What are the Best Essential Oils for Sore Muscles?
Our 10 Favorites – Along With Tips on Using Them
Are your muscles feeling particularly sore after a taxing workout? Do muscle spasms have you regretting your decision to run that extra mile, or do those extra reps in the gym? Obviously, soreness is an indication that you did something right with your exercise – but it doesn’t make it any less painful and debilitating.
You can try tactics like stretching, foam rolling, compression therapy, and up your protein intake – but have you considered harnessing the power of essential oils to combat muscle soreness? If you’re looking for the best essential oils for sore muscles, you’ve come to the right place.
At REVIVE, we’re your one-stop shop for all things aromatherapy and essential oil. We don’t just have premium essential oils for sale – we have the resources you need to maximize their benefits! And today, we’ll share our 10 favorite essential oils for relief from muscle soreness and spasms. You’ll also learn how to use them to reap the full benefits they have to offer. First – can you really use essential oils for sore muscle relief?
Can You Use Essential Oils for Sore Muscles?
Yes – you can absolutely use essential oils for sore muscles. Just as you can use essential oils for arthritis pain or use essential oils for menstrual cramps, the power of aromatherapy can heal other types of pain – like muscular soreness.
These oils should be used in conjunction with the rest of your recovery regimen – which we’ll talk about later (diet, sleep, and more). But how exactly do essential oils work to provide relief from muscle soreness?
Essential oils interact with the body’s natural endocannabinoid system (ECS), which plays a role in modulating and regulating several of our bodily processes, including pain. Essential oils can help manage muscle soreness by reducing inflammation and calming spasms. When they are applied topically directly to the sore area, the relief you’ll experience is incredible.
The key is just finding the right oils for the job, but we’re here to help with that. As you can tell, it’s just about finding the best essential oil for inflammation – which we have a detailed article on. With the right oils, you’ll be back feeling better than ever for your next workout. However, what are the best essential oils for sore muscles?
The Best Essential Oil for Sore Muscles: 10 of Our Favorites to Help You Find Relief
Below, we’ll highlight 10 of the best essential oils for sore muscles. You can pick and choose a few you think will work best for your unique situation, or try them all and see which ones belong in your arsenal for the long haul!
First, let’s start with one of the most powerful essential oils the world has to offer: Peppermint.
Peppermint Oil
Peppermint essential oil is one of the best essential oils for sore muscles because it offers a cooling sensation that simply feels amazing on sore, agitated muscles. It can also work deep within your body to help relax tight, cramped muscle fibers and reduce inflammation. It’s great for providing relief from headaches and migraines caused by tension or poor posture – which can sometimes accompany muscle soreness. Learn more about how to use peppermint oil in our blog.
Eucalyptus Blue Essential Oil
Eucalyptus Blue is an incredibly invigorating scent that brings with it anti-inflammatory benefits. This makes it an ideal choice for reducing aches and pains associated with overworked muscles. Keep in mind that eucalyptus has a strong aroma, so use only small amounts when blending your own personal massage oil.
Helichrysum Oil
Helichrysum is an herbal-smelling essential oil that can help with tissue regeneration and speed up the healing process of sore muscles. Its anti-inflammatory properties make it popular for use in massage oils or topical applications to reduce swelling and discomfort. Discover additional uses for helichrysum in our complete guide.
Rosemary Essential Oil
Rosemary essential oil has been used since ancient times to naturally treat pain and muscle spasms. It’s best applied topically as a part of your post-workout recovery routine, as this will give you maximum relief from soreness and tension. Rosemary also helps strengthen the immune system which can be weakened after intense exercise.
Lavender Essential Oil
With its relaxing scent, Lavender oil is great for easing tension in your muscles after a workout. It has soothing properties that help reduce inflammation, spasms, and pain. Lavender is best used diluted in a carrier oil so that the effects are spread over a larger area. We have an in-depth article on other different ways to use lavender oil if you’d like to learn more.
Ginger Oil
Ginger has long been used to reduce inflammation and pain. The essential oil offers an intense warming sensation when applied topically – which helps relax tight muscle fibers and alleviate soreness faster than other oils. You can blend ginger with other oils or use it on its own for best results!
Sweet Marjoram Essential Oil
Sweet Marjoram is known for its soothing properties, making it great for relieving muscle tension after a workout. It’s best used as part of a massage oil blend since this will give you maximum relief from stiffness or aches. Plus, Marjoram oil helps reduce inflammation, which can be the cause of some soreness.
Clary Sage Oil
Clary Sage is best known for its calming effects and has been used for centuries to relieve stress and tension. It’s also incredibly effective at relieving muscle pain, spasms, cramps, and even headaches – making it one of the best essential oils for sore muscles. Clary Sage oil should be diluted in carrier oil before use on your skin.
Chamomile Oil
Chamomile is best known for its calming effects, but it’s also great for relieving sore muscles. It has anti-inflammatory properties that help reduce swelling as well as tension in the body. Plus, it can be used as part of a massage oil blend to provide maximum relief from discomfort – both mentally and physically.
Juniper Oil
Last but certainly not least, you can try Juniper oil for sore muscle mass. Juniper oil is best known for its ability to help detoxify the body, but it’s also great for relieving sore muscles. The warming and soothing sensation it brings with it provides relief from stiffness and cramps – making it an ideal choice for post-workout recovery.
What Essential Oil is Best for Sore Muscles?
We’ve shared 10 amazing choices to help you experience fast relief from sore muscles. But what essential oil is best for sore muscles from the list above? It’s hard to argue a better option than Peppermint, but Helichrysum, Chamomile, and others are all great choices as well. Frankly, you can’t go wrong with any of the 10 options above.
However, what if we told you that could harness the power of multiple essential oils for muscle soreness? With our Sore No More blend, you can! This essential oil blend is one of the best choices for anyone dealing with sore, inflamed muscles.
It’s a combination of key oils on this list – like Peppermint, Blue Chamomile, Helichrysum, as well as some other inflammation fighting oils – like Wintergreen, Camphor, Ylang-Ylang, and more. These oils all work in synergy to help you feel better fast and get back to your next workout with full force.
But how should you use this oil – or any of the oils on this list – to actually get relief from soreness?
How to Use Essential Oils for Sore Muscles: 3 Different Approaches to Application
While essential oil diffusers do have their time and place, going with topical application (apply oil directly to the skin) is your best bet for sore muscles. This lets the therapeutic properties of the oil penetrate the skin and get directly to where they’re needed most: the muscle mass that’s sore. We have a complete guide on applying essential oils topically if you’d like a deep review of how to go about this – but we’ll tell you the bulk of what you need to know below.
There are three approaches you can take when it comes to how to use essential oils for sore muscles. You can purchase roll-on essential oils, or give your muscles a soak in the bath. You can also take a more active approach to the application by massaging the oil deep into your skin. We’ll discuss all three below to help you find relief fast.
Use a Roll-On for Effortless Application
Roller oils are undoubtedly the easiest way to apply essential oils topically. The hard work of dilution with a carrier oil for essential oils has already been done. And, these can be brought on the go with no risk of spilling – they’re perfect for keeping in your purse, gym bag, car, at the office – you name it.
We have an article on how to make essential oil rollers, but it is a lot easier to purchase our expertly crafted rollers at REVIVE. You simply find the right roll-on oil and apply it to the muscles that are the sorest. Simple as that! But, for a deeper, more targeted approach, you should make your own massage oil…
Massage the Oil Into Your Skin (With a Carrier Oil)
If you haven’t tried using essential oils for massage therapy, you are seriously missing out. This is a tactic that combines two powerful, natural healing therapies: massage therapy and aromatherapy. Together, the relief your sore muscles will feel is astounding!
For best results, mix up your own oil blend by mixing a few drops of the best essential oil for sore muscles with 1 ounce of carrier oil like coconut or grapeseed oil. Then use this as your massage oil – working slowly through the sore areas to release adhesions in the muscle mass that are causing your soreness. If you have a partner to help you with this, even better!
If you are looking for help with mixing oils, we have a complete guide on blending your own concoctions for safe, effective topical application.
You can also try our new Sore No More rub which is specially crafted to be massaged into the skin to help with minor aches and pains.
Try a Soak With Essential Oils in Bath for Sore Muscles
We have an article on bath bomb essential oil recipes – and there, we mentioned that one of the best use cases for an essential oil bath is sore muscles. The warm water helps loosen up tight muscle groups. This, coupled with the therapeutic properties of essential oils like inflammation & pain relief, makes muscle soreness a thing of the past.
Again, it’s important to get the ratio of water & essential oil right to prevent skin irritation but still get the benefits. So, read our full guide on using essential oils in the bath.
Other Tips for Relieving Muscle Soreness
Now that you know how o use essential oils for sore muscles, you can take actionable steps to find relief and get back to 100%. And while it’s true that using the best essential oils for sore muscles is a great option, you should make sure the rest of your recovery efforts are dialed in as well.
For example, your diet should be tailored to promote fast recovery. You need ample protein intake – ideally 1g per pound of body weight. Intaking a caloric surplus (eating more than your body burns) gives your body the fuel necessary for recovery. And taking the right recovery supplements will also help (like pro-biotics and magnesium).
Finally, don’t forget to get adequate sleep & rest. You need at least 7-8 hours of quality, uninterrupted sleep every night to make sure your body is ready for tomorrow’s workout.
Other tactics you can add to your post-workout recovery regimen include foam rolling, stretching, compression therapy, sauna therapy, and ice baths.
Final Thoughts on How to Use the Best Essential Oil for Sore Muscles
That concludes our article on the best essential oil for sore muscles. Now that you know which oils are best for sore muscles – and how to use essential oils for sore muscles – there’s only one thing left to do. Head over to REVIVE and get stocked up on all the essentials today!
As the #1 choice for 100% organic essential oils, you can rest assured you’re getting the safest, most therapeutic oils on the market – for less than the competition. We maintain industry-leading quality standards while keeping prices low. What more could you ask for?
We’ve got complete essential oils kits to help you jumpstart your journey to holistic healing. While we didn’t discuss it today in this guide, we also have a full range of CBD essential oil – a powerful tool to have in your arsenal for not just muscle soreness, but a host of ailments! And, if you’re looking for an essential oil wholesale distributor, we can help you out there too. So what are you waiting for? Visit the most trusted essential oils website today and feel better fast!
