ahmed and the Canadian Institute for Medical Advancement

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Patient support group takes matters into their own hands, and seeks out help to conduct a Migraine Cannabis Study

Press Release
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updated: Nov 10, 2017

TORONTO, November 10, 2017 (Newswire.com)
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MigraineBuds is an organization started by a patient advocate Jodie Epstein who suffers from chronic migraines. This online support group has information on cannabis specific to migraines and headaches. The MigraineBuds community is 1750 patients strong and growing, which provides a forum for discussing everything cannabis- and migraine-related. Jodie was eager to create a safe, non-judgmental space to have these conversations.

Migraine affects approximately 10 percent of people worldwide, with many patients unable to find adequate pain management. Many migraineurs also suffer from Medication Overuse Headache (MOH). MOH occurs when pain relief medications are taken too frequently. This can occur when a patient has taken too much caffeine, ergots, or pharmaceutical medications such as opioids, triptans or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

“The social reform of chronic pain medicine includes medical cannabis as a viable and first choice option for migraine sufferers. Review of medical history indicates that the Cannabis sativa plant was frequently used by physicians to treat acute and chronic migraine headaches in North America and was discontinued when drug prohibition removed the plant from the pharmacopeia. I have been treating chronic migraine sufferers with medical cannabis with great results and look forward to the research benefits for all of society.”

– Dr. Sana-Ara Ahmed, M.D., FRCPC Anesthesiologist & Chronic Pain Specialist

What we are looking to study and why

The MigraineBuds community is interested and keen to participate in clinical research that will help to demonstrate the efficacy of cannabis in the treatment of migraine. The proposed study will also examine the effect cannabis may have on MOH.

The Canadian Institute for Medical Advancement, a research organization, has agreed to help conduct the study. Accordingly, Dr. Sana-Ara Ahmed, a clinical Anesthesiologist & Chronic Pain Specialist, has agreed to participate in the research study. Dr. Ahmed is an advocate for chronic migraine pain patients and treats numerous patients at her clinic The Health Boutique™. Dr. Ahmed is a specialist and educator in the use of medical cannabis for chronic pain, including migraines, and advocates the use of cannabis as an effective method of treatment.

“There is a shift in research looking at a patient-centric approach and one in which patients are partners and collaborators in research whose participation is core to the success of any research study. It’s a privilege to be asked to help Jodie and her group with this study,” says Sabrina Ramkellawan, Founder of the Canadian Institute for Medical Advancement.

To increase the chances of success with this study, a call for Sponsors, Licensed Producers, and Physicians who understand how life-changing this evidence could be for migraine sufferers is being sent out. Study launch is planned for early 2018, and the hope is to have a number of collaborators in this important study.

Additionally, the organization is also looking for interested potential participants. If you suffer from migraines with MOH, and would like to be a part of migraine history, please connect with Jodie Epstein! jodie@migrainebuds.com https://www.facebook.com/groups/migrainebuds

For media inquiries and/or research partnerships contact Sabrina Ramkellawan at 416-543-5041 or sabrina@cifma.ca. Website: www.cifma.ca

Source: Canadian Institute for Medical Advancement

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November 10, 2017