Herbal Medicine for Headaches
By Nathaniel Whitmore
Headaches, like all forms of pain, are messages of imbalance. Taking a “pain killing” pill ignores this fundamental fact. When attempting to heal ourselves, we should always consider what in our life needs attention or adjustment. This is true for headaches, stress, cancer, and all of the other names we have created for what are actually messages from our own bodies and souls.
While on the journey to discover the roots of our illnesses, we can employ many natural methods to bring ourselves into balance. Activity, posture, diet, stress, emotional relationships, and lifestyle habits are all factors influencing the causes of headaches. Exercise, meditation, massage, shiatsu (acupressure), and herbs can help to ease pain and encourage balance.
There are several body systems and functions that should be considered when attempting to understand headaches. These include the cardiovascular system, the digestive system, the musculoskeletal system, the nervous system, the fluid balance in the body, and the energy (life force / chi) that governs all of these.
Headaches can be related to circulatory and blood pressure imbalances. Herbs that stimulate blood circulation and herbs that lower blood pressure tend to be particularly helpful. Such herbs include Black Cohosh, Ginger, Rosemary, Hawthorn, and Ginkgo.
If the digestive system is out balance, many health problems can arise, including headaches. Of particular importance is the function of the liver and gall bladder. The liver meridian travels up to the eyes on the inside of the body, and the gall bladder meridian travels from the temples across the side of the head, down the neck and shoulders, and down the side of the body. When headaches affect behind the eyes, the temples, the sides of the head, and the base of the skull, it could be related to liver function. Often certain gall bladder pressure points will be sore and will benefit from shiatsu. For liver related headaches, it is important not to overeat, especially fatty foods. Bitter herbs, such as Wormwood and Dandelion, can be used.
One of the most widely used pressure points for headaches is on the back of the hands between the metacarpals (hand bones) of the thumb and index fingers. It is a large intestine point and is particularly indicated for headaches that occur with constipation. Yellow Dock is an herb that can be helpful to promote a healthy bowel movement, and it is another good herb for liver health.
Many headaches are due to muscular tension in the shoulders and neck and to spinal (especially cervical) misalignments. Herbs that can help relax tense muscles include Skullcap, Valerian, and Hops. Hops is another herb that promotes healthy liver and digestive function.
Exercise is beneficial for all three of these body systems discussed so far. It helps promote digestion. It strengthens the heart and normalizes blood pressure and circulation, and it strengthens the back, neck and shoulders and corrects poor posture. Walking is one of the best and simplest exercises. Yoga and Tai Chi are also great. Additionally, all these exercise forms help to relieve stress. If stress is a major cause of tense shoulders and headaches, specific practices and herbs are indicated. For instance, meditation and prayer can help people to cope with stress. Proper meditation posture can also help strengthen, straighten, and relax the back. Meditation, contemplation, and observance of nature can help us to avoid excessive stress. Watching television is not a healthy way to relax. For one thing, if you are revved up about politics or soaking in the adrenaline rush of an action movie, you are not relaxed. Another major problem with watching television is that it often strains the eyes, which can lead to headaches. This is also true for using computers and reading books. An additional problem with these three activities is that our posture tends to remain in an unhealthy position for extended periods of time. Be mindful of your posture if you are on the computer or reading and take time to move your visual focus around the room and out the window regularly. Just stop watching television all together.
Inactivity tends to lead to headaches (and other aches). If you are inactive due to a lack of energy, use nourishing herbs and energy tonics. If you have chronic low energy, you have likely already tried, and even abused, the stimulant herbs like green tea and coffee. These are generally not recommended in excess. The energy tonics, however, give energy without overstimulating and depleting the body’s energy reserves. These include American Ginseng, Licorice, and Calamus. These can overstimulate if used in excess, but you should not do that. Instead, use them regularly in small amounts to build up the body’s energy.
Nutritive herbs nourish the blood and provide a large array of micronutrients and trace minerals to the body. These can help with anemia along with other more subtle forms of nutritional deficiency. Such herbs include Dandelion, Burdock, Chickweed, Nettles, and Blueberries. These herbs will help to rebuild a system that is chronically tired, hypersensitive, and immune deficient.
The immune system should be specifically addressed if headaches are due to colds, flu, sinus infections, and the like. Diaphoretics are herbs that help at the onset of colds and flu. They include Boneset, Blue Vervain, Yarrow, Peppermint, and Lemon Balm. These herbs have other overlapping benefits. Blue Vervain used over time can also help reduce muscular tension and other effects of stress. Peppermint is also very calming and used to avoid the effects of stress. Lemon Balm is also beneficial in cases of stress and for headaches that occur with depression.
Lemon Balm, Peppermint, and other aromatic herbs have a pleasant dispersing nature that can help to disperse the pain of headaches. Other aromatics to consider include Rosemary, Lavender, and Chamomile. In addition to calming the mind and relaxing the body, these herbs have a beneficial effect on digestion. You might also want to consider using the essential oils of such herbs.
My friend, Maya, is a practitioner of aromatherapy, energy healing, and shamanism in the area. She has her own line of essential oil blends called “Mayasblends.” She recommends inhaling oils from a drop on the palm, in bowl of steaming water, or applying them to head, temples, or sinus area. Maya reports that, “There are many essential oils that have analgesic, pain-relieving properties that are useful in clearing headaches. The ones most often recommended that are readily available are Peppermint, Lavender, and Clary Sage.
“The one I reach for most often is Peppermint (Mentha piperata). In addition to being analgesic, it is anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic. Though cool and dry in nature, it is highly stimulating as it stimulates the chi, so the first sensation upon application is warming. As a stimulant, it helps to increase the flow of blood, so is useful if the pain is from congestion or constriction of blood vessels. Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia), one of the most versatile essential oils, also has pain relieving and anti-inflammatory properties, but its affect on the chi is more of a soothing and balancing one. I use this for headaches at night, or when calming is needed. Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea) is anti-spasmodic and a neurotonic. It is useful when fatigue is present, as it not only circulates stuck chi, but acts as a tonic to strengthen chi. It’s also a wonder tonic for headaches due to feminine hormonal imbalance.”
Sometimes a headache can be as simple as a request for water. A glass of water is an easy first remedy to try, especially if you have not been drinking much, or have been drinking too much of a diuretic (such as alcohol or coffee), or have eaten too much salt, meat, or dry bread. Consider how a hangover often involves headaches. While this is due to many factors, it is partially due to dehydration. It may seem strange that drinking so much can leave you so dry. The body, however, releases more water than it takes in when diuretics are consumed.
It is also interesting to consider how people often get headaches when they miss their habitual cup of coffee. In this case, it is the opposite of the hangover- the headache comes before the drinking. It might still have to do with the ingestion of a diuretic, though, for the habitual use of any strong substance affects the overall balance of the body.
There are many substances that our body learns to balance in spite of. That first cup of coffee you had as a teenager likely kept you up all night. Tobacco is quite poisonous, and it would make a non-smoker sick to have a cigarette. A smoker, however, can smoke one cigarette after another, and a habitual coffee drinker can have one cup after another. The mystery behind these phenomena is the body’s amazing ability to do the best with what it is given. The body automatically strives for balance.
A substance with a strong physiological response demands more of a balancing “act” than the normal staple food, water, sunshine, and clean air. So, if in the midst of a spectacular internal circus act, we suddenly remove a very strong influence (such as white sugar, coffee, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, marijuana, or alcohol), we will be thrown off balance.
It is important to note that even if you do not intentionally consume such strong substances, you might still be exposed to physiologically active toxins in your food, drink, and air, or through your skin. Preservatives, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and hormones are common contaminants of our diets and the environment. The air and water are filled with pollution from oil, gas, diesel fuel, and other toxins from our vehicles. Many people are aware of being sensitive to the sulfites in wine, which tend to cause headaches. Doesn’t it make sense that the other chemicals that we consume or are exposed to could have similar effects, even if they are more subtle? If pollution is causing headaches, it seems that the only remedy is to reverse the pollution- to clean up the earth and our diets. Choose local, organic, unprocessed food, for example. It might also prove useful to use herbs that have a detoxing effect on the body. We have mentioned several such herbs already, such as Dandelion, Yellow Dock, Burdock, Nettles, and Calamus. Others to consider include Ground Ivy (specific for heavy metal toxicity), Milk Thistle, and Shiitake.
Another important group of herbs for headaches are those with salicylic acid, such as Willow, Spirea, Birch, and Myrtle. Salicylic acid was originally discovered in Willow bark by a German chemist. It is now synthesized to produce the modern pain killers. Aspirin is named after the plant genus Spirea, the species of which have been used just as Aspirin is used today. Meadowsweet (which was once a Spirea, but now belongs to the genus Filipendula) is an herb that not only does not cause stomach ulcers as its synthetic relatives are known to do, but actually has been used to cure them.
This article would not be complete without mention of one of the best-known herbs for headaches: Feverfew. As its name indicates, Feverfew is a remedy for fevers. It is probably best known today as a remedy for migraines. It is related to the Chinese Chrysanthemum, which is one of the most widely used anti-inflammatory and beverage herbs in China.
In summary, headaches can have various and complex causes. If you should be suffering from a headache, consider what in your life needs to be brought into balance. Then consider the wide world of natural remedies that are available to you. Do you need diaphoretics, such as Blue Vervain or Peppermint? Do you need anti-inflammatories, such as Willow or Feverfew? Do you need nervines, such as Skullcap or Hawthorn? Do you need digestive herbs, such as Dandelion or Calamus?
It is interesting that our tendency is to see headaches as annoying and inconvenient. I am quite certain, though, that our bodies do not just develop aches in order to bother us. Headaches are the result of imbalances (subtle or blatant) in our bodies. Chi, cerebrospinal fluid, blood, nervous system function, etc. could be out of balance. Your job, if you should suffer from headaches or other aches and pains, is to understand the message.
Nathaniel Whitmore tries to avoid the headaches of life by spending a great deal of time in the woods and the other wild places of our area. In doing so (and along with the help of formal training in herbalism, shiatsu, and macrobiotics), he has developed a working knowledge of the wild plants, especially those that are edible and medicinal. Nathaniel delights in teaching about these plants, which he does on tours of natural outdoor areas and in his office on Church Street in Honesdale, at the Honesdale Wellness Center. Nathaniel also maintains his private practice as a consulting herbalist and shiatsu therapist at the Honesdale Wellness Center. Call him at (570) 224-0264.
© Copyright 2010 Connections Magazine
