Chronic Headache

Cure for Chronic Headaches - Doses for adults

Adults will usually require one to three cups a day of herbal teas (whether infused or decocted), using one teaspoon of herb per cup. Adult doses of tincture vary according to the herbs used in them. Usually half a teaspoon of single herb tinctures, three times daily is required. ith great care, you can get 80 drops onto a 5ml teaspoon, so you can work out your dose that way too, and use the formula given below to calculate a child's dose. The amount of alcohol in one teaspoon of tincture is very small but you can add the remedy to hot water and allow some of the alcohol to evaporate if you wish.

Elderly people may require different doses, as body weight falls, or if digestion isn't as good. One should start with a lower dose and work up if required.

Making your own formula for Chronic Headache

You can combine herbs in tincture or tea form to obtain a mixture of effects which will suit your individual needs. Start by choosing the actions that you want - for example relaxant, pain relieving, hormonal, and look for herbs which provide them. It is best to include no more than three or four herbs in one mixture, and with careful selection you can choose herbs with more than one action to match your requirements.

If you are using dried or fresh herbs to make teas, you should choose herbs which require the same sort of preparation (remember that roots, barks and seeds need boiling, leaves and flowers need infusing). You will only need one teaspoon of your mix because herbs act synergistically as you have learnt already.

Tinctures for Chronic Headache

These have become very popular in Britain, both among herbalists and consumers. They are made by soaking herbal material, finely chopped, in an alcoholic liquid about 70% proof. This could be brandy or vodka. Generally, you use one part herb to five parts liquid, so 100g to 500ml. Chop the herbs as finely as possible and cover with the alcohol. Turn, shake or stir every day for ten days. This is to ensure that every particle of herb is in contact with alcohol, otherwise moulds may develop. After ten days, strain and squeeze out the remaining 'marc' through a clean piece of material.

Keep the tincture you have made in a dry bottle with a tight stopper. This can be used in place of herbal tea. Each teaspoon of tincture generally gives the effect of a small cup of tea. Sometimes herbal constituents are extracted better by alcohol, so it is a useful way of preserving herbs.

In the past, wines and vinegars were used, their trace is found in the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill where Old Dame Dob did mend Jack's nob with vinegar and brown paper. It is obvious that these are much bigger doses than is often suggested on over-the-counter tincture bottles, where the manufacturer is more concerned with keeping the price and profit margin at an attractive level.

Tinctures are more expensive than teas, and you should expect to pay between f3 and £5 for a week's supply.