Pain can drive you to extremes in search of relief. Some pain medications work at the price of altered consciousness, uncomfortable side effects or the risk of addiction, according to Mayo Clinic pain specialists. Herbal remedies may be safer, but at-home relief might delay a doctor's diagnosis and care. Pain is a warning that something serious may need immediate attention. Talk to your doctor about herbal remedies you try. Potent pain-relief herbs can interact with other medications.
Willow Bark
Willow Bark contains salicin, the substance from which aspirin was developed. Willow has been known as a pain reliever for at least 2,400 years in Europe, and since prehistoric times in Native American medicine. Physicians at the University of Maryland Medical Center, in a 2009 report, confirmed that willow bark reliably and safely relieves headaches, back pain and inflammation. It is as effective as aspirin, but at a lower dose and with a longer duration of action. It is usually taken as tea three times a day and it only rarely produces mild side effects.
Aloe Vera
The aloe vera plant contains aspirin-like salicylates which provide anti-inflammatory and painkilling benefits, according to a 2003 report in The Wellness Directory of Minnesota. The plant also contains magnesium lactate, a natural antihistamine, which can reduce many allergic discomforts. Other components of aloe vera extracts speed healing of painful skin conditions, including burns, post-therapeutic radiation dermatitis, surgical wounds, chronic leg ulcers and frostbite.
Hot Pepper
Hot pepper or cayenne pepper, Capsicum frutescens, relieves inflammatory responses when applied in a topical cream. The Wellness Directory of Minnesota reports that it has been used to relieve the pain of burns, shingles, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetic neuropathy and post-therapeutic neuralgia. Toothaches can be treated with one or two drops of capsicum extract applied directly to the gum near the tooth.
Chinese Herbs
The Great Mender, known as Jin Gu Die Shang Wan, is compounded by Chinese herbalists of Ageless Herbs from 18 different healing and pain relieving herbs, while traditional practitioners at Chinese Herbs Direct use a formula that combines 24 medicinal herbs. Traditional Chinese physicians claim this formula successfully treats persons suffering the acute pain of traumatic injuries, including bone fractures, muscle tears and sprains.
Minnesota Wellness Directory singles out some of the specific pain-killing oriental herbs. One is yan hu suo, or corydalis. Corydalis reduces inflammation and relieves pain by direct central nervous system action. Some users say it compares favorably in strength to morphine and codeine.
The Chinese herb called ge gen, or pueraria root, is revered for its relief of headache pain.
Dong Quai, commonly called angelica, contains anti-inflammatory, analgesic and antiseptic substances. Chinese medicine has used dong quai for millennia to relieve menstrual discomforts. Headaches, arthritis and abdominal pain also respond to this herb.
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