Home | Health | Alternative Medicine

What Athletes Should Know About Essential Oils

By: Caroline Ashton

Read More About Alternative Medicine

Tried everything in the book to help your sports injuries heal faster? (Or maybe nothing at all?) Here's some "secret" ingredients that are likely getting overlooked because so many sports enthusiasts think that "natural" can't possibly be very effective. Well, this article likely won't change your mind, but mixing up and using one of the recipes in it almost surely will. We're talking here about essential oils -- yes those same oils used in "aromatherapy" -- but we're not talking about the smell. Did you know Wintergreen oil is pure liquid aspirin? Well, here's some MUCH more effective oils, that will not only relieve pain, but can have a dramatic effect on healing times and injury severity as well.
All sports injuries share some common elements physiologically: inflammation, oxidative radicals, and tissue damage. In cases where the injury isn't really holding one back from training or competition, there may be very little tissue damage involved, but there's certainly inflammation and oxidation going on. Inflammation means swelling (as you know), though this can happen even on the smallest cellular scale -- really virtually undetectable as swelling per-se -- but it's sure gonna hurt! And here's why oils work: they address all three of these features of injury. You can even find research noting COX inhibition (prevention of inflammation) by essential oils through such sites as pubmed.gov, and elsewhere that biomedical research abstracts are published on the Internet.
Essential oils are really easy to use. You won't be inhaling them -- you'll just be massaging them in. In most cases, they're mixed up into a massage formula, though these formulas are generally stronger than what you'd be getting a full-body massage with. They're made for spot treatments. Because essential oils pass through cell walls so quickly, they're very readily absorbed. This is one of the things that makes them so effective, but also makes them leave the body fairly quickly as well -- meaning you'll want to apply them a few times a day for best results. Also, your essential oils, the "active ingredients" will be based in a common plain massage oil base like Almond oil for chronic injury care; in some rare cases you'll use the essential oils undiluted.
Certain essential oils CAN be used at 100% strength (also called "neat" application") in certain cases. When an injury has just happened, say out on the playing field, then "neat" application can dramatically reduce the swelling that can occur. This initial swelling is why some athletes will apply ice to an area immediately -- it can have a big impact on how quickly the injury heals in the long run. One leading medical aromatherapist notes that the initial hematoma can be severely reduced or almost entirely prevented from appearing altogether.
The most important essential oil for the athlete is called Helichrysum, but also goes by the names Immortelle and Everlasting. The oil has an amazing synergistic natural chemistry, that makes it anti-inflammatory, regenerative and pain-relieving all at the same time. Many people feel its effects nearly instantly, both for acute and chronic injuries (as well as other "kinks" in the system like low back and neck pain). This is THE oil that's called for undiluted in the case of acute injuries -- just apply a thin layer over the injured area as quickly as possible, and repeat this every hour or so until the initial localized shock has diminished. Helichrysum will then be mixed with a carrier oil, and perhaps other essential oils, for continued use to speed the healing process along.
New on the scene in North America is Plai essential oil. A staple in Thailand for Thai massage, Plai, like Helichrysum, is also pain relieving, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. While it does not contain the regenerative di-ketones, it will still speed the healing process with its other actions. Small studies have demonstrated its very potent anti-inflammatory and pain relieving actions. Plai, like Helichrysum, can be used at 100% strength for the strongest inflammation reduction; a 10% dilution is perfect for treating chronic injuries.
These last two oils are highly regarded specifically for their anti-inflammatory action: Ginger Root and German Blue Chamomile. The most effective types of these oils are not from traditional "steam distillation" (the process by which most essential oils are made) but from a cold-process called "super critical carbon dioxide extraction". This method creates a more complex, and potentially more healing oil. Both of these oils are used in MUCH lower concentrations: Ginger at less than three percent, and Chamomile at less than two percent. They are generally called for healing of chronic injuries, or acute ones once the injury site has "cooled down" a bit, perhaps after 24 hours.
Putting these oils altogether and making your own high end healing formula is really easy. Just calculate the actual volume of each essential oil needed to make the final amount of blend you'd like. So if you were making one fluid ounce of sports healing blend, with a 10% Helichrysum concentration, a 10% Plai concentration, and 2% each of Ginger and Chamomile, figure it this way: There are 30 milliliters in one ounce. 10 percent is 3 milliliters, 2 percent is 2/3rds of a milliner. And if you need to measure by drops because you have no other measuring device, there are 20 drops in one milliliter. So just measure your desired amount into an empty one ounce bottle, then top the bottle off with the carrier oil of your choice (these again are oils like Almond, Hazelnut, or even Hemp). And there you have it, ready for massage into those painful spots.
All the essential oils mentioned here have a track record for healing and inflammation reduction of soft tissue injuries. Many people find them far more effective than any pharmaceutical preparation they've ever tried. If you find yourself frequently nursing an injury incurred from sports, its really worth the effort to mix up one of these blends at least once and give it a whirl. Like so many users, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised with the results.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

More information on using pure organic essential oil and therapeutic blends can be found through www.anandaapothecary.com

Please Rate this Article

 

Not yet Rated

Click the XML Icon Above to Receive Alternative Medicine Articles Via RSS!
Additional Articles From - Home | Health | Alternative Medicine
Sign Up for a free account.
Our other websites
All about SEO
Beauty Tips Forum
Submit Articles
Member Login
Link Us
Submission Guidelines
Ezine Notifications
Article RSS Feeds
Sitemap
New Stuff
About Us
Developer
Good shopping portal
Link to Us
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service

counter easy hit

Powered by Article Dashboard