You're shopping, traveling, wrapping, cooking—and whoomf! a headache happens. For ordinary headaches caused by the stresses and strains of daily life, a calming cup of herbal tea may be all you need to get going again. Use these dried headache herbs, brewed with 1 cup boiling water and sweetened with honey:
- Lavender, lemon balm, meadowsweet, ½ teaspoon each
- Sage, rosemary, mint, ½ teaspoon each
- Rosemary, marjoram, peppermint, ½ teaspoon each
A cool lavender compress for the temples and a quiet rest in a dark room may also give you the relief you need.
Herbs for Migraine Relief:
- Scientists suggest feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium), which contains an anti-inflammatory compound known as parthenolide. (Do not use this herb if you are pregnant or using other blood thinners.)
- Herbalist David Hoffmann recommends making a tea of equal parts of black willow, meadowsweet, passion flower, valerian and wood betony.
- Herbalist Susun Weed suggests tincture of vervain (20-40 drops in water, at bedtime), or a mixture of skullcap tincture (3-5 drops) and St. John's wort (25-30 drops), repeated every 10 minutes for 3-5 doses.
Read more about headache relief and other herbal remedies:
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Feverfew dried and made into pouder, and two drams of it taken with honey or sweet wine, purgeth by siege melancholy and flegme; where it is very good for them that are giddie in the head, or which have the turning called Vertigo.
—John Gerard, Herbal, 1597
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