We are all familiar with muscle pain. It’s extremely common, not to mention uncomfortable and inconvenient!
Muscle pain can occur anywhere throughout the body, sometimes in multiple areas, impacting our concentration, mobility, and day-to-day functioning. This forces many of us to find a treatment to help us numb the pain and get on with our lives.
Fortunately, there are several ways we can ease muscle pain with natural oils. But which ones are best for targeting muscle or joint pain and reducing inflammation? Read on to learn more.
What Causes Muscle Pain?
Muscle pain can occur in any body at any time – even the so-called healthy ones can feel pain in their muscles for a plethora of reasons.
The most common causes of muscle pain are excessive use, over-stretching and arthritis. This usually occurs as a result of physically demanding work or over-exercise. However, it can also happen as a side effect of certain medications or from having the flu.
Other likely causes of muscle strain or soreness might be the result of these factors:
- Injury: Muscle injuries, such as sprains or strains, can cause localised pain and discomfort.
- Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS): This type of pain occurs 24-48 hours after intense or unfamiliar exercise due to muscle fibre micro-tears.
- Poor Posture: Extended periods of poor posture can stress and overwork muscles, leading to soreness.
- Muscle Cramps: Sudden, involuntary contractions of muscles can cause sharp, intense pain.
- Dehydration: Insufficient fluid and electrolytes can lead to muscle cramps and soreness.
- Medical Conditions: Invisible illnesses like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome can cause widespread muscle pain and stiffness.
How Do Carrier Oils Help Muscle Pain?
If you already use carrier oils in your health or personal care routine, you will know how good they are at combating different ailments, depending on their natural constituents.
Several carrier oils have natural anti-inflammatory and analgesic components historically known to assist with muscle and joint pain. These 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 allow 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.
Castor Oil
If you’ve ever wondered if Castor Oil is good for sore muscles, we have great news: it’s quite possibly one of the best natural remedies around!
Castor Oil is well known for its anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, helping it to become one of the most popular choices for relieving muscle and joint pain. This is because of its high concentration of fatty acids, in particular, ricinoleic acids like omega 9. When rubbed directly on the skin, the ricinoleic acid penetrates deeply and helps to relieve inflammation in the tissues.
Castor Oil has been seen to help with relieving pain associated with arthritis, joints and even nerve inflammation. Because of this, it is ideal when used topically as a massage oil on sore or aching muscles, targeting areas of the body most impacted by pain.
Besides helping relieve muscle pain, Castor Oil is also popular in cosmetic products as it repairs damaged skin.
Coconut Oil (Refined)
Coconut Oil has become an extremely popular product, thanks to its beautiful mild scent, easy absorption and versatility across skin and hair applications. But is coconut oil good for sore muscles? In short, yes!
Rich in medium-chain fatty acids, particularly lauric acid, Coconut Oil effectively reduces inflammation and pain. Additionally, this oil is great for improving skin hydration, which helps improve blood circulation and muscle flexibility. As an excellent carrier oil to essential oils, Coconut Oil supports the likes of Eucalyptus Oil and Peppermint Oil in delivering their natural pain-relieving properties to sore muscles and joints.
The anti-inflammatory and skin-healing properties in Coconut Oil are also said to encourage bruises to heal and reduces associated swelling and redness.
Argan Oil
Another carrier oil that’s become popular for several reasons, relieving muscle pain among them, is Argan Oil.
An extremely rare and highly sought after oil, Argan Oil is rich in essential fatty acids like omega 9 and linoleic acid, making it a powerful source of anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties. As such, it is known to soothe swelling and pain while working to slow the process of joint and tissue damage. Additionally, it has been seen to assist with blood circulation and muscle cramps.
Argan Oil also contains vitamin E, which helps reduce inflammation while promoting skin repair and moisture, reducing the appearance of fine lines, stretch marks and premature ageing.
Evening Primrose Oil
Evening Primrose Oil is rich in essential fatty acids and gamma-linolenic acids (GLAs) like omega 6 and is highly valued for its potent anti-inflammatory properties.
GLAs help to inhibit the production of inflammatory compounds in the body, which can lead to decreased muscle soreness and improved recovery. In particular, it’s known to reduce joint inflammation, relieve menstrual cramps and swelling. Additionally, Evening Primrose Oil supports overall skin health, which can enhance the effectiveness of topical treatments for muscle relief.
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.
What About Essential Oils?
In addition to carrier oils, some essential oils are known to assist with the natural relief of muscle pain. Once safely diluted with a carrier oil base, these essential oils can be applied topically to target painful and inflamed areas.
Here are some of our favourite essential oils for muscle pain relief, which are suited to topical application after their safe dilution with a carrier oil.
Due to its high menthol content, Peppermint Oil is said to be one of the most effective oils for pain relief, providing a cooling sensation that helps relax muscles and reduce pain.
Packed with gingerol, which contains anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties, Ginger Oil can help reduce muscle pain and stiffness.
Rich in eucalyptol, Eucalyptus Oil is known for its anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving effects that can soothe sore muscles.
The key constituent in Sandalwood Oil, santalol, contains anti-inflammatory and muscle-relaxing properties that can ease muscle soreness.
Other Treatments for Muscle Pain Relief
Aside from natural oils for muscle pain, there are lots of other ways to relieve symptoms, many of them natural. You may want to consider some of the following remedies for yourself:
- Magnesium: Crucial to muscle function and relaxation, Magnesium can help reduce muscle cramps and spasms.
- An Epsom salts bath: Soaking in warm water with Epsom salts can reduce inflammation and relax muscles, while also relaxing your mind.
- Remedial massage: A deep tissue massage focuses on treating specific muscle issues, reducing pain, improving circulation, and promoting relaxation.
- Heat packs: Using a warm compress or heated pad can increase blood flow and relax tight muscles.
- Ice Packs: Applying ice packs can reduce inflammation and numb sore areas to relieve pain.
- Stretching: Exercises that focus on stretching can target and relieve muscle soreness.
If your muscle pains persist, it’s best to seek advice from your GP and discuss your options.
How to 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 remember certain things to ensure you’re purchasing a quality carrier oil.
- 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 should be packaged in a dark glass bottle to prevent light and heat damage.
- The label should say ‘100% pure Carrier Oil’. This ensures the product isn’t blended with any other oils.
- Be sure to check the expiry date if buying from a store.
- The oil’s origin should be clearly stated on the label.
- Always be wary of a low price, which could indicate low quality or adulterated essential oils and carrier 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 only intended for cosmetic and aromatherapy applications - you should never ingest them. We also recommend storing your carrier oil in a cool, dry place at room temperature, ensuring that it is not directly exposed to sunlight and is out of reach of children or pets.