Essential Oils for Pain can
Help you Reduce pain Naturally!
Essential oils for pain are effective and do not come with negative side effects.
I personally believe that essential oils for pain are even better than the "over the counter" pain relievers such as aspirin. And I will tell you why in this section.
How do Essential Oils work as Natural Pain Relievers?
Every essential oil contains multiple medicinal properties that assist the systems of the body. As a matter of fact, many of the drugs used today were originally derived from the natural constituent first.
Once companies learned how to produce those constituents synthetically, then it was easier and less expensive for them to be produced in a chemical form rather than a natural form.
There are over 60 different essential oils for pain that have analgesic properties. Analgesic means that a substance has shown to relieve or reduce pain.
For instance, one oil that I use daily contains these properties: Analgesic, anti-spasmodic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-rheumatic. It also contains methyl salicylate the main ingredient in aspirin.
Did you guess what oil I am talking about?
If you guessed Wintergreen Essential Oil then you would be right!
Did you know that Wintergreen Essential Oil contains 85-99% of methyl salicylate, the same component of aspirin?
Yes, birch and wintergreen were considered the best essential oils for pain before synthetics were made in the early 1920s. The Native Americans used them to combat pain since before we were keeping any records!
Birch and wintergreen are the only plants in the world that naturally contain methyl salicylate. It is documented that these oils have cortisone-like effects that can relieve pain quickly.
Wintergreen is also emotionally warming and soothing. It opens the heart chakra so we are more accepting of ourselves which is also so important when we are going through any kind of pain.
Birch essential oil is no longer available because of the scarcity of the birch tree. However wintergreen essential oil is available and is one of my favorite oils to use for a variety of things.
Need, one more example?
Did you know that a 1994 study showed that peppermint essential oil was effective at blocking channels that transmit pain signals? Yes, so peppermint is definitely one of the best essential oils for pain! And there are others, just read on below.
Before we look at what other essential oils are for pain, let us look at the definition of pain.
What is Pain?
This is from the Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary:
Pain is a state of physical, emotional, or mental lack of well-being. Or physical, emotional, or mental uneasiness that ranges from mild discomfort or dull distress to acute, often unbearable agony may be generalized or localized.
It is the consequence of being injured or hurt physically. Or mentally or of some derangement of or lack of equilibrium in the physical or mental functions (as through disease), and that usually produces a reaction of wanting to avoid, escape, or destroy the causative factor and its effects.
I find this so amazing! How often do we forget, or minimize, the fact thatphysical pain comes with emotional pain. They are intertwined!
So, when we think of pain in these terms, then to reduce pain, we must look at all the parts of the equation: physical, emotional, and spiritual. And, I am sorry to say, but synthetic substances only address the physical portion of the problem. And that is a where a big part of the problem begins.
If we add up the equation, we then can see that essential oils for pain are one of natures perfect solutions to reducing and minimizing pain. Because they address all the components.
I realize that there are many types of pain. And in the next section I will attempt to categorize them as best I can so you can easily select some oils to work with. Because essential oils for pain have many properties, there will always be some overlap, so you may see them in more that one category.
Also keep in mind, that everyone's body chemistry is different. So what may work best for one person, may not work best for another. My suggestion is, as always, select one or two oils (or a blend) to use and find out what oils are right for you. Write down your experiences so you can remember and recognize any changes.
Click on the individual oil to learn more about how and what to use it for. And check out the
Essential Oil Uses Section to learn how to use the oils.
What Oils do I use for Bone Pain?
These are the top essential oils for bone pain. All oils that are from trees are great for this application!
These are the best professionally made blends:
Personally, my top choices are Wintergreen and PanAway for this application. I often select PanAway first because it contains three of the single oils listed above: helichrysum, wintergreen and peppermint. I usually alternate it with Relieve It, another very powerful pain controlling blend.
Massage several drops diluted 50:50 on location as needed. Massage oils do not require dilution.
What Oils do I use for Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain is frustrating so make sure you also choose an oil that addresses the anxiety and stress that comes with it.
The best oils for chronic pain are listed below.
These are the best professionally made blends:
Massage several drops diluted 50:50 onto location as needed.
I personally am fortunate and do not have chronic pain. However, I would probably start with PanAway and continue to try different oils until I found a combination that was effective for me. I would add several drops of wintergreen oil to the PanAway first for added strength.
What Oils do I use for Joint Pain?
The best oils for joint pain are listed below.
These are the best professionally made blends:
Massage several drops diluted 50:50 onto location as needed.
What Essential Oils for Pain do I use for Toothache?
Teething pain or pain from a toothache can be minimized with essential oils for pain:
These are the best professionally made blends:
Dilute 50:50 and apply on affected tooth and gum as needed.
I had a tooth that had a root canal that still ached and bothered me for years. I asked my dentist about it, put he really never had an answer. I started putting clove essential oil on it first and it definitely helped with the pain, but then it would come back.
I started using Thieves Blend and the discomfort went away for good in the next 24-48 hours. Thieves also has pain and anti-infectious properties.
About a month after that I went to the dentist for a check up and I told him that my tooth wasn't bothering me anymore. He checked the tooth and said he was surprised because the cap had come loose and needed to be replaced!
He was very concerned about infection and thought the tooth may have to be removed. But when he removed the cap, he said that I was extremely lucky. Despite some decay on the edges, he found no infection present and I could keep my tooth!
Clove and Thieves are definitely great natural toothache remedies!
What Oils do I use for Muscle Pain?
Muscle pain usually results form injury (sprains, strains, ligaments or torn muscles) or extreme overuse!
Please note, that muscle pain affecting your whole body can also result from infections (flu), autoimmune disorders (lupus, fibromyalgia), or a smooth muscle condition (cardiovascular, colon, gallbladder and kidney stone pain).
We want to choose oils that have a cooling effect and are analgesic (pain relieving). There are over 40 different oils listed in various sources for this application. So I have chosen the top 20 oils and blends below that I have personally used.
These are the best professionally made blends:
Massage several drops diluted 50:50 onto sore muscle at least 3 times per day. Remember to apply ice for 24 to 72 hours after injury. Then heat may be applied to relax and bring circulation into the area. Massage oils do not have to be diluted.
I tend to rotate the oils throughout the healing process if I am in a lot of pain. But my oil of choice is always PanAway. My second choice is Relieve It. Relieve It has black pepper and spruce and really helps with deep tissue pain. Rotate back and forth as needed for pain.
I tend to go with the massage oils because they are convenient as well. Ortho Sport has many of the single oils mentioned for sore, inflamed and tired muscles. And it does not require dilution. It has wintergreen, peppermint, and lemongrass, three of the oils I just love!
A Personal Note
Well, I can't say that I have been without joint, bone and muscle pain, but I have learned to minimize the pain very effectively.
After all, I have competed in sports my whole life, and still do. Preventing everyday overuse and injury at this point is the key for me. As well as using essential oils for pain on a daily basis.
I use Ortho Sport and PanAway everyday on my body before I ride, especially my knees. If I take a shower later in the day, I will use them then as well. I also take a bone and joint supplement that contains balsam fir, wintergreen and clove essential oils and MSM that I find helpful.
I had a very bad finger and hand injury in January 2009. The tendons, ligaments and everything else attached to my ring finger was black and blue down to my wrist. It was extremely painful and ugly to see.
Although the orthopedic wanted to prescribe pain killers and an anti-inflammatory, I chose not to take the prescription. As a matter of fact, I didn't even take an aspirin. But if I didn't have essential oils for pain, I couldn't have made it through without the scrip.
You see,
Wintergreen, Relieve It, PanAway, Palo Santo and Lavender Essential Oils became my best friends for life after that injury, along with some others. I was so thankful that I had the knowledge of the essential oils for pain to help me through the most painful physical and emotional injury of my life.
Want to try a Supplement with Essential Oils that will help reduce Pain and Inflammation?
I hope you have enjoyed this section on essential oils for pain. And you will try some oils to help manage all your physical and emotional pains. I am with you!