Essential oils are plant extracts that are bottled. They are steam pressed to extract their fragrance and capture the valuable compounds that benefit our overall well-being. According to John Hopkins Medicine, essential oils help with better sleep, relieve stress, and help manage Pain.
It takes a considerable amount of plant material to prepare a single vial of essential oils, combined with the process it goes through, which is why it costs more. For example, 250 pounds of the lavender plant would make one pound of lavender essential oil.
Essential oils are available in their concentrated form, so only a few drops are enough for one-time use. Did you know that around 5,000 pounds of rose petals would equal one pound of rose essential oil? The same goes for lemon balm essential oil. It is what makes it a powerful botanical medicine.
They have been around for thousands of years and are a natural source of cure and self-care practices. Its compounds contain natural aromas with healing properties. They fall under the alternative medicine category and are going mainstream.
Some essential oils also contain minute amounts of cannabidiol (CBD), a chemical compound found in cannabis that carries valuable health benefits. Let us see how these can help boost our health.
Can help in Lowering Stress & Anxiety
Essential oils play a massive role in lowering stress and anxiety. One might say that going on holiday offers the same benefits. Suppose you are headed towards Pigeon Forge for the weekend, keen on reducing anxiety; in that case, it would be best to buy essential oils to take back.
Finding a great shop in Pigeon Forge can be challenging, but we’ll make it easy for you. Type in essential oils Pigeon Forge to browse through an extensive range of essential oils. You can buy online or walk into the shop. The best thing is, once you return from your holiday, you’ll be able to relax, reduce stress, and feel much better.
In addition, after an eventful day of hiking or sightseeing, if you find it hard to sleep in a place other than your home, lavender oil therapy can help. The linalyl acetate and linalool components present in lavender oil contribute to better sleep and lower levels of nervous stress.
Alternatively, simply inhaling lavender oil can help produce a sedating sensation, a much cheaper, safe, and accessible way of accessing its advantages. Other essential oils that help relieve stress and anxiety include lemongrass oil, cedarwood oil, orange oil, and bergamot oil.
Can Reduce Headache and Provide Migraine Relief
Essential oils help cure one of the most common pain-related health concerns. According to Cleveland Clinic, about 75% of the worldwide adult population faces headaches, with 12% of US adults having frequent migraines, a more severe form of headache lasting more than a few hours.
Headaches contribute to absenteeism from work or school and generate feelings of anxiety and depression, making the person incapable of doing anything. Essential oils like peppermint contain menthol, an active cooling sensation ingredient with an analgesic effect, i.e., pain relief.
Applying 6% of menthol gel to the pain site helps relieve migraine pain severity in under two hours among adults, according to another study.
Relieves Nausea
Turning to essential oils is your best bet if you get nauseous during travel or suffer motion sickness. Peppermint and ginger essential oils can help you cope with nausea during travel, in the first trimester of pregnancy, and before or after chemo or radiotherapy. It helps ease nausea from an upset stomach or indigestion.
Therefore, inhaling peppermint oil before traveling or during pregnancy can help reduce or eliminate that nauseous feeling. You can also use it while being hospitalized.
In March 2018, an Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics health review found that peppermint helps relax gastrointestinal muscles and lowers inflammation levels to reduce nausea.
Ginger oil helps with indigestion problems and helps clear the gastrointestinal tract by preventing food from lingering in the stomach that contributes to nausea. Inhaling ginger oil might not be as effective, but ingesting it will.
Easing Pain due to Menstrual Cramps
Pain from menstrual cramps is common among 16% to 91% of women and girls. They typically turn towards over-the-counter (OTC) medication to help relieve inflammation and cramps. Many women use aspirin, Motrin, and naproxen sodium.
However, these are not good for women with bleeding disorders, ulcers, stomach disorders, liver damage, or aspirin allergy. These can have side effects like nausea, bloated stomach, vomiting or diarrhea, itching, skin redness, rashes, swelling, and itching.
The best way to relieve menstrual cramps without any side effects is to go for aromatherapy. It also helps eliminate the side effects of OTC medications. A 10-minute abdominal massage of essential oil blend can help relieve menstrual pain within a few hours. Inhalation and oral consumption can help prevent pain from dysmenorrhea.
Offers Antimicrobial Effects
When applied to specific body sites, essential oils can carry antimicrobial effects. Eucalyptus essential oil helps fight against Porphyromonas gingivalis, which contributes to inflammatory diseases such as periodontitis that destroys teeth tissue.
In eucalyptus, a component called 1,8-cineole is prevalent in products like mouthwash to help eliminate mouth bacteria. In the same way, Lemongrass oil also helps kill bacteria and heal wounds.
You can also use it to cure a foot fungus, jock itch, or ringworm. A study also revealed that lemongrass essential oil could reduce blood sugar levels in type two diabetic patients.
Many natural cleaners also contain orange oil that you can use to clean your house. However, you must be careful in applying orange oil to your skin since it can make it sensitive to sunlight.
Relieves Muscle and Joint Pain
Ostrich oil has produced proven results in healing joint Pain among arthritis patients. Continuous therapy and massage using ostrich oil can eliminate knee pain in patients. Adding a few drops of essential oil blend carrying healing properties to your regular massage oil can help relieve muscle and joint Pain.
A 30-minute Swedish or Thai massage twice a week for five weeks with ginger oil can help unlock tense shoulder and neck muscles. You will experience significant pain relief after each session.
Using rosemary oil post-workout can also help provide instant muscle relaxation. Using double doses of rosemary oil supplement 72 hours after every workout session for four days could generate significant results in the form of muscle pain relief. It contributes to lowering the levels of creatine kinase.
Conclusion
Essential oils carry tremendous health benefits without any side effects because these are natural plant extracts in concentrated form. However, for optimal use, you must learn what oils can help you.
Essential oils like lemongrass help reduce stress and anxiety and offer antimicrobial effects. Rosemary oil helps relieve muscle pain, and ostrich oil can help reduce joint Pain in arthritis patients.
Similarly, the orange essential oil is suitable for cleaning agents and peppermint, and ginger oil help eases nausea. Applying a blend of essential oils to your aromatherapy or massage can offer multiple benefits, like inducing better sleep, relieving stress, and helping reduce menstrual Pain. Menthol present in peppermint helps relieve headaches and migraines.
Therefore, turning to essential oils to cure health problems is better than turning to other forms of medication that have side effects.
