Tea for migraines

Worldwide, the only thing people drink more often than tea is water.

Early cultures in India and China began boiling dried leaves to drink as long as 5,000 years ago.

Tea has long been used for certain medicinal properties. When dealing with migraines, some people have found that drinking tea for migraines helps. In other cases, drinking tea during a migraine attack has been found to aggravate or even cause some headaches.

Three main types of tea

Green tea, black tea and oolong all come from the Camellia sinensis plant. This large, evergreen shrub or tree grows throughout Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Traditional health uses for tea

• To promote urine excretion, as a diuretic
• To control bleeding and heal wounds, as an astringent
• To improve heart health
• To treat flatulence, or gas
• To regulate body temperature
• To regulate blood sugar

Green tea has been used for relieving migraine headaches, vomiting and diarrhea. Green tea bags have also been used to treat sunburned skin, to reduce eye puffiness or to stop bleeding gums after a pulled tooth.

For some migraine sufferers, chamomile tea, has been helpful in relieving certain migraine symptoms. Chamomile has used to help with reducing inflammation, reducing muscle spasms, relieving anxiety, treating stomach cramps, ease skin irritations and serves as a mild sedative to help with problems sleeping. Chamomile is available as a tea, liquid extract, capsules, skin ointment and as dried flower heads.

Who should not drink tea to stop migraine

Pregnant women should not take chamomile because of the risk of miscarriage.

Pregnant women should not drink large amounts of green tea because the caffeine can cause miscarriage, slow the growth of the fetus and result in low birth weight.

Breastfeeding women should not drink large amounts of tea because the caffeine can be transferred to the breast milk.

People with asthma should not take chamomile tea because it can make asthma worse.

People with allergies or sensitivities to daisies, ragweed, asters or chrysanthemums should be cautious because they may also be allergic to chamomile.

Don’t take chamomile if you also take blood thinners, sedatives, alcohol, antidepressants, birth control pills, antifungal drugs, cholesterol-lowering drugs or Seldane.

People with liver disorders should not take concentrated green tea extracts. Anyone who develops abdominal pain, dark urine, jaundice or any signs of liver problems should stop taking green tea extracts immediately and seek medical attention. There have been rare reports of liver abnormalities in people taking concentrated green tea extracts.

Many teas contain caffeine. For some people, both caffeine and tea can be a migraine trigger. If caffeine or tea is a trigger, do not drink tea in an effort to ease migraine pain.

For thorough data on any prescription drug, please check out our sister site drugfx.com.

As always, the best source for advice on treating your migraines is your own migraine specialist. These descriptions of natural remedies are provided only for informational purposes. You should begin no medication or supplement without first checking with your physician. Again, this information should in no way substitute or be mistaken for medical advice.

Written by: Otesa Miles / Reviewed by: John-Claude Krusz, PhD, MD | Last review date: November 2010. Click the References Link below for a complete list of references.

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