Are you tired of popping pills every time something hurts? It's a fair thing to be tired of. So here are ten natural pain relievers you'll find on every list, with a question the lists rarely ask: has anyone tested this?
Some of them have, and a few do surprisingly well. Some have failed, and one of the studies behind them was run by the company selling the oil. So you'll get a verdict on each.
Before you start, one rule for all ten. A remedy like these can help for a while with a symptom. It doesn't change what's causing it. If you need ginger every month and turmeric every morning, you may be comfortable, but whatever set it off is still at work. So take the relief, and go looking for the cause.
Pain is a message
Pain tells you that something needs attention. Turn the volume down by all means, but read the message as well. Why Your Joints Hurt, linked below, has how to test what sets your joints off, one change at a time. Unexpected Causes of Your Headaches and How to Find Yours does the same for your head. And if it started when your training did, What Your Workouts Are Doing to Your Joints is the place to look.
What the pain means changes how much it hurts. In the Second World War, an American anaesthetist named Henry Beecher saw badly wounded soldiers on the battlefield who complained far less than he expected, and he found little link between how bad the wound was and how much it hurt. He put it down to meaning. To a soldier, the wound could mean survival and a trip home. To a civilian with a similar injury, it meant lost work and income.
1. Turmeric
Its reputation here is deserved, up to a point. In a trial of 367 people with knee arthritis, half took a turmeric extract and half took ibuprofen. After four weeks, the extract had done as well for pain and function.
Here's the catch. You'll read that you should take curcumin, its active compound, with black pepper, because the piperine in pepper makes the body absorb far more. Five Herbs That Support Liver Function — and the Specific Mechanisms Behind Each One has what that can cost: the liver injuries linked to turmeric supplements, some in products that contained piperine. The spice in your food is one thing. The concentrated capsule is another.
Verdict. Real evidence for arthritis, with a real warning on the capsules.
2. Ginger
In a trial of 150 students with period pain, ginger capsules did as well as ibuprofen and another common painkiller, with no severe side effects. It's a small trial, and it had no dummy group.
It seems to work on sore muscles too. Volunteers took ginger or a dummy for 11 days and then did exercises designed to make their arms hurt. A day later, pain was 25% lower with raw ginger and 23% lower with heated. Which is more than you can say for the exercises.
Verdict. Worth trying for period pain and muscle soreness, and it's a good thing to have in the kitchen anyway.
3. Willow bark
This one has the best story on the list. In 1763 an English vicar, Edward Stone, wrote to the Royal Society about the powdered bark of the white willow, after noticing that it tasted as bitter as the Peruvian bark then used for fevers. He tried it, and it worked. Clinical trials have had worse beginnings than a vicar licking a tree.
"Nature's aspirin" is what you'll hear it called, and that's close but not quite. Willow contains salicin, which the gut turns into salicylic acid. But aspirin itself came out of a lab at Bayer in the 1890s, and its name comes from Spiraea, the old name for meadowsweet, a different plant altogether.
Does the bark work? In a review of herbal remedies for low back pain, across 14 trials and 2,050 people, white willow seemed to beat a dummy, though the evidence was of moderate quality at best.
Treat it as you'd treat aspirin. It's a relative, so if you can't take aspirin or you're on blood thinners, leave it alone, and don't give it to children. Don't take it on top of aspirin either, because you'd be doubling up on a close relative.
Verdict. A fair case for back pain, and it isn't as harmless as "natural" sounds.
4. Peppermint oil
For a tension headache, the kind that feels like a band round your skull, this one really does work. Natural Remedies for Headaches, linked below, has how it compares with a standard tablet, and the safe way to use it. Menthol cools the skin and acts as a mild local anaesthetic. Dilute it first, and don't let it near your eyes. Don't use it near a small child's face.
Verdict. A good result for tension headaches. The claims for everything else are much thinner.
5. Magnesium
"The muscle relaxant", the lists call it. Reviewers looked at 11 trials and concluded that magnesium is unlikely to give older adults any meaningful protection from cramps. For cramps in pregnancy the results conflict, and for cramps after exercise they found no trials at all. The Quiet Signals of Mineral Deficiency has what helps instead, starting with a daily calf stretch.
Migraine is where it has a better case, and Unexpected Causes of Your Headaches goes into that.
Verdict. Fails for cramps, and that's the claim it's most famous for.
6. Capsaicin
This is the heat in chilli, and it's one of the better results on this list. In that same review of back pain, cayenne was the one remedy reported to reduce pain more than a dummy without the "moderate at best" caveat. It's thought to work by overstimulating the nerves that carry pain and then wearing them out, which is why it burns before it helps.
Wash your hands straight after, or you'll find out exactly how well it works on your eyes. Keep it off broken skin too.
Verdict. A good one for a sore back, if you can stand the burn.
7. Acupuncture
This one's on the list because it's an alternative to a pill. The largest analysis pooled the raw data on 20,827 people with chronic pain from 39 trials. Acupuncture beat no acupuncture clearly, and it beat fake needles for each kind of pain, but that second gap was small. The effect was still mostly there a year later.
So a good part of what you get seems to be the ritual, the attention and the expectation. It still counts if your pain goes down, but you're paying for more than the needle.
Verdict. Real, but smaller than the waiting-room leaflet suggests.
8. Devil's claw
It's named for the hooked fruit of this southern African plant. Few supplements have a name that inspires less confidence. That back pain review counted it along with willow, as seeming to beat a dummy with evidence of moderate quality at best. Your Joint Supplements Aren't the Problem has why so many joint supplements disappoint.
Verdict. Possible, and far from proven.
9. St John's wort
The lists call it particularly effective for nerve pain. So it was tested, in 47 people with painful nerve damage, for five weeks at a time against a dummy. The conclusion was that it had no significant effect on the pain.
It also speeds up the way your body clears a range of medicines, which can leave them doing less than they should. So you'd be taking on a risk in exchange for very little.
Verdict. Fails. Leave it off this list.
10. Copaiba oil
The Amazonian elixir has very little behind it in human beings. A 2017 review called its benefits "potential but unproven", and it found the human data sparse. The one trial on arthritis in hands that turned up had 36 people and reported large improvements. It also came from the company that sells the oil, and it mixed copaiba with another product and with massage.
Verdict. Not proven. Wait for a trial from someone who isn't selling it.
The bonus: an Epsom salt bath
You'll read that the magnesium soaks in through your skin. Why Most Stress Supplements Fail (And the 9 Worth a Look) quotes the reviewers who called that "scientifically unsupported". The warm water is another matter, so have the bath, and see the next section.
What the list left out
Heat. It's about the cheapest thing here. In two trials with 258 people with recent low back pain, a heat wrap reduced pain after five days compared with a dummy pill. An works at home too. Set a timer, and don't fall asleep on it. Heat you can't feel can burn you, and more so if you have reduced feeling in your skin.
Ice, with a warning. In 1978 Gabe Mirkin gave us RICE: rest, ice, compression, elevation. In 2014 he publicly changed his mind about routine icing and complete rest, after looking at the research on how tissue heals. Evidence for RICE is thin, and early movement is now more often advised. So ice may numb a sprain for a while, but it isn't a reason to stop moving.
Don't take to your bed. For a sudden bad back, two trials with 401 people found small gains in pain and movement from being told to stay active compared with being told to rest in bed. With sciatica, it made little or no difference. So keep moving if you can, gently, and don't feel bad about needing a lie-down.
Walking. In a trial with 701 adults fresh out of a bout of low back pain, half were put on a walking programme with some education. Their next limiting bout came after a median of 208 days, against 112 days for those who got no treatment. It also counts as leaving the house. For how you stand and sit between walks, there's .
Fish. Across 17 trials, omega-3 fats reduced joint pain and morning stiffness in people with inflammatory conditions, and reduced their use of painkillers, over three to four months. That was supplements. Oily fish is the place to start, and it comes with a meal. The simplest start is a tin of .
Laughter. 10 Ways Laughter Is Good for Your Health and Happiness has the six tests of pain thresholds after a good laugh.
Music. Across 73 trials, patients who listened to music around surgery reported less pain and less anxiety and used fewer painkillers. Their hospital stay was no shorter, but it's a cheap thing to bring along.
Sleep. Keep someone up all night and they rate lower temperatures as painful, and the pain-sensing part of the brain reacts more strongly. It also shows up at home, where even modest changes in sleep from one night to the next went with changes in pain the next day. Why Your Joints Hurt has poor sleep among the triggers worth testing.
Swearing. Volunteers held a hand in icy water while repeating either a swear word or a neutral one. With the swear word they lasted longer, felt less pain and their heart rate rose. It may set off a small fight-or-flight response. It didn't help men who tended to catastrophise, who may need a stronger word.
A pill you know is fake. In a trial with 97 adults with long-running low back pain, some were given a dummy pill and told exactly what it was. Their pain still fell by 1.5 points on a 10-point scale, against 0.2 points for those who carried on with their usual treatment. When the second group switched to the dummy pills, they improved as well. The reason isn't clear, and there was no deception involved.
A photo. In two experiments, people in the early stage of a romance felt less pain while looking at pictures of their partner, and the more preoccupied they were with that person, the more relief they felt. It's a lab result, so don't throw out the heat wrap.
Which one for which pain?
For a tension headache, peppermint oil on the forehead and temples. For period pain or sore muscles, ginger. For a sore back, heat first, then walking, and capsaicin if you can stand it. For joints, oily fish and the spice in your food, and go carefully with the capsules. For cramps, stretch the muscle and leave the magnesium.
Try one thing at a time, so that you can tell what helped. If it hasn't helped after a fair go, stop taking it. If it has, keep asking why you still need it.
When to get it looked at
Don't sit on pain that came on suddenly and severely, that follows an injury, that wakes you at night, or that comes with fever, weakness, numbness or weight loss you can't explain. Check any remedy against your medicines before you take it, and more so if you're pregnant. If a remedy is still needed after a few weeks, that's your answer: the cause is still there.
What to take from it
Natural isn't the same as tested, and it isn't the same as safe. Ginger, peppermint, capsaicin and a heat wrap have earned their place, and they can make a bad week easier. None of them will tell you why it hurts.
Think of the pain you reach for something to stop most often. This week, write down when it comes and what came before it. That's how you find the thing no bottle can fix.
Is it your head that hurts? Natural Remedies for Headaches: Ways to Relieve Pain Without Medication — when pills become the problem, water and salt, peppermint, ginger, moving, and when it's more than a headache.
Or your joints? Why Your Joints Hurt: The Inflammation Triggers Most People Never Address — inflammation as a signal, the triggers behind it, and how to read it.
Know someone whose bathroom shelf looks like a herbalist's? Send them this, and ask which bottle has helped.
Disclaimer: This article is general information. For advice about your own health, talk to a qualified health professional. Check any remedy against your medicines before you take it.
Affiliate Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, All For Life earns from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. We only link to products we would recommend without the commission.
Sources
Benedetti F (2022). Historical evolution of the scientific investigation of the placebo analgesic effect. Frontiers in Pain Research 3:961304. doi.org/10.3389/fpain.2022.961304
Kuptniratsaikul V, Dajpratham P, Taechaarpornkul W, et al. (2014). Efficacy and safety of Curcuma domestica extracts compared with ibuprofen in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a multicenter study. Clinical Interventions in Aging :451. doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S58535
Ozgoli G, Goli M, Moattar F (2009). Comparison of Effects of Ginger, Mefenamic Acid, and Ibuprofen on Pain in Women with Primary Dysmenorrhea. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine 15(2):129–132. doi.org/10.1089/acm.2008.0311
Black CD, Herring MP, Hurley DJ, O'Connor PJ (2010). Ginger (Zingiber officinale) Reduces Muscle Pain Caused by Eccentric Exercise. The Journal of Pain 11(9):894–903. doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2009.12.013
Wikipedia. Willow. en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia. Aspirin. en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia. Salicylic acid. en.wikipedia.org
Gagnier JJ, Oltean H, van Tulder MW, et al. (2016). Herbal Medicine for Low Back Pain. SPINE 41(2):116–133. doi.org/10.1097/BRS.0000000000001310
Wikipedia. Menthol. en.wikipedia.org
Garrison SR, Korownyk CS, Kolber MR, et al. (2020). Magnesium for skeletal muscle cramps. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2020(9). doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD009402.pub3
Wikipedia. Capsaicin. en.wikipedia.org
Vickers AJ, Vertosick EA, Lewith G, et al. (2018). Acupuncture for Chronic Pain: Update of an Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis. The Journal of Pain 19(5):455–474. doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2017.11.005
Wikipedia. Harpagophytum. en.wikipedia.org
Sindrup SH, Madsen C, Bach FW, et al. (2001). St. John's wort has no effect on pain in polyneuropathy. Pain 91(3):361–365. doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3959(00)00457-7
Wikipedia. Hypericum perforatum. en.wikipedia.org
Hebert P, Barice EJ, Park J, et al. (2017). Treatments for Inflammatory Arthritis: Potential But Unproven Role of Topical Copaiba. Integrative Medicine 16(2):40–42. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Bahr T, Allred K, Martinez D, et al. (2018). Effects of a massage-like essential oil application procedure using Copaiba and Deep Blue oils in individuals with hand arthritis. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice 33:170–176. doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2018.10.004
Gröber U, Werner T, Vormann J, Kisters K (2017). Myth or reality—transdermal magnesium? Nutrients 9(8):813. doi.org/10.3390/nu9080813
French SD, Cameron M, Walker BF, et al. (2006). Superficial heat or cold for low back pain. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011(2). doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD004750.pub2
Wikipedia. RICE (medicine). en.wikipedia.org
Dahm KT, Brurberg KG, Jamtvedt G, Hagen KB (2010). Advice to rest in bed versus advice to stay active for acute low-back pain and sciatica. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010(6). doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD007612.pub2
Pocovi NC, Lin CWC, French SD, et al. (2024). Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an individualised, progressive walking and education intervention for the prevention of low back pain recurrence in Australia (WalkBack): a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet 404(10448):134–144. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00755-4
Goldberg RJ, Katz J (2007). A meta-analysis of the analgesic effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation for inflammatory joint pain. Pain 129(1):210–223. doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2007.01.020
Dunbar RIM, Baron R, Frangou A, et al. (2012). Social laughter is correlated with an elevated pain threshold. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 279(1731):1161–1167. doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.1373
Hole J, Hirsch M, Ball E, Meads C (2015). Music as an aid for postoperative recovery in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet 386(10004):1659–1671. doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)60169-6
Krause AJ, Prather AA, Wager TD, et al. (2019). The Pain of Sleep Loss: A Brain Characterization in Humans. The Journal of Neuroscience 39(12):2291–2300. doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2408-18.2018
Stephens R, Atkins J, Kingston A (2009). Swearing as a response to pain. NeuroReport 20(12):1056–1060. doi.org/10.1097/WNR.0b013e32832e64b1
Carvalho C, Caetano JM, Cunha L, et al. (2016). Open-label placebo treatment in chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial. Pain 157(12):2766–2772. doi.org/10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000700
Nilakantan A, Younger J, Aron A, Mackey S (2014). Preoccupation in an Early-Romantic Relationship Predicts Experimental Pain Relief. Pain Medicine 15(6):947–953. doi.org/10.1111/pme.12422