EP3: Top 10 Homeopathic Remedies for Headaches

Welcome to the Homeopathy at Home podcast. I'm Marcus Fernandez and I'm thrilled to have you join me on this journey into the world of homeopathy. This podcast is inspired by my book, Homeopathy at Home, which aims to empower you to take charge of your health using simple, effective homeopathic remedies. Together we're going to explore how homeopathy can be the key to unlocking your body's innate healing wisdom. Whether you're dealing with everyday ailments such as coughs, colds, strains and sprains, sore throats, or just seeking to enhance your health and well being, this podcast is your guide. So let's dive in and discover the transformative power of homeopathy in your everyday life. And today's topic we're going to be doing is headaches. Big subject, big, big subject. Lots of different remedies which will be covered here today, but we can only do the top 10. And like I said, there's lots of homeopathic remedies for headaches, but we're going to go to some of the most common ones and just like, thank you all for your lovely messages and emails. How much you enjoying these live sessions and I'm enjoying it too. I'm finding it really, really great to do. It's great going on live and be able to share this information and please share it amongst your friends, your family, your loved ones. Because the more that people know about homeopathy, the more they can use it in their lives. And to me, the whole world needs healing right now. The whole world needs homeopathy. To me, it's truly the medicine, the people. So the more you can share it, the more we not only raise our own health, but also the health of our communities and people when they use homeopathy. See what it can do, but sometimes it can be very overwhelming. And this is the point of these sessions, these live sessions, just to really focus, bring it down to some of the basics. Please, please keep it simple. In fact, that is the thing for today, keep it simple. I've even written it down. Keep it simple because homeopathy is simple. We can complicate it. So please, please keep it simple. So as I said, headaches, it's a big, big subject. We can't go through every single remedies for headaches. I'm just going to go through some of the top ones that you sort of need to know about and a lot of them you can find in a remedy kit or you can get them over the counter at Health food stores or, or from a homeopathic pharmacy. Now what are headaches? Now you know, there's 150 different types of headaches, all different from migraines, cluster migraines, there's all different types, sick headaches. So often they're very common. Most people had a headache in their lives and often it's not a sign of something serious. So it can be caused by having a cold or flu, can come from stress or emotions. Drinking too much alcohol. Okay. And other things that you may do, bad posture, eyesight problems, not eating regular meals, not drinking enough fluids. So people can feel a bit dehydrated also around the period or around menopause or hormonal changes. And also from allopathic medications. It can be a side effect from homeopathic medications. So there can be different reasons why people get headaches. And again, if you get headaches, we're dealing with acute situations here today. But if you do suffer from chronic headaches, then you may need to seek a qualified homeopathic practitioner and to get to the root of what's going on. So let's go through the first remedies. These remedies are in order of importance. It's really alphabetical order. So the first remedy we're going to look at is belladonna. Okay, so belladonna, this is with congestive headaches, often can have a red face with a rush of blood to the head and a sudden onset. Often with belladonna, it's a sudden end set and it can also go with suddenly as well. But the keynote with belladonna headaches. And this is what we're looking for. Remember, we're looking for keynotes, we're looking for those notes, if you played it on the song that you'd recognize it. And the keynote for belladonna is the sudden onset but also throbbing. They have throbbing headaches and they have heat and also a hammering pain in the temples. Very much a right sided remedy. Okay, so we're looking at often when trying to differentiate which remedy to take, is it right side, is it left sided, is it going from the back forward? All these are really important when you're trying to differentiate between what remedy to give. So a belladon, it's very right sided. And the pain, they have like a fullness in the head. It feels full, full. And the scalp can be very, very sensitive. Okay, Very sensitive. Even like brushing their hair, it's like, oh my God, it's just too much, it's too sensitive. And the head is very Sensitive to drafts, cold air, cutting or washing their hair. Now I've seen this before, people get headaches after having the haircut or having the hair wash and they go outside and it's cold. So remember your mother used to say, or my mother used to say, wrap up if you're going to go outside, you know, wrap your head up, you know, so, so but with belladonna it can come on that and be very sensitive to the drafts, the cold air or having the hair washed or the hair cut. So they may come out, having the haircut out of the hairdressers and you go out outside and it's that sometimes a bit of a shock to the system, especially if they're sensitive. Big remedy for headaches from sunstroke, spending too long in the sun. Number one remedy. And it's great for those headaches from the sun. There is other remedies, but we're just talking about belladonna here today. Now we always look at the modalities. What makes things better and worse. With belladonna it's worse for motion, worse for noise, worse for light, worse for jarring. So say you just knocked the chair or as you went past. Oh, it goes right through them. Okay, goes right through them. And with the belladonna headache you can start in the late afternoon and can continue into the night. The one thing that makes it better is it's better for pressure, better for bending the head backwards and also laying the hands on the head. Okay, so feel that. But it's better for pressure. You'll find the holding the head because it feels better for pressure. So again you're looking at what makes it better, what makes it worse and what's the sensation like? Okay, so that's belladonna. Next remedy, Bryonia. Now Bryonia, it has a bursting splitting frontal headaches when the keynotes, it's worse for any movement. So it's like they sit perfectly still, they can't move, can't move and they have this pressure in the head as if it's too full. And they can have a pain over the left eye which goes to the back of the head. So it's left eye goes to the back of the head. And again this remedy. His scalp is very sensitive to touch. Oh it's like any, any form of touch. Keynote very thirsty. Brownie will gulp and gulp and gulp gallons and gallons of water. Very thirsty. Often with dry lips. But they, they'll say they feel better if they drink cold water. But as I said before, worse for movement. Even Moving their eyes. So even moving their eyes slightly causes them pain. So, so very, very sensitive to motion. And they feel worse if they stoop, the pain is worse. Now the modality, they feel better for firm pressure. So again, they hold it. Or they may even press against something. You'll find them pressing their head against the door. It's like they just feel better for pressure, but if they're lying, still better for cold applications. So they may put a towel, a tea towel over on the head, which is wet. And they're very, very irritable. Okay, Extremely irritable. They don't want to talk. And often they want to be left alone. And they'll lie still in a dark room. Okay, you don't want to disturb a Bryonia. It's like, get out. I don't want to be around anybody. Just want to be kept absolutely still. Next remedy, cocculus. Now, this is a very interesting remedy. This remedy I've used a lot. It's often underused, I think often by people. But this is cocculus. It's a headache, a sick headache after a long journey. So if they've been traveling or lack of sleep, if they've been studying too much, or from night nursing, looking after people at night, often. Sleep loss is a big part of coculus. It could be after jet lag, after traveling different time zones. But also they can have a headache from motion sickness, like car sickness or sea sickness. And they have a strange sensation. If the head feels hollow, okay, it feels very hollow or it feels really heavy as well. So they can be very hollow or it feels really heavy. And they can be very tired and exhausted for mental and physical strain. Okay, they get a pain in the back of the head or the nape of the neck. Back of the head or the nape of the neck. Worse for lying on it. Better for bending the. Again, bending the head backwards. It's like releases something, releases some tension and has an opening and shutting sensation in the back of the head. So this is what we call the strange, rare and peculiar symptom, very important homeopathy, because this really can differentiate and get us right into the remedy. So it has an opening and shutting sensation on the back of the head. Worse for least light and noise and the pain from the headache. They can feel nauseous and they can vomit. Okay, they can have nausea and vomiting. It can be worse for coffee. You can feel worse for a short sleep, a nap. Some remedies are better for a nap, but coccus feels worse for a short nap. Better, worse for Cold, cold air. Worse for touch, better for sitting. Okay, feel better for sitting. So this is a really great remedy caucus. Again, as I said, the remedy is not really used that much, but it's an excellent remedy, especially like I said, for loss of sleep, traveling, mental and physical strain. I remember everybody. You'll get a copy of the PDF. I think Rebecca is going to put it in the link in the, in the chat. You'll get a copy of this PDF with all the slides on it. The next remedy, gel, semi and one of my favorite remedies, different reasons, was the first remedy I ever took. This is what got me into homeopathy. There's a whole story around this, but basically I was going to take this remedy and it worked. I was going to go to this open day about homeopathic training to be a practitioner. It didn't work. I wasn't going to go. There's a whole story to that. I'll tell you another time. But it worked and here I am. Okay, so Gelsemian headache with a sensation as if a band round their head so it feels like it's a band round the head. Remember when you're asking people or yourself or whoever, what's the sensation like? If they say, well, it's like a headache because you want to get more information than that, because you're trying to find out what's the sensation like to choose the remedy, then I often say, well, if you had to inflict the pain onto me, what would you do to me? And they say, well, I'll put a band around your head or I'll put your head in a vise or I put a nail on the side of your head. That sounds a bit odd thing to ask people, but they'll give you really good descriptions and that really helps when we look at the remedies and the sensations of the remedy. But with Gelsemion, it's like a band around the head or pain at the back of the head. And it can be right sided. Okay, the pain can be on the right side. It can also come on with the onset of influenza. So people getting flu, it can come on and often they have a dull, heavy ache with heaviness of the eyelids and the vision can be blurred, it can affect the vision. They can't see very well. So when you're looking at somebody who needs gelsemium, they look really light heaviness, their eyes are heavy, they're apathetic. And that's a keynote for Gelsemium. They can have a pain in the temple that extends into the ear as well. This is a quite particular symptom. Gelsenrine can have it. Remember, you don't need every single one of these symptoms. These are keynotes. And I often say you need a three legged stool. You need three keynotes in order to prescribe for the remedy. Nervous headache from emotional excitement, bad news, anticipation. This is a really big key to this remedy. So he says they have a headache, there's like a band around the head and you can say, when did it all start? This is a really important thing. When did it all start? Because it started two days ago. Got some really bad news. I've just been made redundant at work and I've had the headache ever since. Or I had to do a speech and then the headache came or I was going to the dentist and I got really anxious. Remember we did Gelsemian when we did anxiety? So this is a really big remedy, but it's a huge remedy from ailments, from bad news. When people receive bad news, they can have mental dullness. As I said, they sat there and their eyes are drooping. They can become like mentally dull. And they'll feel like that and they'll be drowsy and they'll be apathetic. Okay, better for pressure on the head, Feel better for pressure. And the better for them in bed that the head is raised high. If they lie down, they feel worse from that. But again, very keynote for Gelsemium. They're better for urination. So they'll go and urinate, say oh my God, my head feels a lot better, feel clearer. But the thing about gelsemium, they're not thirsty, they're thirstless and they want to be left alone and just want to be by themselves. So that's gelsemium. Next remedy, Ignatia. Now these remedies are so big, they have such big uses. Ignatia, this is headaches from shock, grief or disappointment. This is often when people heard of shock, especially emotional shock or emotional disappointment or emotional grief. And these are very emotional sensitive people. Often they can sigh a lot. You'll be noticing they've got this headache and the, the sighing and how's that? Yeah, it's fine. And it's sighing. It's like this, this emotion that's there very much over sensitive to the pain. These people will really react to the pain. Okay, almost, you know, because they're so oversensitive. Oh my God, this headache. And they have a pain as if a nail is driven out through the sides of the, from the inside out. Of the sides of the head or the temples. And often they're quite specific. They'll say the pain is just in one spot. That's how they describe it. It's in one spot there. It feels like a nail coming in or going out. Big keynote as well. Worse for tobacco smoke, the worst for any type of smoking. It really affects them and can make the headache. Can bring a headache on. Oh, straight away. Oh my goodness. You know, and they'll, you know, they'll tell you very vocal or strong odors like coffee. Worse for open air, worse for stooping again, but better, better for being warm. So, so they like being warm and being quiet or still. Okay. But when the pain comes on, they can get a bit hysterical. Ignatia. With this, with the pain, it's like they can feel like they're sort of dying and they can be upset and they can be emotional and they can cry with it as well. So that's Ignatia. Next remedy, Nature Mule, which is connected to Nat Mule. Sorry to Ignatia, often Ignatius. And it can be an acute of Nature Mule. Again, this is nature Mule. So this remedy is headaches from grief and disappointed, love. Okay. But they tend to keep it in where they. Nature will let it out. Nature will tend to keep it in. And they have this bursting, blinding headache as if a thousand little hammers were knocking on the brain. Like a thousand little hammers knocking on the brain. They have pain over their eyes and the top of their head with visual disturbances and sensitivity to light. In fact, they get headaches from. From the heat of the sun or from the light of the sun. Okay. And they can be worse on waking with this headache from sunrise to sunset. They can be worse around 9am to 11am I haven't put that on the slide, but often that can be an aggravation time from them. But the sun particularly can. Can have an effect. In fact, with nature Muir, the sunlight can bring on cold sores as well from the sun. Better for sleep. So they'll go and sleep if they have a headache. But again, better for pressure. Again, better lying with their head high and sitting still. So you see some common characteristics amongst all these remedies. What you're trying to find what the keynotes are for that particular remedy. And you try remedy and if it hasn't worked, then go to the next nearest one. But the idea is like a process of elimination. You're trying to always say a game of snap. You're trying to match the keynotes. You don't need every single Everything I'm telling you here, you're just trying to build a picture of at least three keynotes of what the remedy is Next. Remedy. Nux vomica. Look at this face. This is a nux vomicant type face. Headaches from toxicity drugs. Now that can be recreational drugs as well as allopathic drugs. So people are. Too many drugs. It's basically congested the liver. But this is headaches from hangovers as well. Big remedy for hangovers. And they have great irritability. Again, look at the picture of this lady. Great irritability. They can get again, headaches in the sunshine or when they're constipated. So if they can't. If they can't go to the toilet and they feel a bit bunged up, then they can get a headache from it. But once they go, they feel better. But often they find it hard to go to the toilet sometimes to get rid of things, pain in the back of the head or over the eyes, and they have a bit of dizziness, a bit of vertigo as well. Okay? And again, they have this frontal headache here where they press against something and they could be sat down on the desk, pressing their head. They could be at work, because nux vomica like to work pressing their head against something. Or again, like you said, that with a handle, they need to press something hard. It's better for pressure. But they have this bruise sensation. They feel like the brain's being bruised and they have this pain at the top of the head, like a pressing pain on the vertex on the top of the head, as if a nail's been driven in. So Ignatia has nail driven in on the side. Nux vomicus. Nail driven in from the top. And actually they are related botanically, Nux vomica and Ignatius. So it's interesting to have this sensation of a nail piercing different places. Their head feels distended and sore after great debauchery. And like I said, very hypersensitive and very, very irritated by anything. Slight noise. The light. I said here, worse for light, worse for noise. It's like you say something to them, it's like, oh, what, what? Just to stop. So very, very sensitive. And you'll know about it, they'll be very vocal and they'll tell you again, modality worse from cold drafts, worse noise, worse lights, worse touch, worse rich food, worse alcohol. Okay, Worse alcohol. So often, typical nux vomica may have three cups of coffees, you know, double, double espresso, just to get them going in the morning, but then they'll use alcohol in the evening to almost bring them down and to relax. And this a vicious circle with nux vomica. And so often the livers are often quite congested. Okay, so another modality, better for discharges, better for rest, better for warmth because they're very, very chilly. Okay. Nuxomic is incredibly chilly. Big hangover remedy for headaches. And often people take it before they go out, during, whilst they're out and after when they come back if they, if they're in a state to remediate the remedy, if they want to avoid hangovers from alcohol. Next remedy, pulsatella. So this, this is where with pulsatilla you get headaches from overeating, overload in the stomach, from pastries, fats and ice cream. Remember the words for fats. But also it's a big remedy when the headache is coming from hormonal causes. So often the headaches will accompany the period menstruation, usually just before and once the flow starts, that tend to be better. But it is a hormonal based remedy and often it's headaches in puberty in young girls around the time of the period, you'll find because pulsatilla is a remedy from ailments from puberty. So even if you're seeing somebody maybe 10 years after puberty, their periods might not have been or had headaches since the onset of puberty. And often you'll think of pulsatella. So they'll have a right sided headache in the temple. Again, throbbing, congestive. But they feel like there's a lot of heat in the head. And they always say that the head feels really heavy, like it's really hard to hold it up. It just feels really, really heavy. Again, if you look at the flower, it's a wind flower, it's like it can't quite hold its head up over sensitive to pain, you know, and they can be emotional, tearful, weepy with a headache, with a pulse tiller. You just want to hold them, you just want to cuddle them and say it's going to be okay. And they want to be held or they want to be looked after. They feel better in open air. So they'll say, you say what makes you better and worse? I'm so much better if I go for a walk outside. So they're much better for open air, better for rubbing. Okay, better for rubbing the head, better for pressure pain, worse if they cough. Oh, my head. And they get shooting pains in their temples. But also they get wandering pains as well. The head will go one minute there, then it goes over here, then it's on top and it's at the back. It sort of goes all over. They're worse for stuffy rooms, okay? For lack of air, they need the air. The worse for the air, worse for rich food as well. And they're very thirstless, okay? So they don't, they don't drink. They are thirstless as a remedy. So again, you'll see remedies. And remedies are thirsty. Some remedies are thirstless. Again, you're looking to make that three legged stool the next remedy, sanguinaria. Now this probably won't be any remedy kits, but this is a great remedy. There's so many remedies, there's so many remedies. I wanted to cover, but I can't cover them all in a short period of time. But, but I had to include sanguinary because it's such a great remedy for headaches. And again, you may buy this from your health food stores or you may buy it from the homeopathic pharmacist. But I don't think this will be in the remedy kits if you've got one. Now with sanguinary, the pain begins at the back of the head, extends to the right side of the head into over the right eye. This is a keynote, this is a keynote for sanguinaria, okay? They have a headache and waking up and it increases and gets worse until about noon and then it improves, okay? So it gets a noon and then it improves. And they sometimes describe like a pain, like a flash of lightning at the back of the head, like a flash of flash on the back of the head. The sensation and sometimes the pain can be. This feels like the eyes are being pressed out, okay? Feels like both eyes are being pressed out. Not just the right eye, both eyes with the pain. And these headaches can come periodically, like once a week, once a month. Again, it could come around the time of the period menstruation. And pain is worse for motion, for movement, but better for sleep and better for firm pressure. So again, they may put my glasses, they'll put the pain, they'll put their hand over that eye to relieve the pressure or the back of the head to relieve it. But a really good remedy. So big liver remedy, sanguinaria. But a really good, good remedy. So I wanted to include it. So number 10, silica. So here, silica. This is a great remedy for headaches. This is for people who've never recovered quite from an illness. So they've had an illness and they've had a headache ever since. Okay, They've had a headache ever since. Seeing this a lot at the moment with people, this headache that hangs around. The pain again begins at the back of the head, spreads over the heddle and settles over one of the eyes. Could be one or the other, predominantly the right eye actually, but it can go over either eye, go over the left eye or you could go over the right eye. But they can have nausea and vomiting with the headache. They feel really sick and then they vomit. Okay, then they vomit. They can get headaches from not eating or from fasting or not eating at proper times. Like they need that. They have some Celica has a thing around nutrition and simulation of food. So they're worse if they don't eat at the proper times. And with the headache they can get this cold clammy sweat on their forehead. It's a big sweating remedy anyway. Silica, they can have sweaty feet, really oval, smelly feet, but you don't need that with a headache. They could have that. But they do have this sweat sometimes on their, on their head. The pain is worse for moving, worse for the cold, worse if they're overstudying as well. They're using the brain a lot worse for noise, worse for talking. If they're talking to torturing. There's this. Can't you ask them questions about the headache and they just can't talk. And they just can't talk anymore. They don't want to talk. It's just, it's. It's too much for them. It's debilitating for them. And again, worse for straining at stools. They get a headache if they're constipated. Now the good thing about silica is it pushes. It's an eliminator. It pushes things out. Like if you get a splinter, take silica or push the splinter out. What silica has around the stool is what's called a bashful stool. It goes in and then. So it goes out and then puts back in again so they can't quite get it out. So they get a headache from straining at stool when they go to the toilet. Very chilly, okay? Very chilly silica. Better for wrapping up warmly again, better for pressure and profuse urination. Improves their headaches. If they go to the toilet, they will say it improves the headache. So if they urinate, they feel better. Okay, so they feel a lot better if they go to the toilet and it relieves their headache. Wow, that was a top 10. So what did we cover? We covered belladonno, we covered cocchilus, we covered gelsemium, we cover bryonia, we covered Ignatia, we covered Natmuel, we covered nux, vomica, pulsatella, sanguinary, and silica. Don't think I miss any out there. So, yeah, I hope you enjoyed that. It's good to just recap on these remedies. Just recap. Keep it simple. I say this to my students, you know, every year at the summer break. Okay, you know, go put your notes down. Go and read a beginner's guide to Homeopathy again because you've got to be reminded of the principles, you know, homeopathy. Simple. I said this at the very beginning. So go back to the principles. It's a, you know, it's a law of similars. We're trying to match the remedy that if you took it in a large amount, in a small amount, it would match it and help it. I really believe the highest form of homeopathy is what you do in the home for your children, for your family, for the dog, for the plants, whatever you're treating at the home, because you learn so much from doing it and you also strengthening what we call the vital force. It's like using a muscle. The more we stimulate the body to heal itself, the stronger it becomes. Because all we're ever doing is tapping into that natural healing wisdom that we all have. It's not out there. It's within us all. And the more that we tap into that, the more we connect with that, the stronger it becomes and stronger our connection becomes. It really, really does. And that's my mission anyway, is to. Is to help everyone. It's like tapping people on the, on the shoulder and going, hey, ever tried this? Have you tried homeopathy? Thank you so much for joining me today on the Homeopathy at Home podcast. I hope you found today's episode enlightening, empowering, and made you feel that you can become a competent home prescriber. Before we wrap up, I just want to invite you invite you to explore my latest book, Homeopathy at Home, published by Hay House and Penguin Random House, where you'll find even more insights into homeopathy's transformative power. So for more resources, updates, please look in the show notes below. And until next time, keep embracing homeopathy. Use it in your daily life. That's how you learn homeopathy, by using it. Until next time, take care. Thank you.