Headache cures MDs swear by

No matter what’s causing that headache, you want to help the little one in your life feel better fast. To the rescue: Top doctors share the go-to natural remedies they “prescribe” when their own children battle pain

FOR STRESS HEADACHES

A “calm kit” “My oldest daughter struggled with headaches after an anxiety-provoking week of making friends and learning unfamiliar skills in a new art class,” says mother-of-two Whitney Casares, M.D., author of The Newborn Baby

Blueprint. “I turned to our ‘Calm Kit,’ which stays in a mini suitcase in my daughter’s bedroom, so it’s handy at home and easy to take on trips.” In it, Dr. Casares keeps a lavender aromatherapy spray, a stress ball and an old iPod loaded with a peaceful playlist. “Soothing music triggers the body’s relaxation response, which helps ease a headache,” says Dr. Casares. Squeezing the stress ball also helps relieve headache-causing tension while lavender reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol by 70%. After 15 minutes, Dr. Casares’ daughter always feels better!

FOR MIGRAINES

A soothing elixir “My daughter used to get migraines when she was younger,” shares Shahram Jacobs, M.D., a holistic physician and father of three. “I wanted to exhaust other options before turning to medicine, so I made my own concoction featuring white tea.” Why white tea? “Caffeine constricts blood vessels to relieve a headache, but too much can cause trouble sleeping—white tea has less caffeine than black or green.” To boost the tea’s pain-relieving power, he stirs in 50 mg. of liquid magnesium, which helps with paininducing muscle spasms, then adds a teaspoon of honey for sweetness. “Thirty minutes later,” he says, “the pain lessened enough for her to return to playing.”

FOR TECH HEADACHES

A tennis-ball massage When her kids get screen-time headaches, Heather Bartos, M.D., medical director at Be. Women’s Health & Wellness in Cross Roads, Texas, shuts off the computer and has them do a body-alignment exercise. As she explains, tech pain is often caused by posture—many of us thrust our head forward while on the computer, putting pressure on the posterior neck muscles. Her to-do: She has her kids lie on the floor and balance a tennis ball under their neck. “This keeps their chin and forehead on the same plane,” she explains. Then she has them make circles with the ball, rolling it around under their neck. “This puts gentle, soothing pressure on the muscles,” Dr. Bartos notes. After a few minutes, headaches vanish!