Everyday pain can disrupt your daily life and prevent you from doing the things you love. It’s your body’s way of telling you that you may have overdone it — but that doesn’t mean you have to suffer. Try adding herbs that are traditionally used to help relieve common, everyday pain to your routine.*
Taking herbal supplements can go a long way toward supporting an active lifestyle and minimizing the pain that is due to normal daily wear and tear.*
In this article, we discuss the best herbs for pain and tell you everything you need to know so you can choose the one that’s right for you.
The Best Herbs for Pain*
1) Turmeric
Traditional Uses
Turmeric has been used for thousands of years in Southeastern and Eastern Asia as a traditional medicine and spice.* In fact, reports of its use as an herb to help reduce occasional inflammation due to normal daily wear and tear go as far back as 600 B.C.1
Turmeric in combination with other herbs may also help support:*
How to Take It
You can add a teaspoon of Turmeric to soups, sauces, or smoothies. Adding culinary Turmeric is beneficial and we recommend including it in your diet. As a food, Turmeric supports your ojas (vital energy), and, being a bitter herb, it supports digestion, too.*
However, Turmeric root powder as a food ingredient /spice doesn’t offer the same targeted support that a supplement does. The fat-soluble active components of Turmeric, including its essential oils, need to pass the blood-brain barrier to offer targeted support in the body.*
In culinary uses, these essential oils are not preserved (cooking only releases their aroma and flavor) or not available (most uncooked preparations do not support the absorption of those fat-soluble components), and the potency of dried Turmeric diminishes over time.
For an even easier way to reduce occasional inflammation due to overactivity and to support a healthy inflammatory response, try Gaia Herbs Turmeric Supreme Pain.* No measuring spoons. No recipes. Just easy-to-take Liquid Phyto-Caps® for a Turmeric boost any time, day or night.
If you’re interested in learning more about our herbal supplements, we’ve got you covered. Here at Gaia Herbs, we are committed to transparency and want you to know what’s in the supplements you’re taking.
That’s why we created Meet Your Herbs®, the world’s first herb traceability platform. There, you’ll discover the origin of your herbs, learn how they were grown, and see validation of your product’s level of purity and potency.
We verify at every stage of the Gaia Herbs seed-to-shelf journey — because you deserve to know exactly what’s in your herbal supplement.
2) Ginger
Traditional Uses
Ask any Ayurvedic professional and you’ll find that Ginger is highly recommended. In fact, it’s one of the most widely consumed aromatic spices on the planet.
The Ginger plant — a member of the Zingiberaceae family — originally grew wild in the tropical climate of Asia, but it is now successfully grown as a food crop in the Caribbean and Africa.
Ginger is considered a good choice to help manage common pain because it helps support a normal inflammatory system and a healthy immune response.*2
Ginger in combination with other herbs may also help support:*
How to Take It
Like Turmeric, Ginger is easy to add to your favorite recipes. But for an even simpler way to incorporate Ginger into your balanced diet, try Gaia Herbs Ginger Supreme herbal supplement.
3) Clove
Traditional Uses
Another herb for common, everyday pain is Clove. Cloves are the dried buds of the Syzygium aromaticum tree, an evergreen in the Myrtaceae family that is native to Indonesia.
Clove has been an important herb in Indian cooking for hundreds of years. You’ll find it in spice blends such as garam masala and biryani. You’ll also find it in masala chai, which is a key ingredient in Chai Tea.
Clove became so popular in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Britain that it was valued almost as much as gold and was one of several reasons that merchants and royalty alike sought to improve trade routes with South East Asia.
Like many of the other herbs for pain on this list, Clove supports a healthy immune system and is believed to support a healthy inflammatory response, which can help manage the symptoms you feel when something is out of balance in your body.*3
The high amount of Eugenol essential oil in the dried flower bud is responsible for the highly aromatic characteristics and the "numbing" sensation it has been reported to provide.*
Clove in combination with other herbs may also help support:*
How to Take It
Today, chefs still use cloves as a way to enhance the flavor and aroma in their dishes. But to experience the benefits of this common herb in supplement form, try Gaia Herbs Wormwood Black Walnut Supreme, which includes Clove in it, or search for Clove in our herb reference guide.
4) Feverfew
Traditional Uses
We’ve included Feverfew — also called featherfew and bachelor’s buttons — on this list of herbs for pain because people have been traditionally using it for years as a treatment for occasional fevers, headaches, stiffness, toothaches, and stomachaches, and for the occasional common pain experienced from increased activity — such as a work out.*
Feverfew is a member of the Asteraceae family, along with the daisy, and is native to the Balkan Mountains of Eastern Europe.
The ancient Greeks even used Feverfew (then called Parthenium) in their medical remedies. As legend has it, Feverfew was used to save the life of an unfortunate individual who fell from the Parthenon on the acropolis in Athens.
Feverfew in combination with other herbs may also help support:*
How to Take It
Feverfew has some strong side effects if taken in too high a dosage, so be sure to talk to a doctor or Ayurvedic professional before adding it to your routine, and always follow product instructions.4
For nighttime comfort of occasional pain, try Gaia Herbs Turmeric Supreme Pain P.M..*
5) Rosemary
Traditional Uses
Rosemary is another one of the herbs on this list that has been used for thousands of years.
The Rosemary plant — derived from the Latin for “dew (ros) and “sea” (marinus) — is a member of the mint family and is native to the Mediterranean regions in and around Greece.
Before refrigeration — and even after — chefs and farmers in milder climates used Rosemary as a preservative, along with Oregano and Thyme, to keep meat fresh longer during the summer months.
Rosemary contains antioxidants that are believed to help support a healthy inflammatory response in healthy individuals when your body is out of balance, which is why many believe this is a good herb to turn to in order to help manage and provide additional relief of occasional aches and pains.*5
Rosemary in combination with other herbs may also help support:*
- Brain and cognition
- Digestion
- Foundational support / normal wear and tear
- Immunity
- Heart health and circulation
- Men’s health
How to Take It
This powerful plant can be found in our Turmeric Supreme Pain that we mentioned earlier, as well as other herbal supplements for various health concerns.*
6) Boswellia
Traditional Uses
Boswellia serrata trees — from which the herb gets its name — grow in the dry, mountainous climates of India, the Middle East, and Northern Africa.
As an herb for pain, Boswellia (a.k.a. Indian Frankincense) has been used by Ayurvedic practitioners for many years as a traditional support for occasional pain.*6
Boswellia in combination with other herbs may also help support:
How to Take It
To incorporate Boswellia into your diet and support joint health, try Gaia Herbs Turmeric Supreme Joint so you can keep enjoying your active lifestyle.*
7) Aloe Vera
Traditional Uses
Aloe is one of the most common health plants in homes across the country and is a welcome addition to this list of herbs for pain.
The Aloe plant is native to the warm climates of Southern Africa but is also successfully grown in hot, dry regions such as the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Although Aloe Vera grows best with minimal water and lots of sun, the root can survive freezing temperatures as long as the ground does not freeze and the root remains undamaged.
This plant is ideal for supporting healthy mucous membranes and maintaining hydrated skin.* In combination with other herbs, it may also help support:*
How to Take It
Aloe Vera products are made from the juice of the plant, the gel inside, and the leaf itself. You can take this herb as a tablet, a capsule, a juice, a gel, a topical ointment, or a lotion.
As with other herbs, the part of the plant used often determines the benefits you’ll receive. For example, Aloe gel and juice are considered demulcent and have soothing properties for the skin.*
On the other hand, preparations using the whole Aloe leaf, which contains a group of immune-supportive plant chemicals called polysaccharides (not found in the inner gel or juice), are traditionally known to support the body's natural elimination processes and to help maintain the intestinal tract, mucous membranes, and skin.*
To support a clear and healthy throat, try Gaia Herbs Sage & Aloe Herbal Throat Lozenges.* And to help cool occasional heartburn and relieve indigestion, try Gaia Herbs Reflux Relief.*
Seek Guidance for the Best Herbs for Pain*
It’s important to talk to your doctor before adding herbs to help support additional pain relief to your wellness routine.* While herbs may be able to help reduce the occasional common aches and pains that come with your daily activity, for more serious conditions, you will likely need more serious treatment.*
To make sure you are using the best herbs for pain for your specific concerns, it’s also a good idea to consult an Ayurvedic professional or Naturopathic doctor. They can provide you with more information, guidance, and advice on how to combine multiple herbs to achieve the best results. They can also give you instructions for adding herbs to your balanced diet.*
Be sure to always follow dosing instructions and take your herbs at the proper time of the day — energizing herbs in the morning, calming herbs in the evening — so you don’t disrupt your natural circadian rhythms.
To shop herbs for pain, search for our products by herb or by health interest or enter your zip code on our Where to Buy page to find a store near you that carries Gaia Herbs products.
REFERENCES:
1 Biological activities of Curcuma longa L. Mem Inst Oswaldo Cruz.
https://www.scielo.br/pdf/mioc/v96n5/v96n5a26.pdf
2 Volatile aroma constituents of Sri Lankan ginger. Phytochemistry.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031942200803325#:~:text=Analysis%20by%20GC%20and%20GC,%2C%20%CE%B4%2Dcadinene%20and%20farnesol.
3 Herbal Medicine: A Guide for Healthcare Professionals. The Pharmaceutical Press.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/np0207320
4 Herbal medicines in migraine prevention Randomized double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial of a feverfew preparation. Phytomedicine.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23195074/
5 Ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology--interdisciplinary links with the historical sciences. Journal of Ethnopharmacology.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16876349/
6 Immunomodulatory activity of boswellic acids of Boswellia serrata Roxb. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15320503/
7 Implications for degenerative disorders: antioxidative activity, total phenols, flavonoids, ascorbic acid, beta-carotene and beta-tocopherol in Aloe vera. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20357932/