How To Get The Most Out of Your Essential Oils

You don’t have to be a hippie stuck in the sixties to appreciate the many benefits that essential oils can bring. While they do tend to smell quite lovely, and they are often noted for their prominent use in baths and massages at many spas, it turn out that essential oils can be used for many other beneficial purposes as well. I recently came across a great article by Care 2 that delves into the specifics of how each essential oil has truly unique properties that can work to improve a person’s overall health and well being.

Peppermint is an essential oil that I use pretty often, and it’s because I tend to deal with stomach issues such as cramping and nausea more often than I would like to admit. I blame anxiety for my particular issues, but for anyone who also finds themselves struggling to cope with pain or discomfort, peppermint essential oil can offer a fantastic remedy, as can the essential oil of ginger as well.

You can gently blend both peppermint and ginger essential oils together and rub the mixture on your stomach for instant soothing relief. Just the smell alone is often enough to calm the stomach – after all, peppermint is known in the medical world for having the ability to stop spasms in the stomach that lead to nausea and vomiting, while ginger calms the gut and makes digestion easier. You can also use peppermint essential oilto repel insects and spiders, interestingly enough! Simply mix a drop or two of the oil with water and spray areas where your home is prone to bug infestations.

If you or maybe some of the younger members of your family tend to run around and get a lot of cuts, burns, or scratches, you might want to try using lavender essential oil for these minor injuries. Applying just a few drops of the essential oil of the lavender plant to a cut or burn has been shown to soothe the pain in the area while actually working to speed up the healing time. If any of these cuts or injuries are a little bigger and end up leaving a scar or two, you may be able to use the essential oil from Frankincense to heal them and possibly even fade them over time. Add a few drops of this oil to your moisturizer before applying over scars from acne or cuts.

Used under Creative Commons Licensing courtesy of Swallowtail Garden Seeds