Aromatherapy, Back Pain, backache, conventional treatments, alternative remedies, complementary therapies, integrative therapies, mind-body therapies

Treatment with essential oils can often help relieve the painful muscle spasms that contribute to back pain. Several of these--sage, rosemary, thyme, horsebalm and mountain dittany--are rich in thymol and carvacrol, compounds that help muscles relax.

How To Use: Add a few drops to a couple of tablespoons of any vegetable oil and massage the oil mixture directly into the affected area. Alternately, you can add a few drops of the oil to a hot bath and soak for a while, inhaling the steamy vapors.

Other compounds with potent muscle-relaxing action that can relieve back spasms are borneol and bornyl-acetate. Plants rich in these chemicals include cardamom, sage and rosemary. Borneol is an effective antispasmodic compound at a very dilute concentration, making it even more potent than menthol, camphor, thymol and carvacrol.

Here are some essential oil formulae for best results.

Aromatherapy Oil Blend for Severe Backaches

4 drops of blue chamomile essential oil
4 drops of birch essential oil
4 drops of rosemary, coriander or eucalyptus essential oil
4 drops of ginger or black pepper essential oil
14 drops of lavender essential oil
½ ounce of carrier oil.

Mix together. Use daily as needed, rubbing it into the affected area after a hot bath, when muscles are relaxed and pores are open.

Aromatherapy Oil Blend for Minor Aches

2 drops of blue chamomile essential oil
2 drops of birch essential oil
2 drops of rosemary, coriander or eucalyptus essential oil
2 drops of ginger or black pepper essential oil
2 drops of lavender essential oil
½ ounce of carrier oil

Mix together and use daily as needed, rubbing it into the affected area after a hot bath, when muscles are relaxed and pores are open.

Essential Oils Useful for Back Pain

For muscular fatigue: lavender, marjoram, rosemary, clary sage.
For acute pain: black pepper or ginger, birch.

Caution: Never to ingest an essential oil. Even small quantities of some oils, on the order of a single teaspoon, can be fatal.