Let's talk pain....

So I have already shared with you that my essential oil journey started with allergies (post here). But really, I had a lot of health issues, and allergies was just the most enduring and daily issue. 

Pain, in several forms, had become my daily companion also. I have hip problems (which have now undergone surgery to repair and correct, results still pending, but positive), arthritis in my hands and other joints, tendon damage in my knee, back pain etc.

I cannot take any NSAIDS and did not want to be dependent on narcotics. Aspercreme is full of chemicals, and really only worked on my hands a short while... sometimes. Tylenol didn't touch the pain. Plus taking that stuff for an extended period of time is horrible for the liver and kidneys.  I wanted a natural pain relief product.  After discovering that the essential oils worked so well for my allergies, I was ready to attack the issue of pain. 

Now, before we get to the recipe for my go to pain salve, I want to be honest and say that I am convinced my diet and lifestyle changes added to my daily success in the battle against pain. Not just using my pain salve. Honestly, my goal is to use the pain salve as needed until I find all the root causes of pain and fix them. For example, over Christmas I cheated a little, ok fine!,  a lot on my no wheat rule. My body kept score, no doubt about it. Everything was sore when I woke in the mornings. Thankfully I'm back on the wagon - Christmas cookies are just my nemesis. I am very careful and aware of what chemicals go in and on my body. No more fake sugars. No more preservatives. I'm working hard to make many of my own beauty and cleaning supplies.

Now on to what you've been waiting for

I started by purchasing the ingredients for this salve from Camp Wander and making it. While it helped the pain in my hands, it hardly touched my hip pain. Now, in all fairness, my hip pain was pretty severe. I had a frayed (not just torn, lots of tears) labrum in each hip along with arthritis and I had bones that weren't formed quite right aggravating the issues. The pain was enduring and DEEP in the hip. I started to research which essential oils were commonly used for pain. In other words, they have analgesic properties themselves, or they fight pain with other properties they have ~ such as fighting pain by reducing inflammation.  Come to find out there are quite a few, this isn't even a complete list, just the oils I had considered in making my salve.

Birch

Clove

Peppermint

White Fir

Wintergreen

Eucalyptus

Lemongrass

Rosemary

Myrrh

Thyme

Black Pepper

Frankincense

Using the Naked Salve recipe from Camp Wander, I began to experiment. I was going for an extra strength salve that would hopefully penetrate deep into the hip joint. After quite a few trials this is the recipe I came up with.

Mom's EOs Pain Salve

1/4 C Organic Virgin Coconut Oil (I love this one ~ the quality is worth it)

1/4 C Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

1 Tablespoon Organic Beeswax Pearls

Melt these ingredients slowly in a double boiler ( I use a Pyrex measuring cup in a small pot. Easier to pour into salve jar at the end)

In a 4 oz glass jar put 

1/2 teaspoon vitamin e oil

30 drops Birch

30 drops Clove

30 drops Eucalyptus

15 drops Frankincense

10 drops White Fir

Pour melted salve base over EOs in jar and let cool. 

That's a lot of oils, I know. I get it. But if you are in a battle with regular, deep pain it may be worth it to you. Keep in mind ~ this is what it took for me to get the deep pain relief I needed for my hips. It may be overkill for you. You may need to play with the recipe to suit your own pain needs. However, I have found a lot of relief from this salve on my hands, knee, hips, post-surgery pain and back pain. I have given samples to many people and each time they come back with "that stuff is amazing". My friend Laura recently had carpel tunnel surgery and wanted natural pain relief for her hand. I gave her a sample. Here is what she had to say...

" I love it!!! It truly takes away the pan... Can i just buy some from you??? Please reply to this and tell me what you put in it so i can share to my facebook family and let them know about you and your blog!!! I have used it twice already today and plan to use it again tonight for comfort! Thank you Wendy bear!!! Mom's EOs rocks!!"

If you just can't bring yourself to make the salve but want to try it, email or message me. I do not have the ability to be in full scale production of EO products, but I have a few jars I can sell and I will figure out how to get some into your hands. 

There are some other options that Spark Naturals sells for pain that you can always try as well. I love the Relief  blend for headaches and have been known to use it in a pinch for my knee and hands when I am out and that is all I have. They also sell Amend and Amend +. Any of these blends can be used with some basic salve or coconut oil for rubbing in and they will help with pain also. Camp Wander did this great post for Amend + pain salve that is easy and powerful.

Things I've learned in the year long process of creating this recipe...

• *****Birch is really powerful, should be avoided if you are on blood thinners, pregnant, or have epilepsy. There is a high concentration of methyl salicylate
• We are very blessed that high quality, pure Birch is readily available through Spark Naturals - not all companies offer it
• A little salve goes a long way on my hands
• Taking the time to really rub it in makes it work better (and keeps you from leaving oil on things like your phone screen)
• If you make it and need to tweak the recipe, add more of an oil, add another oil etc. you can warm the glass jar slowly in a low heat oven and then just add the adjustment to the re-melted salve.
• Sometimes a second application 20 min. later is enough to get me through several hours

I hope you are able to find natural relief from pain. Have you found another recipe or oils that help? Please share with us in the comments!

~Wendy

This blog post contains affiliate links