Muscle pain is experienced by everyone, as it is usually inevitable whenever you use your arms, legs, and other parts of your body too much for work, for school, or for doing other activities like playing sports and exercising. However, muscle pain can be treated quickly and easily using different medications and ointments, and one of the most popular topical medications used for muscle pain is the essential oil.
Essential oils are topical medications that are made from “essential” ingredients that can help reduce muscle pain, improve sleep, boost focus, and reduce headaches or nausea. What a lot of people don’t know is that there are actually various kinds of essential oils to choose from, and in this article, we will discuss these kinds of essential oils to find out what’s different about each of them. Here is a list of essential oils used for pain relief.
Peppermint Oil
Peppermint oil contains menthol, which is an ingredient that is specifically used to cool down soreness and inflammation on painful skin and muscles. So, peppermint oil is basically an anti-inflammatory essential oil that is effective in not only providing pain relief but also allowing the painful muscles to return to their normal state or appearance with reduced inflammation.
Lavender Oil
Lavender oil is known for its calming and relaxing properties, but it can also be used for reducing pain and inflammation in the muscles. If you are getting headaches, you can apply lavender oil on your forehead or on its sides to relieve the headache while allowing you to feel more relaxed. While it can also be applied on sore muscles in the arms and legs, it isn’t as effective as other essential oils when it comes to relieving pain in those areas of the body.
Rosemary Oil
Rosemary oil is an essential oil that is primarily used by people to improve hair growth and let the hair grow healthily without any signs of damage. However, much like most essential oils, rosemary oil can also be used to relieve pain in different parts of the body, although it is a milder pain reliever compared to some essential oils that are available on the market. Breathing rosemary oil through an inhaler can also be effective in relieving stress.
Juniper Berry Oil
Juniper berry oil is one of the most effective essential oils for pain relief, so it is specifically used to reduce pain, soreness, and inflammation in different areas of the skin and the muscles of the body. Because of how good juniper berry oil smells whenever it is applied to the skin, it can also help in making a person calmer and more relaxed.
Eucalyptus Oil
Eucalyptus oil is similar to peppermint oil due to the fact that it also has menthol that can help cool down sore and inflamed muscles. Besides pain relief, eucalyptus oil is also helpful in lowering blood pressure. Eucalyptus oil and peppermint oil are two essential oils that can be added to the water in a bathtub for a much more relaxing and pain-relieving bath.
Lemongrass Oil
Lemongrass oil is derived from the stems and leaves of lemongrass, also known as “Cymbopogon,” which is a plant that is grown and cultivated in different parts of Asia and Africa. This kind of essential oil is effective in reducing the inflammation in the joints that are caused by arthritis and other diseases. But it can also be used to reduce the soreness in the muscles of the arms and legs.
Sandalwood Oil
Sandalwood oil is effective in relieving muscle tension and swelling. Moreover, this essential oil can also be used as a moisturizer to prevent dryness and flaking on the skin. If you have pimples or acne on your face, you can apply a small amount of sandalwood oil on it to get rid of the bumps or blemishes.
Thyme Oil
Thyme oil has anti-inflammatory properties that can help relieve pain while also reducing soreness, redness, and inflammation on the affected skin and muscles in the body. This essential oil also has antifungal and antibacterial properties, which means that it can prevent infection in the skin since it has the ability to fight fungi and bacteria.
Flaxseed Oil
Unlike most of the essential oils that we have discussed in this article, flaxseed oil is often consumed instead of applied topically on the skin. Flaxseed oil is used to improve the health of the heart while also reducing high blood pressure, cholesterol, and fats. By consuming flaxseed oil, you will also prevent the joints in your legs and arms from becoming inflamed and sore, as this essential oil has anti-inflammatory properties.
Rosehip Oil
Rosehip oil is an essential oil that can be used to reduce inflammation and joint pain. However, most people utilize rosehip oil as a moisturizer on the face, as it is beneficial in brightening the skin and preventing blackheads from appearing on the surface of the face’s skin. If a person already has acne or pimples, he or she can apply rosehip oil to shrink the pimples so that they won’t appear prominently on the face. Rosehip oil can also be used to treat eczema, which causes inflammation and flaking on the skin.
There are many more different types of essential oils that you can find on the market, but the ones mentioned in this article are considered to be some of the most popular ones that are better at relieving pain in the body compared to others. Try out different essential oils and see which ones are the most suitable for your needs.
In addition to essential oils, you may also choose to use pain relief creams to alleviate muscle pains. To learn more about these, check out our Guide to Selecting Pain Relief Creams.