I love this simple DIY muscle rub massage oil. It contains only essential oils that are very gentle, but effective (some essential oils are more harsh or are more likely to cause reactions). It takes only five minutes to make, and is absorbs well into the skin.
I use this to rub on sore or painful muscles, or as a massage oil. My shoulders and neck have been really tight recently, and using this on tight muscles has been wonderful! It is also great for sore joints and I use some on my temples when I have a headache.
The oils in this blend are soothing to sore and tired muscles and I find it brings relief for at least several hours after I put it on.
What I didn’t put in:
I didn’t use, among other popular oils, any citrus oils. Citrus oils can make your skin photosensitive and if you rub it on your skin and then are exposed to natural sunlight you can get a bad burn. (Read about that issue here). However, I love using them in an essential oil diffusers! Peppermint is also often used in muscle rubs, but I didn’t use it in my recipe. Peppermint essential oil is a wonderful oil, but it does seem to be one that causes bad reactions more often. It’s also not kid or baby-safe. Peppermint, Rosemary, and Eucalyptus all contain 1,8 cineole, which can cause dangerously slow breathing in children. I wrote about this in “Why Essential Oils Need to be Used Safely”, but I noticed that several adults made comments on that post about severe reactions to peppermint as well. So some caution is warranted. Personally, I experience skin sensitivities from peppermint. (Also read: Peppermint Oil Safety)
As always, if you haven’t tried an essential oil out yet personally, make sure you do a test by diluting it and rubbing a small amount on your skin (I usually rub it on my wrist). Even the most gentle essential oil can cause reactions if you have allergies to it.
I’m not going to make any specific health claims for these oils, but if you would like to follow any of the research on these plants go to a site like this one and research the individual essential oils to see what potential they have for specific issues.
What Brand of Essential Oils to Use:
You know from past posts that I’m not “brand loyal.” I don’t think there is just one brand that produces good essential oils. But, I also do feel that you should buy high quality essential oils. There are many cheap ones out there that I would not want to use, and would not expect therapeutic results from them.
The two companies I currently use have good quality control to make sure you are getting pure oils, but have more affordable prices. I used Rocky Mountain Oils for this recipe because I trust their oils to be at a therapeutic level. I’ve been really happy with their oils and their prices. I used Rocky Mountain Oil frankincense, this lavender, and this copaiba.
I comfortably use any of their oils, but do check out their new certified organic oils too. Did you know that even organic essential oils often have trace amounts of pesticides in them? These line are certified to be free of any traces by third party testing.
I also use Plant Therapy essential oils. I love that their mission is to make high quality essential oils affordable. AND, I also love that I can order them off of Amazon. The Plant Therapy oils for this recipe are as follows, frankincense, lavender, and copaiba.
You can use whatever variety of Lavender you want for this recipe, and I recommend either Frankincense carterii or Frankincense serrato.
You can, of course, use whatever brand of essential oils you feel comfortable with using.
I’ve learned recently that myrrh works in conjunction with Frankincense for an even better effect, so I plan on buying some and trying it out soon!
Massage Oil for Sore Muscles and Joints
To buy oils: Rocky Mountain Oils
To make this very strong for harder to soothe inflammation, cut the coconut oil in half. I made this to be fairly strong as is, so you can also start with less drops of the oils, if desired. Play around with the ratios!
- ¼ cup of coconut oil
- 20 drops lavender
- 20 drops of copaiba
- 10 drops of frankincense
Either gently melt the oil over low heat until it’s just liquid, or use a little hand power in smooshing the hard coconut oil with a fork until smooth. Add oils and if using it unmelted, mix and smoosh thoroughly with a fork until there are no lumps left and it’s mixed evenly. Store this in a glass container and keep in a dark place in between uses.
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Can this be use in children?
That’s a great question! According to this list >, all of these essential oils are safe to use, when diluted properly, for children over the age of 2. This is a pretty strong recipe, so I would dilute it more (how much depends on the age of the child). To read more about diluting for children, this is a good resource.
Balsam fir also works very well with this combination for pain relief. I can’t find copaiba in Europe so I use helichrysum and really like it too.
Valerie,
Thanks so much for sharing!