Ease the Ache · 2026

Medicinal herbs for headaches

The gentle plants traditionally reached for when a tension headache hits — what each does, and how to grow them.

A lavender and chamomile headache-relief tea with a cool compress on a wooden table
01

Lavender

Its aroma is a classic for tension headaches — inhaled, or as a cool compress on the forehead.

02

Chamomile

Relaxes the tension that drives many headaches, and calms a queasy stomach that comes with them.

03

Yarrow

A traditional tea for the dull, congested kind of head pain that comes with a cold.

04

California Poppy

A mild calmer that helps you rest through a headache instead of tensing against it.

Simple relief: a few drops of lavender-infused oil at the temples plus a cup of chamomile, somewhere quiet and dim. Not medical advice — see a professional for severe, sudden, or frequent headaches.

Grown & used, on video

Grow your own relief shelf

Lavender, chamomile, yarrow and California poppy are all in Nicole Apelian's Medicinal Garden Kit — non-GMO seeds plus her remedy guide.

Herbs for stress & mood →

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The Backyard Remedy Handbook

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