Easy sew sinus headache pillow

I 'may have' mentioned a time or two that I get headaches. I have tried lots of different methods to get rid of them and it seems like anything that works, doesn't work all the time. 

I have had great results using essential oils for headaches and often take turmeric or drink basil tea to help alleviate the pain. The headaches I had last week though were a real doozy!

During this last bout of headaches, I reasoned that due to an accompanying stuffy nose they were most likely sinus headaches. 

Thankfully I have a lavender eye mask. It's a silk pillow filled with flaxseed and lavender. Simply heat it up in the microwave and lay across the eye/forehead area for about 10 minutes. Instant relief!

Except, as soon as the headache started to subside I needed to warm it back up. Not a big deal during the day, but when awakened by head pain at night I didn't want to run back and forth to the kitchen a bunch of times. 

I wanted to heat it once, place it on my head and fall back to sleep as it worked. 

Clearly I needed a different eye mask. I remembered the hand warmers I made a few years back and decided to use them instead. Next time the headache hit, I warmed them up and popped them on my eyes. The heat lasted at least twice as long! 

I'm not sure if it was the rice filling, or the cotton fabric or maybe the combination of the two, but this worked much better! I just needed to make one in the right shape and add some lavender for it's amazing aromatherapy qualities.

Related reading: Make your own Lavender sleep sprays! Face mist and linen spray recipes!

Sinus headache pillow tutorial

I used cotton flannel fabric for this project, since microwaving synthetics is usually a bad idea. You can also use linen. If you're not sure what type of fabric you have, you can do the burn test to determine 

Cut fabric, one 9" X 10" piece for each mask
Fold in half, print side in and pin edges together
Sew around 3 sides, stopping before the last 2"
Clip excess fabric from corners to make them fold in more neatly
Turn inside out 
Roll up a sheet of paper to make a funnel and fill with rice and lavender. About 2 Tbs of lavender and 2 cups of rice. 
Fold in final seam and sew shut.

You can also mix a few drops of lavender essential oil in with the rice before filling the mask if  you'd like. It's a much stronger scent and would make for a great night time mask heated or not.

Related reading: How to make a corn filled heat pad for sore muscles.

Hand warmers: sewing instructions

Since it's the holidays and everyone is in a last minute gift making frenzy, (guilty!) here are the instructions for matching hand warmers. Well, more like modifications: 

Cut your 9" X 10" fabric in half to make 2 warmers. 
You'll have 2 pieces of fabric. 9" X 5" each.
Follow directions above for pinning and sewing but fill each with 1/2 cup of rice only. 

To warm your headache pillow: place in microwave for 45 seconds. To warm up the hand warmers: place the pair in the microwave for 45 seconds. 

Those times might sound a little odd considering there's twice as much rice in the headache pillow as there is in the 2 hand warmers, but your hands can tolerate much higher heat then your face can....so to stay on the safe side, only warm the headache pillow for 45 seconds. 

These make a really cute gift set, but honestly....the polar bear set is for me. I'm making more for gifts. It's a good thing I had some heart printed flannel on hand! Valentine's day not far off....

Related reading: DIY natural gifts that will be ready in time for the holidays! 

~L

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I am not a doctor or other health care professional nor do I claim to be. I am simply passing on information that has worked for me. This information is not medical advice and is for entertainment purposes only. Please see a Dr if you are ill. Click for my full disclaimer.