Since ancient times, people have collected healing herbs and used them to reduce physical suffering. Knowledge about the healing plants was being accumulated for thousands of years, resulting in a lot of remedies for the natural pain relief.
Despite the great successes observed in modern medicine, traditional medicine makes an important contribution to health care. Today, the analgesic effects of herbs are studied through scientific methods, and their use is considered one of the forms of alternative medicine.
Phytotherapy or botanical medicine is a separate science. It is based on the results of clinical trials, held by public or private pharmaceutical companies.
Thanks to scientific research, people began distinguishing herbs by their effects and other attributes. The appropriate choice of natural analgesics depends on many variables, including pain evaluation:
- Severity
- A type
- Causes
- Place of occurrence
Typically, medicinal plants are used to treat mild pain. There do exist very powerful natural analgesics, like opioids, but their sale, storage and use is controlled by the relevant government agencies. Such analgesics are available at pharmacies only on prescription.
Plants are a universal solution for natural pain relief. Herbs are used to reduce soreness of a chronic or acute origin.
To control chronic pain, people can use dried herbs. They provide an analgesic effect a few hours after the administration. The effect duration is maintained up to 12-24 hours.
For the treatment of acute pain, it is better to use liquid extracts of herbs. They are well absorbed in the stomach and provides a quick analgesic effect. Creams and gels for external use have the same quick action.
Physical suffering and discomfort manifest for various reasons. The most common of them are:
- Inflammation of soft tissues
- Viral and bacterial infections
- Damage to the skin, bones, ligaments and tendons
Each type of pain has its own set of symptoms, causes, and occurs in people with different frequency. Headache occurs in people very often, for a variety of reasons.
The feverfew plant is one of the best means for a natural pain relief. This plant is effective against chronic headaches. Feverfew is also used to control the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
The extract of feverfew is very bitter and unpleasant to the taste. People, who suffer from migraines, used feverfew extract from ancient times, but reluctantly.
Today, extracts of this plant are supplied in capsules. The use of capsules provides an analgesic effect without an unpleasant bitter aftertaste. Capsules release feverfew in the stomach, which has no taste buds.
Many medicinal plants have a pleasant aroma, like mint, for example. It provides a calming and relaxing effect, and helps with spasmodic headaches.
The healing properties of tea from mint leaves have been known since ancient times. One or more cups of tea consumed quickly calms the nervous system during a migraine attack.
Mint oil is intended for local use. Apply oil to the temples, forehead or wrist to reduce tension and ease the headache.
Many other plants can be used to treat the headache, for example:
- Basil
- Lavender
- Sage
These plants possess different healing properties and are used for various types of pain. For example, rinsing your mouth with sage decoction helps in achieving tooth pain relief very fast.
Natural remedies that contain sage effectively eliminate acute and chronic toothache. Sage will help cope with the toothache, if it is caused by:
- Destruction of enamel
- Gum diseases
- Mechanical damage to teeth
If a patient suffers from teeth problems, and he is unable to quickly get to a dentist, a few more natural remedies can help. These include clove oil, chopped garlic and vanilla extract.
These analgesics are applied directly to the affected tooth or gum. To apply clove oil or vanilla extract, it is better to use a cotton swab. A small amount of chopped garlic can be applied to the gum or tooth using your finger.
Garlic can cause burning, especially if used in large quantities. As a rule, garlic is left in the mouth for several minutes, after which you should rinse your mouth with warm salty water.
Analgesics for topical application are used not only to reduce toothache. If degenerative changes in the spine, musculoskeletal diseases or traumas cause soreness, you can use compresses or creams with natural pain killers.
Relief for back pain can be rapid or gradual. Warm compresses start to work faster than cold ones. Cold compresses are better for treating soft tissue injuries. They provide a mild and prolonged analgesic effect.
In addition to pain alleviation, the use of compresses and creams with herbs allows:
- Normalizing blood supply
- Strengthening the muscular corset
- Reducing the likelihood of injury in the future
St. John’s wort grows in various climatic zones and is one of the most famous plants, used to combat back pain. Remedies with St. John’s wort are effective for the treatment of arthritis, sciatica and neuropathic pain.
If soreness in the back is accompanied by muscle tension, you can use the valerian root alone or together with St. John’s wort. The root of this plant reduces spasms and muscle cramps, and eases the pain.
To reduce pain in muscles, bones and joints, people can add to their compresses other plants with analgesic effect, like celery root, sea buckthorn, cayenne pepper and sunflower root. Having tried various options, people can pick up the best compress for natural pain relief.
Creams that contain extracts of medicinal plants act faster and more efficiently, than the compresses do. Creams are available in many stores or pharmacies, and they are immediately ready for use.