Herbal Teas for Headaches: The Ultimate List

What herbal tea is good for headaches? Ginger, peppermint, chamomile, feverfew, and lavender are the most common options. For your migraine symptoms, ginger tea may be a good option. But for prevention, you may opt for feverfew. 

Headaches can be debilitating. That’s why when you see any relief, you would use it right away. While these herbal teas offer natural relief, pairing them with the principles in our Mindful Eating Guide can help you create a holistic routine that supports your overall well-being. But which teas should you start with?

What Herbal Tea is Good for Headaches? 

Peppermint Tea is Great for Headaches Related to Your Sinuses

Applying peppermint tea to your forehead can relieve tension headaches. Or you can drink it as a tea. Either way, it can alleviate the pain.  

What this tea does is dilate vessels in the brain. It works like a painkiller. That is, it opens the vessels to bring you relief. 

To use it, steep a few dried leaves of peppermint for a few minutes. It’s best to drink it hot. 

This tea is also useful if your headache is related to your blocked sinuses. It has a menthol flavor that might help in fighting sinus issues. It thins your mucus so it won’t block the sinuses, causing headaches. It can also act as a decongestant that breaks phlegm and congestion. 

To use it to clear sinuses, inhale the steam from your hot peppermint tea before drinking it. Or you can add peppermint to your dehumidifier. 

Ginger — Best Studied for Migraine Symptoms 

It’s not an actual tea. Rather, it comes from the ginger root. But just like peppermint, ginger tea is also beneficial in alleviating headaches. It’s rich in antioxidants that can lower inflammation, which causes headaches. 

In a 2014 study, researchers showed that consuming ginger powder was as powerful as sumatriptan when it comes to treating migraines. Sumatriptan is one of the migraine medications being used by many. 

You may also use ginger in other forms, like capsules, essential oil, beverages, lozenges, and gels. If your migraine includes nausea and vomiting, you may consider essential oil, as taking a capsule by mouth can be difficult. 

Taking a ginger supplement may also benefit you in preventing headaches. However, be careful in taking it as some people experienced mild effects, like gas, diarrhea, rash, and heartburn. 

Clove Tea 

 

This is an important spice in Indonesia. It’s also an effective remedy to treat headaches because of its antinociceptive properties, which can block the perception of pain. 

To use it as a herbal remedy, you may grind a tablespoon of whole cloves. Then, in a pan, add a cup of water before adding the cloves. Bring the mixture to a boil. Allow it to steep for five minutes. Before drinking it, let it cool first. 

You may also add a teaspoon of honey to it to make the beverage sweeter.

Chamomile Tea is Ideal if Your Headache is Caused by Poor Sleep

It’s a tea known for its relaxing properties. And it’s one of the reasons it’s ideal for alleviating your migraine. It’s also useful if your migraine is associated with stomach discomfort. 

Chamomile tea is also useful if you have difficulty sleeping. It’s considered as effective in treating anxiety as well. 

This is a caffeine-free tea that is a better alternative to having regular tea. It’s also rich in antioxidants that can effectively lower the risk of diseases, like heart disease and cancer. 

As to how much chamomile tea you must drink to effectively treat headaches, there’s no standard dose. If you’re taking the capsule form, you can take up to 1,600 mg per day. 

On the other hand, if you’re making the tea, you may drink up to four cups a day. If you’re making tea, you should steep chamomile flowers in hot water for 10 minutes. It’s ideal to drink chamomile tea rather than in capsule form to ensure that you’re getting pure chamomile. 

When making chamomile tea, you must dry the flowers first before infusing them into hot water. You may like this tea more than black or green tea because of its absence of caffeine. 

Apart from alleviating headaches, chamomile tea is also useful in controlling blood sugar because of its anti-inflammatory effects. That said, if you frequently experience headaches and you have high blood sugar, then chamomile tea is your best option among the many teas. 

However, if you’re allergic to ragweed, then you must try other teas, as you may develop allergic reactions to chamomile. 

Lavender Tea is a Relaxation Tea

This tea may not be your first option in alleviating your headache. However, lavender tea has been used for thousands of years as a natural remedy for headaches and anxiety. 

But in ancient times, people were using lavender oil to treat their headaches. Some studies showed that lavender has similar effects as benzodiazepines, which are known as relaxants. However, more studies are needed to recommend this tea for this purpose. 

Lavender tea isn’t only useful to treat headaches, but it is also ideal in treating restlessness, pain, fatigue, and improving sleep.

It’s easy to brew this tea. The brewing method is the same as brewing other teas. That is, you may add a teaspoon of dried lavender leaves or powder to a glass of hot water. Let it steep for up to 7 minutes. 

The flavor of this tea is quite strong. Thus, be prepared for it. You may mix it with other herbs to make it palatable if you want. 

If you choose this tea as a natural reliever for your headaches, then make sure that you’re choosing the highest quality grade lavender tea. In that case, you can be sure you’re getting more of the ingredients. 

Choose the Lavandula aungustifolia type of lavender to effectively treat your headache. Some types of lavender may have a stimulating effect. 

Feverfew Tea is Used to Prevent Migraines 

For centuries, feverfew has been used as a pain reliever. Its aromatic leaves can help prevent migraines. Related to the daisy, feverfew has parthenolide, which is said to disrupt serotonin and prostaglandins. These are naturally occurring substances in the body that cause blood vessels to dilate. They can also trigger migraines. 

By taking it daily for several months, this plant can prevent migraines. Unfortunately, it doesn’t show how to treat them. In that case, if you take it when you have a migraine attack, it may not be useful. 

In some studies, feverfew lowers the frequency of migraines and also their severity. However, some users might have received mixed results. 

As for the dosage, you may take feverfew tea daily. You can purchase feverfew tea bags online. If you don’t like drinking tea, though, you may take feverfew oral tablets, liquid extract, or capsules. 

No matter what brand of feverfew you are using, make sure that you follow its instructions for the right dose. 

Some people, they reported mouth ulcers after drinking feverfew tea. Hence, if you notice ulcers in your mouth, they could be a side effect of feverfew. When steeping feverfew leaves, use fewer leaves and add more water to avoid mouth ulcers. 

If you’re allergic to ragweed, marigolds, and similar plants, you must avoid feverfew. It’s also not ideal for you if you’re using blood-thinning medicine. 

Willow Bark Tea to Relieve Your Headaches

During 400 BC, people were advised to use willow bark to alleviate their fever and reduce inflammation. This plant has been used in China and Europe throughout the centuries. Today, many people are still using it to treat low back pain, headaches, and various inflammatory conditions. 

Willow bark has salicin. It’s a chemical that has properties similar to aspirin. Apart from salicin, this bark has anti-inflammatory compounds known as flavonoids. When you combine these two, you are getting both pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties. 

Because it’s natural, drinking willow bark tea to relieve headaches will not cause any gastrointestinal complications. In that case, it’s safer than other pain relievers available, like ibuprofen, which can be harmful to the stomach. Then again, large-scale studies are required to determine how safe willow bark tea is in treating chronic headaches. 

However, many people have sworn by willow bark tea’s effectiveness in treating their headaches. 

You must not take this tea if you’re allergic to salicylates, like aspirin. As mentioned earlier, this tea contains salicin, which is similar to aspirin. Before you take this tea, make sure that you consult your physician, especially if you suffer from stomach ulcers, liver issues, or kidney diseases. 

Never take this tea if you’re pregnant. 

Drink Water 

 

To further relieve yourself of your headache and migraine, you must drink more water. In various studies, they showed that chronic dehydration could cause tension headaches and migraines.

Within 30 minutes of drinking water, your headache may be relieved. 

Wrapping Up 

What herbal tea is good for headaches? There are lots of them. You can get started with those teas mentioned above. If your migraine is associated with blurry vision, extreme nausea, and vomiting, you should contact your doctor right away. Or go to the nearest emergency room.

If you are experiencing physical distress like headaches, your body is telling you that your current routine is causing internal stress. 

Download our Mindful Eating Journal PDF: Use our clinical-style tracker to log these sensations and identify the specific biological triggers behind your headaches for just $12. 

What Herbal Tea is Good for Headaches: FAQs

What herbal tea is best for headaches? 

Ginger, peppermint, chamomile, feverfew, and lavender are commonly associated with headache relief. However, the evidence differs. Ginger has some research involving migraine symptoms. But feverfew has been studied mainly for migraine prevention. 

Is ginger tea good for headaches? 

Ginger may be relevant to migraines. Some studies show that ginger preparations offer benefits for short-term migraine pain. However, it doesn’t mean that ginger tea itself can provide a therapeutic effect. 

Does peppermint tea help headaches? 

Peppermint is associated with headache relief. However, the use of topical peppermint oil is more beneficial for tension-type headaches. Peppermint tea may be soothing as it doesn’t contain caffeine. 

Is chamomile tea good for headaches? 

Chamomile tea is helpful as part of your relaxing routine if your headache is a result of poor sleep. There are studies to prove that chamomile tea could help with headaches. But they are limited. 

Should I drink water or tea for a headache? 

If dehydration is the cause of your headache, you should opt to drink water. A headache is one of the symptoms of dehydration. Herbal tea can hydrate you.