Why does applying aromatherapy as soon as you injure yourself work better? 

Many people ask me how quickly should they apply be relieved or be sport if they injure themselves.  Most of us lead very busy lives and we tend to try and catch-up on weekends or after work on things such as gardening/house repairs or physical activities that are sometimes long overdue and as a result this can result in injury.

Active sports people often overdo it and “pull a muscle”, gardeners are prone to “bad backs” and “strained tendons”, even non-active people can fall and slip over leaving bruising and sometimes a fracture.

The soft tissues in the area of pain are easily damaged.  Immediately after the injury, there are disrupted fibres of the affected muscle, tendon, and/or ligament.  Additionally, the tiny blood vessels (capillaries) that normally supply blood and oxygen to these tissues are broken. The broken capillaries then leak varying amounts of blood and serum into the adjacent tissues. Therefore, soon after a soft tissue injury, localized swelling occurs. The injured tissues become painful and tender, both directly from the trauma to them and indirectly from the subsequent swelling. This leads to the stiffness, pain, and tenderness that so often accompany the inflammation of tendinitis, bursitis, as well as strain and sprain injuries.  It should also be noted that even a bone injury (such as a fracture) is typically accompanied by injury to the nearby soft tissues.

Aromatherapy, if properly blended using the highest quality essential oils, help because their properties are anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and analgesic to help with the pain. They speed up the bodies healing process, encouraging the lymphatic system to work more quickly to “clean” up the the “leaking” that occurs from any broken capillaries reducing the swelling and bruising which leads to stiffness and more pain.

The sooner it is applied the less damage to the soft tissues. A quicker recovery means you’ll be back at the gym, in the garden or back at work being productive a lot quicker than you would have anticipated.