Several herbal teas can help with muscle pain, though some have stronger evidence than others. Ginger tea, turmeric tea, and chamomile tea are the most well-supported options, each working through different mechanisms. The key is choosing the right tea for your type of pain and preparing it in a way that extracts the most beneficial compounds.
Ginger Tea for Post-Exercise Soreness
Ginger is one of the most studied herbs for muscle pain, particularly the soreness that shows up a day or two after intense exercise. In female taekwondo athletes, supplementing with 3 grams of ginger daily for six weeks significantly reduced muscle soreness. That said, the effects take time to build. A single 2-gram dose taken 45 minutes before exercise does not reduce muscle pain, inflammation, or dysfunction. Ginger works better as a daily habit than a one-time fix.
To make ginger tea, slice about an inch of fresh ginger root and steep it in hot water for 10 to 15 minutes. Fresh ginger tends to deliver more of the active compounds than dried powder, but both work. Drinking two to three cups daily in the days surrounding hard workouts is a reasonable approach based on the amounts used in research.
Turmeric Tea for Inflammatory Pain
Turmeric contains curcumin, a compound that targets inflammation at multiple levels. It blocks the same enzyme that ibuprofen and aspirin target (COX-2), which directly reduces the production of pain-signaling molecules. It also suppresses a master inflammation switch called NF-κB, which controls the release of proteins that drive swelling and tissue irritation. In clinical trials for knee pain, turmeric extract was more effective than placebo at reducing symptoms.
The challenge with turmeric tea is absorption. Curcumin on its own passes through your digestive system without much of it reaching your bloodstream. Adding a pinch of black pepper increases absorption dramatically because a compound in pepper slows the breakdown of curcumin in your liver. A splash of fat, like coconut milk, also helps since curcumin is fat-soluble. Simmer a teaspoon of ground turmeric (or a thumb-sized piece of fresh root) in water for 10 minutes, then add pepper and your fat of choice.
Chamomile Tea for Muscle Spasms
Chamomile works differently from ginger and turmeric. Rather than targeting inflammation, it raises levels of glycine, an amino acid that relaxes muscle tissue. Researchers found that drinking chamomile tea increased urinary glycine levels, which likely explains its traditional use for cramps and spasms. This makes chamomile a better fit for tension-related muscle pain, nighttime leg cramps, or menstrual cramps rather than exercise-induced soreness.
Chamomile is mild enough to drink several cups a day. Steep a tea bag or a tablespoon of dried flowers in just-boiled water for five minutes with a cover on the cup to trap the volatile oils that carry much of the benefit.
Cinnamon Tea as a Surprising Option
Cinnamon doesn’t get as much attention for muscle pain, but the research is promising. In one study, consuming 420 milligrams of cinnamon daily for seven days before exercise and three days after significantly reduced delayed-onset muscle soreness. That’s roughly a quarter teaspoon of ground cinnamon per day, an easy amount to add to tea. Simmer a cinnamon stick or half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon in hot water for 10 minutes. You can combine it with ginger for a more potent brew.
Teas With Weaker Evidence
Green Tea
Green tea contains potent antioxidants that reduce oxidative stress markers after exercise. In sprinters, green tea extract significantly lowered levels of a key marker of cellular damage both at rest and after repeated sprints. However, it did not reduce creatine kinase, the standard marker for actual muscle damage, and didn’t improve performance. Green tea may help your body handle exercise-related stress at a cellular level, but it probably won’t make your muscles feel less sore.
Tart Cherry Tea
Tart cherry juice has a strong reputation for recovery, but the evidence for tea made from dried cherries is thinner. A recent study using tart cherry extract containing 132 milligrams of anthocyanins (the pigments responsible for the deep red color) found no significant difference in soreness between the cherry group and placebo after strenuous exercise. The juice form, which delivers higher concentrations, may be more effective than what you can extract by steeping dried cherries.
Willow Bark Tea
Willow bark is the original source of aspirin’s active ingredient. It contains salicin, which your body converts into salicylic acid. However, a meta-analysis found that the amount of salicylic acid your body actually absorbs from willow bark is too low to reach clinically meaningful levels on its own. Willow bark contains at least 13 other active compounds that may contribute to pain relief, but the evidence for brewing it as tea (rather than taking concentrated extracts) is limited. Clinical studies that showed benefits used standardized extracts delivering 240 milligrams of salicin daily, far more than a cup of bark tea provides.
How to Get the Most From Your Tea
Steeping time matters more than most people realize. For bagged teas, most of the beneficial polyphenols extract within the first three minutes, with diminishing returns after five. For loose-leaf or loose herbs, the biggest jump in antioxidant activity happens in the first 10 minutes, though compounds continue to extract slowly for up to an hour. Water temperature around 80°C (175°F), just below boiling, is effective for most herbal teas. For roots like ginger and turmeric, a gentle simmer for 10 to 15 minutes extracts more than a simple steep.
Consistency matters more than any single cup. The studies showing real benefits used daily supplementation over days or weeks, not a one-time dose. If you’re dealing with recurring muscle pain from training, make your chosen tea a daily routine starting several days before intense activity. For chronic muscle tension or spasms, a nightly cup of chamomile can compound its relaxing effects over time.
Caffeine’s Role in Muscle Pain
Caffeine itself has a direct pain-reducing effect on muscles, separate from any anti-inflammatory action. A dose of 200 milligrams, roughly the amount in two cups of black or green tea, has been shown to reduce ischemic muscle pain. Higher doses of 5 to 10 milligrams per kilogram of body weight produced moderate to large reductions in quadriceps pain during cycling. If your muscle pain tends to flare during exercise rather than after, caffeinated green or black tea may offer some real-time relief through caffeine alone.