Head tension & headaches

Folk care for a headache aims at the neck and shoulders: a warm compress, a cooling scent on the temples, quiet and darkness. The herb is usually the carrier of warmth, cold or scent, not an analgesic.

The same category covers the banal causes that tradition thinks of before any diagnosis: too little water, a skipped meal, long work in one position, missing caffeine in someone used to it.

Tension-type headache and migraine are different things with different treatment — and herbal interventions have data of varying strength for them, weak to none for some species. The specific level of evidence is always on the herb card.

For recurring headaches the most useful thing is a boring one: a diary. Frequency, triggers and response to medication tell a doctor more than any tea.

A sudden, worst-ever headache, a headache with fever and a stiff neck, one after a blow to the head or one accompanied by weakness, slurred speech or a visual disturbance — that is an acute condition and belongs with a doctor at once, not in herbal practice.

A headache that appears more than a few times a month also belongs with your GP, as does a rising use of ordinary painkillers — medication overuse itself provokes headaches.