Muscle Pain

Summary

Muscle aches and pains (myalgia) common to over exertion are also the symptoms of a number of health concerns or reactions to some medications. Muscle pain often includes pain associated with the connecting tissues such as ligaments and tendons. General classes of muscle pain would include:

Over exertion, trauma, or repetitive strains - When this happens during exercise or physical work it will normally be easily identifiable since the pain will begin soon after the exertion and will involve the muscles that were recently used.

Stress – Prolonged stress and anxiety can “tighten” muscles to the point of pain and discomfort. For many this will be in the shoulders and neck muscles.

Infection – Viral and bacterial infections can often result in aches and pains in many muscles of the body. Some often describe the “ache all over feverish misery” as part of the flu.

Disease – Muscle pain can be a primary or secondary symptom of a number of diseases including arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, lupus, Lyme disease, peripheral neuropathy, polymyalgia rheumatica. (click on links to see more information on these specific conditions)

Polymyalgia Rheumatica

PMR is an inflammatory disease causing muscle pain and stiffness in the thighs, hips, buttocks, neck, shoulder, and/or upper arms. It is sometimes confused with the more common rheumatoid arthritis but the pain is in the muscles rather than the joints. Like RA it targets females more than males. Listed below are comparisons of the two conditions as noted in QualityHealth.com:

	PMR	RA
Painful areas	muscles	joints
Areas affected	fingers, wrist, feet	hips, shoulders
Those affected	primarily females	primarily females
Age at onset (typ)	over 50	mid 40s
How develops	very suddenly	gradually
Prognosis	goes away 1-2 years	chronic

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Oils, blends & products recommended:

Oils & Blends: birch, Citrus Bliss, Deep Blue, eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, marjoram, myrrh, peppermint, rosemary, wintergreen

Essential oils based products: MJ Assist

Also consider: frankincense, ginger

Suggested protocols:

Depending on the root cause of the muscle pain, one or a combination of the following, will help:

• Pain relief (analgesic): birch, Deep Blue, lavender, peppermint, or wintergreen.

• Calm or relax tension: Lavender or marjoram.

• Reduce inflammation: Birch, eucalyptus or myrrh with Citrus Bliss or an oil such as lemon.

• Improve circulation: Lemon or rosemary.

For pain to specific muscles apply topically to the local area to achieve the best results. Coupling this with local massage will add to the relief. If there is general discomfort over many muscle areas (too much exercise or work) a full body massage, baths, or showers will be the best.

Other analgesic oils include: marjoram. Other anti-inflammatory oils are: frankincense, ginger, myrrh, and wintergreen.

Experiences and Testimonials of others

Verna - I am a tennis player, and it is so important for me to be at the top of my game, each and every time I play. Sometimes aching muscles can really get me down. Sore muscles from my other daily activities— things like bouncing on the tramp, for example, or rolling around in an inflatable hamster wheel--can really carry over into my tennis and mess up my game. Just recently I was facing an important match with my doubles partner. I didn’t want to let him down, or myself down either, but my shoulders were screaming at me to get some help! I’ve always believed that when your body talks to you, you should listen. That’s why I invested in a bottle of doTERRA’s Past Tense. I waved that roll-on tube over my muscles like a magic wand, and—VOILA!!—the pain was gone. My partner and I went on to win that critical match, and later to become tournament champions.

Thanks, doTERRA, for saving my game!

Daniel - I love running! Every time I do a long run, I take lemon oil internally (4 drops in a 16oz glass of water), apply lemongrass to my calves and the week before I will load my body with the EOmega supplement. The Alpha CRS is very good after because of the baicalin (antiinflamatory, pain). In addition water and rest.

TaLaisa - I was just in a car accident, along with my two youngest boys. A little one, we were hit from the side at 7-8 mph. Scary and startling, but everyone is feeling fine, Today anyway. I've been told that even a slow moving accident can make you stiff and sore for days after. I would love your suggestions for calming frazzled nerves and helping with the possible sleep problems my boys might face tonight. I'd also like to know what you'd suggest for the muscle aches.

Pat - My suggestion would be to use Balance and lavender for relaxing and resting, use Deep Blue, marjoram and peppermint for sore muscles and that achy feeling.

Loryjean - I would add lavender to a nice, bubbly tub; use music or whatever kind of pampering appeals to you (and your boys!).

Chris - I have a friend with a 14 year old son. Lately he has been sleeping much more, even more than the "typical teenage boy" and when he wakes up he is still tired. His energy levels are way down. He has also had some muscle ache, mostly legs so the doctors initially chalked it up growing pains. Has anyone come across anything like this?

Pat - I would recommend the Life Long Vitality.

Rob - Aroma Touch (the oil) is good for growing pains. Deep Blue would be also. Use massage to the deep muscles when pain comes on. You also might want to put a diffuser in his room and turn it on about 1/2 hour before wake up time. Try a few different oils to get the most effective for him, ie. cassia and grapefruit, peppermint and lemon, Elevation, rosemary and peppermint. All are very invigorating.

You could also take about 4-5 drops of peppermint and massage them into his neck and base of his skull for a minute or two when he wakes up. This will get the blood flowing to the brain for sure. Tell him that the tingling he is feeling is not "hot"... it is "cooling" and is not harmful. This will wake anyone!!

We have used all these techniques with our 3 boys, 16,13,10 with great success.

Cindy - Teenagers do sleep a lot, and many experience growing pains. My 12 year old uses PastTense for the pains in his legs. If the pain is persistent, severe, or confined to one area (i.e. not equal in both legs) then please do have it checked out by a medical doctor. One of my kids had "growing pains" starting when he was four, that turned out to be a bone tumor. He suffered for 3 years with these "growing pains" in one leg before we discovered he had an osteoid osteoma--a benign tumor that is very painful. An osteoid osteoma can occur in any bone in the body. Luckily for us, his was in the tibia and easy to access; he was just fine after surgery.

Dana - My 12 year old daughter experiences growing pains too. The Deep Blue works great. Also, the Past Tense roll on. Other oils to consider are birch and AromaTouch. Roman chamomile works great on kids when they are stressed out and need to "turn off" so they can sleep. Also, lavender baths are great too! I can totally relate to having to get up in the middle of the night because my child wakes up complaining about growing pains. I would keep a bottle of oil by my nightstand and apply the oil and within 10 minutes we would be back to sleep! How valuable is that? I don't know any mom that wouldn't want to have oils on hand.

Carol - Does anyone have a protocol for polymyalgia rheumatica? Polymyalgia rheumatica (meaning "pain in many muscles" in Greek), abbreviated as PMR, is a syndrome with pain or stiffness, usually in the neck, shoulders, and hips.

Sharon - Marjoram is good for muscle pain. It seems with any protocol, starting with our Life Long Vitality supplements and the cleansing is a must and then MJ assist. I would think that Deep Blue and peppermint would be good for pain and inflammation.

Jan FL - Polymyalgia. Does anyone know of this disease? I have been trying to find some research on it but can't seem to locate it. Any help would be much appreciated.

Shelly - One very important thing to know and may help you with info is that all of these diseases have the same etiology. toxocity. Toxins are first stored in joints and when those become overloaded, toxins are stored in muscle. If your friend will cleanse, cleanse, cleanse, and use doTerra oils she will start to see some changes. Environmental and food toxins need to be purged from the house and diet. Living, raw foods will also cleanse and bring healing. Buy a juicer, start to eat organic and start walking to pump those lymphatics that carry metabolic garbage and toxins away. If she can get an Aroma Touch Technique at least once a week and then take the GX Assist and PB Assist every month that would be a good start for her. Other ideas would be dry brush the skin and then sauna for 30 minutes, oregano on the bottom of the foot after that. Wake up feeling really good! Any oils that clean the liver and GI would be good.

Denise - I met a woman today who is preparing to run a marathon next year. She asked me what could be done for muscle pain. I immediately answered Deep Blue, but what else can I offer her? She was explaining how arduous and painful not only the marathon its self was, but that the training all by itself is grueling. I noticed suggestions of marjoram for muscle, and lemongrass for ligaments, in the sprained ankle post. What else can I suggest to her?

Monica – The Life Long Vitality supplements, MJ Assist, wintergreen, and white fir.

Pat - When we had a booth at the Marathon opening last year we handed out samples of peppermint for the runners to put on before they started their run. It helped to increase blood flow, cooled them off and was a general great oil. We also blended peppermint, Deep Blue, marjoram and lemongrass for them to apply after the race with incredible results.

Chris - I would use Aroma Touch as well.