oils for hand massage (pain & stress)

[raf viaxogs]

Hello everyone

I am having a hard time with a (possible) prolapsed disk, and it's causing me a lot of continuous pain. The pain is now stressing me out, which I guess is making it even more painful. I am wondering about giving myself a reflexology massage of the hands twice a day, and would like to add a few drops of oils - or make up a blend - to use then. Oh, I can't do my feet (hence suggesting the hands) because of the spine/leg pain.

I'm currently putting clary sage (for the depression part) and lavender (for the relaxing part) into my bath - 7 drops each. I have geranium, jasmine, and tea tree oils in the house. Would any of those do? Otherwise I'm happy to take suggestions for oils, and carrier oils that I should buy - which might help little ol' feeling-very-sorry-for-myself me...

Thanks!

N x

 

[tlwviykd]

Hi N, sorry to hear about your painful spine. Re: your oils, lavender is excellent for relaxing the mind and the muscles and you're right about clary sage for depression, it is also said to decrease hyperactivity in reflexes & is a nerve relaxant as well as powerful antispasmodic. Jasmine's benefits, according to some, are limited to the psychological effects of its aroma - restoring self-esteem & confidence. Geranium can in some cases increase irratibility by causing headaches and is mostly beneficial for skin disorders.

So, if you wished to try another oil with lavender & clary sage, marjoram would complement both and isa powerful antispasmodic & sedative therefore good for stress &instinct is saying Ylang Ylang would have positive psychological effects for the same reasons. I'm assuming you know the correct dilution ratios& that you're dispersing the oils in foam bath or milk for bathing in.

Hope this helps & you see positive results from the hand reflexology soon.

 

[ybeefusfixriroees]

Hi Flowerlight

"So, if you wished to try another oil with lavender & clary sage, marjoram would complement both and isa powerful antispasmodic & sedative therefore good for stress &instinct is saying Ylang Ylang would have positive psychological effects for the same reasons."

Thank you so much for this. I will order these online. I had a quick look in my aromatherapy book and they do sound right. Thanks for those suggestions.

"I'm assuming you know the correct dilution ratios& that you're dispersing the oils in foam bath or milk for bathing in."

No I'm not doing that. I'm just dropping them directly into the water as the bath is filling. Is dispersing it with something essential? If so, I don't have any bath foam... so could I mix it with shampoo base and add that to the water instead?

Also, might you please have any suggestions re a good carrier oil for use when hand-massaging?

Many thanks again!

N

 

[iyamacog]

Hi there,

Rosemary is a brilliant oil for aches and pains, and is also great for stress and depression. I find Geranium very helpful - it's a good balancer of emotions. If you like the smell, I'd say carry on using it.

As for carrier oils, I'd suggest any of the normal ones (sunflower, apricot and sweet almond are all suitable), but add about a quarter calendula oil (macerated flowers in oil), which has analgesic properties. It is expensive, but is also wonderful for maturing skin - for me it's worth every penny.

AS for using oils in the bath - I don't have any problem with you using oils dropped neat in the bath - although it is better to drop them in when the bath has been run, and then swish them round well with your hand before you get in. If you wish to dilute them, I'd say a definite NO!!! to the dilution in shampoo base! Much better would be a teaspoon of honey with the oils stirred in. I also use dead sea salts, and drip the oils onto them before I add them to my bath. As far as I was taught, it is only essential to fully dilute oils in the bath for kids, the old and infirm, or when using potentially skin-irritant oils (Red thyme, cinnamon spring to mind).

I'm sure other people will make other suggestions - hope the reflexology helps!

 

[Pompal 09.]

Dear SN

OK, I will order Rosemary oil, plus the Ylang Ylang and marjoram oils recommended by flowerlight. I have no reason to choose apricot over the other carriers you have suggested, other than it sounds more indulgent... and I feel my stress/pain attracts me to something indulgent. I am also going to get the [gulp] expensive calendula oil.

My plan was to continue with the morning bath of clary sage and lavender. Then to have a proper hand reflexology treatment following breakfast (I am off work because of the back prob) and a simple slow relaxing hand rub in the evening. Would you recommend using the same oils for bath, hand reflexology, and hand rub (i.e. clary sage + lavender), and change to another combination for the following day (say, rosemary + geranium). Or might it be more sensible/effective to have bath with one mix of oils, hand reflexology with a different mix of oils, and the evening hand rub with another mix of oils?

Or does it matter!

Thanks so much for your advice

N x

 

[bcnbmpqd]

Hi N, personally I think it's ok to disperse the oils in your shampoo as I was taught anything to disperse the oils in is fine, otherwise they just sit on the top of the bath or, in the case of peppermint, sink to the bottom (& you get a very cold bath!), their properties will stll work through man-made chemicals in shampoo. Otherwise Nicole Perez recommends that with 'the art of the aromatic bath the precedures for blending are the same as preparing a massage blend. About 30ml of carrier oil...max of 3-4 different oils... 3-4 drops of oil per 10ml of carrier oil.' Re: carrier oils, I usually use almond oil (widely available & not expensive) which is high in B vits & retinol - therefore has emollient and regenerative properties. It shouldn't be used on those with nut allergies, in that case i'd use grapeseed - much lighter but rich in linoleic acid (good for the skin), and again widely available & not too expensive.

Your plan sounds fine. I'd use the sedative oils in the evening - clary sage, lavender, marjoram. And if you're going to use rosemary, geranium i'd recommendthe morning - peppermint would be another wake-up, refreshing, anti-spasmodic, pain relieving oil. Lavender's ok to be used in the morning too cos it's not too sedative. Again a long, warm bath is preferable at night but a hand massage is fine whenever. It's recommended you keep the oils on your skin for 3 hours to get max benefits.

I hope the pain subsides soon & you feel much better. The oils do help to revive flagging spirits so you may feel better able to cope. Depending on where the suspected prolapsed disc is i'd recommend an ointment of peppermint, rosemary & either ginger or majoram be massaged directly into the area first thing - again, if you're going to do this make sure you don't go over the oil ratios if you're having other stuff too.

My plan would be daily ointment on the area when I wake up (if you've got a partner or mum handy perhaps they could reach a difficult area?), make up 20ml of base with 8 drops of oils - you won't be using the whole amount in one go, then hand massage (10 ml, 3-4 drops of essential oil), then bath in the evening (make up 30ml with 12 drops of oils). You can mix n match, e.g. ointment & hand massage one day, aromatic bath the next etc & perhaps have every 3rd day completely off from oils so your system doesn't become too overloaded.

I hope i haven't overloaded you with all this info either & you see some positive results
x
p.s. if you're interested in buy a comprehensive book I recommend The Aromatherapy Workshop by Nicole Perez.

 

[Kyo~!!]

P.P.S!!! I looked up crystals that may help & smokey quartz is said to help with back pain

 

[Bayli Lewis]

Hello everyone

It is perhaps too early to tell but I feel that the Rosemary is making a difference to my pain levels. Perhaps it is the Ylang Ylang, but I feel intuitively that it is the Rosemary. When I opened the bottle and smelt it - it just smelt like the right thing. If you know what I mean?

The apricot carrier oil is very thick though. I wish that I hadn't chosen that one. I'd like to make up something and rub it all over my body on days when I feel particularly overwhelmed by stress/pain... but the apricot oil will sit there like a thick film. I wonder if folk could please suggest a carrier oil which is very light? Or is there a way of making your oil more absorbant?

Thanks so much for your advice.

N x

 

[Gary C]

p.s. flowerlight... hmm... I wrote a long reply to your post several days ago... but it doesn't appear to be here? I didn't notice an error message when I posted it. It was just a standard response so it'd not have anything that'd be regarded as offensive (to warrant the moderators taking it down). I am sorry it isn't there - clearly the gremlins got it. Thank you so much for your advice - my post was just answering some of your questions, and picking up some of your suggestions. Many thanks again. N x

 

[JoDee.]

I would recommend either sweet almond or grapeseed oil, as these are much lighter and more easily absorbed.

Alternatively, you could use a base lotion and blend the oils into that as it would be much less greasy.

Lesley

 

[1993]

Hi N, I'm glad you're feeling a difference. I agree with grapeseed oil - it's a very fine oil & easily absorbed. As Aromababe said a base lotion may also be better or I think you can get pure aloe vera gel or a base gel which again is easily absorbed. Sending you good thoughts. [link=http://www.essentialoilsdirect.co.uk]www.essentialoilsdirect.co.uk[/link]- if you're unable to find what you're looking for.

 

[Kimtontwo Web]

Hi there,

Sorry not to have replied earlier - I've been away a few ways. Brilliant news that you think the Rosemary is helping - and I'd always agree that you should follow what your intuition says. The other suggestions that have been made about lotion and carrier are great ones - you can add calendula to all of them in approx 1 to 4 proportion (ie 25%) to get the benefit of it. I think Flowerlight's suggestion about when to use which oil is good too.

Good luck, and I hope you'll continue to feel the benefits.

Nellx

 

[sweet_sunshine]

Hey Nell where did you get your avatar? It's fantastic!

 

[ab.jarvis]

Thank-you you lovely people for your new suggestions. This is what I tried last night for an all-over-body-rub and found it fab:

a tablespoon of pure aloe vera gel
a smidgen of the apricot oil (it makes the aloe vera more 'rubby')
two drops each of the essential oils

Many thanks again.

N x