4 Essential Oils You Can Use to Treat Muscle Soreness and Pain

If you exercise regularly or are a gym goer, you may have experienced muscle soreness or pain at some point. Muscle soreness is a delayed reaction of mild damage caused to the muscle fibers while performing a physical activity. The symptoms may usually appear within 24 to 72 hours after the activity. While it may not be a serious condition and the discomfort may ease out with time, it is often accompanied with pain and your muscles turn tender. You may think of popping a pain killer instantly or an anti-inflammatory pill to relieve the pain, but there are some natural cures available too. Here are four wonderful essential oils that you can use to massage gently on your muscles as they have anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties.1. Peppermint OilAlso used as an edible essential oil, peppermint oil is a great remedy for aching muscles. It not only relieves pain and inflammation but also improves blood circulation to that area for faster recovery.
 _{Peppermint oil helps improve blood circulation}2. Rosemary OilRosemary essential oil has stimulating properties that can help in relieving all kinds of muscular conditions such as soreness or even a sprain. You can use it in a cold compress that helps with sprains and swelling. Add few drops of rosemary essential oil to cold water, soak towel in it and then apply it on the affected area for few minutes and then repeat this a few times.
 _{Always remember that essential oils should be mixed with a carrier oil} 3. Eucalyptus OilEucalyptus oil contains tannins that help alleviate the tension in the muscles and reduce swelling even in case of arthritis. You can add few drop a bath that can help relax achy muscles with its soothing properties.4. Vetiver OilVetiver is a wild grass that grows abundantly in India. Vetiver essential oil is often used as an Ayurvedic medicine. It has a calming and stabilizing effect and acts an a natural antispasmodic which helps in suppressing muscle spasms. It also helps in relieving stiff joints. Always remember that essential oils should be mixed with a carrier oil like almond or sesame (good for joint pains) before applying them to your skin. Besides this, you should include more magnesium-rich foods like spinach, cashews, avocados and pumpkin seeds. Our body needs magnesium for the blood vessels relax, for energy production and most importantly, for protein synthesis. Also, don’t rest too much. Keep moving, so that your muscles are remain active; this will actually help speed up recovery.