We all know muscle pain. It’s common, uncomfortable and inconvenient. It impacts concentration, mobility, and day-to-day functioning. It also can occur anywhere throughout the body, sometimes in multiple areas.
Luckily, some carrier oils have naturally occurring analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties, making them a popular natural alternative to relieve tension. Read on to learn more.
What Causes Muscle Pain?
Arthritis, over-stretching or over-using the muscles are common causes of muscle pain. This usually occurs as a result of physically demanding work or over-exercise. But it can also happen as a side effect of certain medications or from having the flu.
How Do Carrier Oils Help Muscle Pain?
Some carrier oils have naturally occurring anti-inflammatory and analgesic components that are historically known to assist with muscle and joint pain. The qualities may help with the following:
- Easing muscle pain
- Relieving sore muscles
- Reducing swelling
- Alleviating cramping
- Relaxing stiff muscles
- Relieving muscle spasming
Carrier oils also make a great base for essential oil dilution and allowing for the safe absorption of essential oils into the skin.
4 Best Carrier Oils For Muscle Pain
Carrier oils are highly versatile and are known to provide a range of anti-inflammatory, analgesic and calming qualities for muscle pain. Here are some of our best known carrier oils that may assist with muscle pain relief:
1. Coconut Oil (Refined)
Coconut Oil has an extremely mild scent, easily absorbs into the skin and is highly versatile across skin, hair and massage.
It has natural pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties as well as being known as a natural muscle relaxant.
It is also known to encourage the healing of bruises and reducing swelling and redness.
It may also help in relieving stress, assisting with localised pain relief and helping to increase blood supply to arthritic areas.
You can dilute essential oils with Coconut Oil and add it as a massage oil or skin serum. We recommend a 1-2% dilution for skin application and a 0.5-1% dilution for facial application.
2. Castor Oil
Castor Oil is best known for its natural anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, making it a popular choice for muscle and joint pain. This is because of its high concentration of fatty acids, ricin oleic acids -particularly omega 9.
It’s also popular in cosmetic products and may protect against free-radical damage to the skin.
Castor Oil has been seen to help with relieving pain associated with arthritis, joint pain, sore muscles and even nerve inflammation. Because of this, it is ideal when used topically as a massage oil on sore or aching muscles.
When diluting with essential oils and using as a massage oil or skin serum, we generally recommend a 2-4% dilution for skin application and a 1-2% dilution for facial application.
3. Argan Oil
Argan Oil has essential fatty acids, omega 9 and linoleic acids, making it a powerful source of anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties.
It is known to soothe swelling and pain while working to slow the process of joint and tissue damage.
It has also been seen to assist with blood circulation and muscle cramps as well as reducing the appearance of fine lines, stretch marks and premature ageing.
Argan Oil makes a great base to dilute with some essential oils as a massage oil or as a skin serum. We generally recommend a 2-4% dilution for skin application and a 1-2% dilution for facial application.
4. Evening Primrose Oil
Evening Primrose Oil is rich in essential fatty acids and gamma-linolenic acid (omega 6), so it is highly valued for its healing and anti-inflammatory properties.
It’s known to reduce joint inflammation, relieve menstrual cramps and swelling.
Evening Primrose Oil is highly versatile and may also help in other areas of inflammation such as relieving itchiness, redness and dryness seen in skin conditions such as eczema.
It’s also sought after for cosmetic use and may assist in reducing the appearance of wrinkles and signs of premature ageing.
You can dilute Evening Primrose Oil with your favourite essential oil for muscle pain to create a massage oil or skin serum. We generally recommend a 2-4% dilution for skin application and a 1-2% dilution for facial application.
What About Essential Oils?
In addition to carrier oils, some essential oils are known to also assist with the natural relief of muscle pain. In saying this, it’s important to safely dilute essential oils with a carrier oils base before topical use. Below are some of our favourite essential oils known to help with muscle pain:
Other Tips For Muscle Pain Relief
Aside from carrier oils, there are ways available to relieve muscle tension and assist with joint pain. Speak with your GP for advice and to discuss your options. You may also be able to try:
- Magnesium
- A warm bath with Epsom salts
- Remedial massage
- Cold/heat packs
- Topical ointments
How Do You Know If You Have A Quality Carrier Oil
The quality and purity of carrier oils will vary depending on where you purchase them. For this reason, it’s important to keep your eye out for certain things to ensure you’re purchasing a quality carrier oil.
Top 6 Things To Look For
- Look for the oil's Latin name listed on the bottle. If a product doesn’t have the Latin name listed, it’s probably a mix of synthetic ‘fragrance oils’.
- Oil packaging is in a dark glass bottle. This will prevent light and heat from damaging the oil.
- The label clearly states ‘100% pure X Carrier Oil’. This will ensure the product isn’t blended with any other oils.
- Be sure to check the expiry date if buying in store.
- The product clearly states where the oil is from.
- Be wary of a very low price. It could be an indicator of low quality or adulterated essential oils.
Considerations For Using Carrier Oils
Although rare, carrier oil use may result in skin irritations or allergic reactions. That's why we always recommend performing a skin patch test before incorporating any carrier oil into your routine.
Our carrier oils are for cosmetic and aromatherapy applications only - you should never ingest carrier oils. We also recommend storing your carrier oil in a cool, dry place at room temperature, ensuring that they are not directly exposed to sunlight and are out of reach of children or pets.