Essential Oils: Their Importance & Ways To Use Them
Pains and aches are a common feature in life. We suffer from major or minor pains from time to time. After a long and hectic day, many of you would be looking for an aspirin in your medicine cabinet for soothing your daily stress, joint pains, headaches and muscle pains. However, having painkillers every now and then is not such a good idea. One of the most stimulating and enjoyable ways of managing every day and chronic aches and pains is the use and application of natural essential oils. Essential oils are highly concentrated and potent oils of plants that have been used in creating many modern medicines without any addition of harmful chemical content.
Be Sure About the Process of Application or Ingestion
Depending on the kind of pain and the specific kind of oil, they could be applied directly and gently to pressure points as in a typical massage. Some essential oils are often blended together and created into effective muscle release oil that works wonders for you by eliminating muscle soreness and pain almost magically. Sometimes an essential oil is mixed with any base oil and then massaged gently over the affected areas. You could take an essential oil internally by mixing it with water. You need to carefully read the ingestion and application methods of the specific essential oil that you have chosen for yourself. Remember that some essential oils are simply too potent to be directly applied to certain areas.
Choose a Branded Essential Oil for Quality Assurance
It is really important for you to buy genuine products for best results. Buy essential oils exclusively from a well-known company that you have investigated adequately and you are sure you could trust. Avoid non-branded stuff. There is a huge disparity in the efficacy and purity of essential oils. Low-quality essential oils are not pure and would not help relieve pains effectively. The high-quality authentic essential oils would be meticulously and skillfully grown, harvested and even distilled. These high-quality oils would be 100 percent pure and would be super-effective for alleviating all your issues successfully and quickly.
Methods of Using Essential Oils
Usually, essential oils could be used in the ways discussed here. However, it is always a good idea to do an ample research or a patch test for ensuring that you are not allergic to the specific oil you wish to use. Everyone’s body would be working and reacting differently and as essential oils are completely natural they could be having diverse effects and reactions on different people. Here are some of the common and effective ways of using essential oils:
Massage
You could blend 10 drops of any essential oil with an ounce of a base or carrier oil. Then apply the mixture on the affected parts of your body. Massage gently to those parts that are sore and painful for best results. Always remember that hot essential oils such as peppermint or clove oils could bring strong sensations and your skin could react to them. So you need to exercise caution while applying in sensitive areas.
Bath Soak
Add around ten to twelve drops of an essential oil along with two cups full of Epsom Salt to your bath. This is a truly amazing treatment for your muscle pain, joint stiffness, and digestive discomfort.
Compress
You could be using a cold or hot compress depending on the kind of pain. A headache, for instance, could be alleviated with a super-relaxing cold compress. Start by wrapping an ice pack in a napkin or towel that has been soaked previously in cold water and nicely wrung out. Apply five to ten drops of any essential oil to this particular pack and keep applying on your forehead or the neck for instant pain relief. Similarly, you could use a hot compress effectively for alleviating pain from injured muscles or swollen joints. These compresses could be used without any worries for about 15 to 20 minutes continuously at one go.
Sarah Clinton is a dermatologist practicing in a healthcare center in Nevada. She is also an active blogger and has written several features on skin tips, good habits and also products like sunscreen, balms and muscle release oil.