A Tale of “Super Cute Sandals” Leading to “Anything But Cute” Foot Pain!
As I said a while back on the Self Help Blog, I have fallen in love with essential oils. I’ve always been a HUGE fan of aromatherapy but am fairly new to the world of essential oils.
Trust me, I’m making up for lost time!
Years of living every single day of summer in “super cute” sandals and “comfy” flip flops has led to recurring Plantar Fasciitis. Talk about painful. If you’ve never had this horrible foot condition, please do all you can to never invite it into your life. PAINFUL! Annoyingly, it will often go away for a while, only to return. Check out the best flip flops for plantar fasciitis.
Recently, after a 2-3 year absence, mine returned with a vengeance – in both feet, no less! I turned to essential oils to see if they’d make it more bearable. I’ve found a few that have proven very helpful for me.
- Peppermint Essential Oil. Peppermint essential oil (my “go to” for headaches and stiff necks) is helpful for several reasons when it comes to relieving pain – It increases circulation and is also a natural pain reliever. If you have muscle pain of any kind, it is also wonderful when it comes to stopping muscle spasms.
- Rosemary Essential Oil. Rosemary is a new oil in my arsenal but I absolutely love it. Like Peppermint Oil, Rosemary oil relieves pain – EVEN arthritis pain.
- Lavender Essential Oil. Lavender does more than just relax your mind, it relaxes your body and – when it comes to pain – this is a glorious thing. While I use lavender essential oil in many ways, I actually turn to Lavender Bath Salts for soaking my feet. Heavenly!
You can use the essential oils by adding 5 drops to warm water and soaking your feet. When I don’t want to be confined to the bathroom tub or sing, I simply soak a washcloth in the essential oil water and wrap my foot in the rag (after ringing it out, of course). Wrapping a grocery bag around the wrapped foot keeps it from drying out too fast. The wrap is good (and downright delightful) for about 15-20 minutes.
This morning, while searching for a few new bottles of Peppermint Essential Oil on Amazon, I came across something BRILLIANT that I plan to stock up on: Peppermint Essential Oil Roll On! This will be the most effective way to apply Peppermint Essential oil to my feet (as well as my forehead when a headache strikes). The link I just used goes to a two-pack (which is the same, or even less, price as many single packs). I want the 2 pack because one can stay at home and I can keep the other in my purse to keep with me at all times. If you’ve ever tried to apply essential oil while in public, you know all to well how cool these roll ons are! There are even Lavender Essential Oil Roll Ons available.
Seriously, my world just shifted!
I’m doing more research on natural foot pain relief and will post more information as it is uncovered. In the meantime, take good care of your feet. They’ll settle the score in the years to come if you don’t.