You’re most likely used to seeing wintergreen essential oil as an ingredient in breath fresheners like gum, toothpaste, and yummy organic Wintergreen mints. This isn’t surprising since oil of wintergreen’s sweet, minty flavor provides a powerful punch to halitosis. But in addition to keeping mouths ultra-fresh and kissable, wintergreen essential oil recipes have been used medicinally for hundreds of years to ward off illness, treat respiratory issues, soothe joint pain, and maintain overall health.
Which brings us to one of our favorite wintergreen essential oil recipes: a natural relief from the awful, throbbing pain of headaches. It’s a fantastic blend of wintergreen oil, peppermint, and ginger, and it works like a charm. That said, we recommend tweaking the oils to your liking. Lavender and rosemary oils, for example, can also be really therapeutic for a sore noggin. The best part is that essential oils are relatively inexpensive and you can pick them up at your local health food store or Whole Foods Market. You never need more than a few drops so they last forever (almost)!
WINTERGREEN AND PAIN RELIEF
Wintergreen essential oil contains a natural, but very powerful, painkilling substance called methyl salicylate, which is also synthetically designed for use in over the counter pain killers. You know, the ones you’d normally pick up at your local pharmacy. If you’re anything like us, you might be trying to avoid those types of drugs in favor of a more natural approach, which is what makes wintergreen such a great alternative: it’s got the painkilling ingredient (and LOTS of it), but it’s the real deal.
RISKS
One teaspoon of wintergreen oil contains as much methyl salicylate as about 20 aspirin. This means you only need to use a very tiny bit to get results. It’s important to note that methyl salicylate is extremely toxic, and as with many other essential oils, wintergreen should not be ingested. Before getting to up close and personal, we recommend checking out Wellness Mama’s research on using essential oils safely. Oils aren’t for everyone, but when used properly, wintergreen can be a very safe and natural alternative to store-bought acetaminophens (read more about the dangers of acetaminophen here).
A WINTERGREEN ESSENTIAL OIL RECIPE FOR HEADACHES
You'll need:
Roughly 10 drops wintergreen essential oil
Roughly 10 drops peppermint essential oil
Roughly 5 drops ginger essential oil
4 teaspoons of a carrier oil for diluting. We love grapeseed or jojoba.
1 small glass container
Simply mix all the oils together in the glass container. Don’t stress about getting exact measurements, just try to stick to the ratios above. Rub a little bit of the mixture onto your fingertips and apply to the neck, back, and temples. Store the mixture in a cool, dark space.
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Image courtesy of Pelledolce.com