Brew a pot of soothing Headache Tea and feel your throbbing pain melt away as you sip. (Skip to recipe.)
There come those familiar signs again . . . a throbbing in my forehead, it hurts to blink my eyes, my neck feels like it's done a 360° rotation, a medicine ball is expanding inside my brain, and a dull ripple of nausea lolls in my stomach.
The headache has landed. Again.
I heave myself up and quickly boil a pot of water to simmer my concoction of dried herbs. I pour the golden liquid through a tea strainer into my mug, then sip, sip, sip. I can head off that unwelcome visitor before it takes off its coat and settles into my noggin for a long, painful visit.
I've been brewing this concoction to handle my headaches for years, and if I catch the headache early enough, I have good success in keeping it from becoming a full-fledged migraine.
Because over-the-counter pain relievers are not always the safest option!
Each of the herbs I use in my Headache Tea mix do their part to help reduce the throbbing pain.
Catnip is a herb from the mint family. It helps to relax your muscles and its soothing action aids in relieving a headache.
Feverfew's flowers resemble small daisies and it's a member of the sunflower family. It's been a known headache remedy since ancient times, and can help in preventing migraines.
Valerian root is a traditional medicinal plant used for pain relief and as a relaxant.
Willow bark contains salicin, which produces similar effects to the active ingredient found in aspirin and has long been known as a headache and pain relieving remedy, but without the stomach upsets that come with aspirin.
This tea may not work for everyone, or for every type of headache, but for me - it really works, and even though it has bitter overtones from the herbs, I quite like the taste. I guess my mind knows the teas's helping my headache, so it tells my taste buds to shut up and drink it.
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Kitchen Frau Notes: It's not always easy to find these herbs, but is worth searching out different health food stores and natural foods stores to track them down. Once you've got them, you can keep the herbs in a cool dry place for several years, and mix up a batch of this healing Headache Tea whenever you run out.
Headache Tea
- dried catnip
- dried feverfew
- dried valerian root
- dried white willow bark (chopped, not powdered)
Mix together equal parts, by volume, of the four dried herbs. (I like to use ¼ cup of each.) Store in a glass container with an airtight lid. Keep in a dark place, for up to a year or longer.
To brew Headache Tea: In a medium-sized saucepan, combine 4 cups (1 litre) filtered water with 1 tablespoon of the Headache Tea herb mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low. Cover the pot with a lid, and simmer the tea for 10 minutes. Strain through a tea strainer into a mug. Add honey to taste, if desired.
Keep the remaining tea, covered, on the lowest heat - just low enough to keep it hot until you drink the last of it. You can also pour it into a thermos or thermal carafe to keep hot until you finish it. Leave the herbs in the tea to continue steeping and strain them out for each cupful as you pour it.
Sip all the tea over the course of several hours, starting as soon as you feel the first symptoms of a headache coming on.
*Do not use Headache Tea when pregnant or nursing, or if using blood thinners, and do not give it to children. As with all herbal and natural remedies, use with caution and seek the advice of a medical expert if you have any pre-existing medical conditions, are on any prescription drugs, or develop symptoms from using the herbal remedies.
Good Health!
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Kay Golden
Hi Margaret! I always enjoy reading your blog. Hope you don't get too many of those headaches. I wanted to let you know I do not do the linked in site. Please contact me through my email.
Margaret
Thanks so much, Kay. 🙂 Happy New Year to you!
Nancy Jay
Hi Margaret,
I'm going to try and look for those herbs in our Health Food Store here in Terrace, BC. Hope you are staying warm and cozy during these winter months? We have had almost 2 weeks of clear skies with amazing sun rises/sun sets.
Thanks for sharing.
PS I like getting your post delivered right to my Inbox.
Margaret
So nice to hear from you. Thanks for subscribing to my blog! It's been quite beautiful here, too, lately, though much colder. We've had lots of days of beautiful hoarfrost on the treas, making everything sparkly white. Happy New Year to you all!
Sina
This is so great, Margaret! Just these days I've been haunted by just the kind of headache you describe in the beginning of your post and it was awful. I'll definitely try this out next time the visitor knocks on my door. Thank's a lot!
Best wishes from Germany, Sina
Margaret
I can totally sympathize with you - those headaches are not much fun to deal with. 🙁 I hope the tea works as well for you as it does for me. And best wishes to you from the snowy north here in Canada!