6 best soothing teas for headaches & migraines

As always, please consult with a medical professional for any health advice specific to you. The information on this page about the best teas for headaches references as many authoritative sources as possible, but is not written by a licensed medical professional!

Contents

• Herbal teas for headaches
Ginger
Feverfew
Lavender
Chamomile
Mint
• Caffeinated teas for headaches

It’s estimated that as many as 11 percent of people worldwide and 15 percent of Americans experience migraines [1][2]. Tension-type headaches, which are more mild and come with less symptoms than migraines, are only all the more common and affect at least 40 percent of adults globally [1].

Headaches are as old as humankind itself, which means people have treated this uncomfortable ailment long before conventional medicine like ibuprofen [3]. We’ve come a long way from the Neolithic populations of around 9000 BCE, which several researchers suppose treated headaches by removing pieces of skull in the hope of removing evil spirits believed to be the cause. 

However, herbal treatment is one ancient method still used to this day to relieve headache pain. Chamomile, valerian, lavender, and pepper are all herbs that are recorded in Italian folk medicine for headache treatment dating back to 5th century BCE–2nd century AD. Today, scientific evaluation has allowed us to confirm the effectiveness of many of these herbs for headaches.

Herbal teas for headache and migraine pain

While you can take herbs in the form of extracts or pills, tea is a fantastically easy and accessible alternative [4]. These are some of the best teas for headaches, as suggested by scientific studies!

Ginger

In a nutshell, ginger is a great agent for helping with mild headaches because it decreases the production of prostaglandins that cause pain [5]. Because you can easily turn a knob of ginger into a steeped drink, ginger tea makes for one of the best teas for headaches around.

In a study with 100 people who suffer from acute migraines, participants were randomly given either ginger or sumatriptan, a headache medicine [6]. Both treatments resulted in significantly less headache severity, but ginger had less clinical side effects. The study found that ginger was just as effective as the drug sumatriptan in treating headaches.

The ritual of whipping up a warm cup of tea can also be therapeutic in itself, so a cup of ginger tea with chamomile might be just the right dose of calm to ease a tension headache [5]. It’s recommended to take one cup of ginger tea at the onset of a migraine. If the headache persists, drink a second cup of tea after two hours [7].

Feverfew

Feverfew tea is not easy to find, but the daisy-like flower from Europe is commonly cited as being a highly effective herbal treatment for headaches [8]. This lemongrass feverfew tea from Buddha Teas is the only tea I’ve found so far that includes feverfew.

The National Headache Foundation has started paying more attention to feverfew and found that continuously taking feverfew extracts decreased some people’s occurrence of getting migraine headaches [9].

However, despite feverfew’s well-known reputation as being good for headaches, clinical studies still show mixed results on whether it’s effective [7]. One possible reason is that different parts of the plant and region of origin influence feverfew’s chemistry. Because the jury is out on this one, feverfew tea might not be the absolute best tea for headaches, but it’s still worth the try.

Lavender

Lavender has several medicinal uses including antidepressant and calming properties with hints of effectiveness as a tea for migraines [10].

In a study with 47 migraine patients, those who applied lavender oil saw a significant reduction in headache severity compared to placebo [7]. Other migraine symptoms like nausea and vomiting also decreased. Although these findings are positive, more extensive studies are needed to better confirm lavender’s potential when used in a tea for headaches.

Chamomile

Chamomile is one of the most recognizable herbal teas, often drunk for its calming properties. Initial studies have also hinted at chamomile tea being an agent in alleviating migraines [10].

This herbal flower has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial attributes that treat other issues like insomnia, digestive problems, and intermittent fever. Although more research is needed to confirm chamomile’s role as a tea that’s good for headaches, initial findings are positive!

Peppermint and spearmint

A naturally occurring compound found in peppermint and spearmint called menthol has been used since ancient times as a painkiller and local anaesthetic [10]. Today, menthol in mint is known as a safe and tolerable option to treat migraines [11]. Some positive physiological effects of menthol include acting as an analgesic (or pain killer), reducing the intensity of tension-like perception in migraine, and serving as an anti-inflammatory [10].

Mint tea is fast and easy to make at home if you have fresh mint. It’s suggested to infuse one to two teaspoons of dried leaves in one cup of water for 5 minutes [4]. You can even dry mint leaves for tea to enjoy the next time you need headache relief.

Caffeinated teas as a treatment (and cause!)

Caffeinated types of teas, such as green and white teas, are a bit of a double edged sword.

Several studies have shown that the combination of caffeine with analgesics, or painkillers, like aspirin or ibuprofen is more effective at migraine pain relief than just the analgesic alone [12]. Interestingly enough, caffeine is a major ingredient present in several over-the-counter migraine drugs like Excedrin [13]. Aside from enhancing the effect of painkillers, caffeine offers several other physiological effects that can help improve headache symptoms, such as boosting mood, alertness, awareness, and exercise performance [1].

In other words, a cup of caffeinated tea might be just the trick to keep your headache at bay, especially when taken with over-the-counter headache medicine.

On the other hand, caffeine can also be the culprit behind headaches (confusing, I know). If you’re trying to cut down on caffeine intake, it’s best to do so slowly, otherwise an abrupt stop can cause withdrawal symptoms like headaches [14]. Additionally, too much caffeine consumption is also a headache risk. The FDA suggests a daily 400 mg of caffeine a day as a max, or somewhere around 10 cups of green or black tea. Migraine sufferers should cap their caffeine to 200 mg, however, and try to take it as consistently as possible to avoid withdrawal [12].

So, how do you know if caffeine is the cause or treatment of your headache woes? Try meeting with your doctor to learn how caffeine affects your body.

• REFERENCES

  [1] Lipton, Richard B et al. “Caffeine in the management of patients with headache.” The journal of headache and pain vol. 18,1 107. 24 Oct. 2017, doi:10.1186/s10194-017-0806-2

  [2] Peters, Golden L. “Migraine overview and summary of current and emerging treatment options.” The American journal of managed care vol. 25,2 Suppl (2019): S23-S34.

  [3] Mazzei, Rosalucia, et al. “Italian Folk Plant-Based Remedies to Heal Headache (XIX-XX Century).” Journal of Ethnopharmacology, vol. 210, 2018, pp. 417–433., doi:10.1016/j.jep.2017.09.005.

  [4] Medicinal Uses for Herbal Teas: Evidence, Dosing, and Preparation Methods . University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, www.fammed.wisc.edu/files/webfm-uploads/documents/outreach/im/ss_herbal_teas.pdf.

  [5] Vukovic, Laurel. "Tea for tension headaches." Natural Health, vol. 30, no. 3, Apr. 2000, p. 64. Gale OneFile: Contemporary Women's Issues, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A449316639/CWI?u=asuniv&sid=CWI&xid=1272394d.

  [6] Maghbooli, Mehdi et al. “Comparison between the efficacy of ginger and sumatriptan in the ablative treatment of the common migraine.” Phytotherapy research : PTR vol. 28,3 (2014): 412-5. doi:10.1002/ptr.4996

  [7] Yarnell, Eric. “Herbal Medicine and Migraine.” Alternative and Complementary Therapies, vol. 23, no. 5, 2017, pp. 192–201., doi:10.1089/act.2017.29131.eya.

  [8] Publishing, Harvard Health. “Headache Remedies to Help You Feel Better.” Harvard Health, Sept. 2016, www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/headache-remedies-to-help-you-feel-better.

  [9] University, Sam Houston State. “Headaches.” SHSU, www.shsu.edu/dept/counseling/headaches.html.

  [10] Lopresti, Adrian L., et al. “Herbal Treatments for Migraine: A Systematic Review of Randomised‐Controlled Studies.” Phytotherapy Research, vol. 34, no. 10, 2020, pp. 2493–2517., doi:10.1002/ptr.6701.

  [11] Borhani Haghighi, A et al. “Cutaneous application of menthol 10% solution as an abortive treatment of migraine without aura: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossed-over study.” International journal of clinical practice vol. 64,4 (2010): 451-6. doi:10.1111/j.1742-1241.2009.02215.x

  [12] Nowaczewska, Magdalena, et al. “The Ambiguous Role of Caffeine in Migraine Headache: From Trigger to Treatment.” Nutrients, vol. 12, no. 8, 2020, p. 2259., doi:10.3390/nu12082259.

  [13] Shmerling, Robert H. “If You Have Migraines, Put down Your Coffee and Read This.” Harvard Health Blog, 25 Nov. 2019, www.health.harvard.edu/blog/if-you-have-migraines-put-down-your-coffee-and-read-this-2019093017897.

  [14] “Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, 12 Dec. 2018, www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/spilling-beans-how-much-caffeine-too-much.

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