I tend to hold lots of tension in my trapezius, which are the muscles between the shoulders and neck. If I do yoga regularly and am keeping those muscles stretched, I don’t have much problem.

But when I’m not doing yoga and I’m carrying a baby or heavy purse around a lot or spending hours at a time on the computer, those muscles start to get tight, achy and sore. And when this is the case, I’m more likely to get an occasional tweak in my neck so that I can’t turn it all the way.

Over the years I’ve found some excellent, natural tools that help greatly with sore muscles and pain. These tools are also effective for healing if used regularly. Here are our favorites.

Top 5 Tools for Relieving Sore Muscles, Tissue & Bone*

1)   Deep essential oil blend.  This product is the big hitter of the group. This contains pure, undiluted essential oils that are POWERFUL against minor discomforts. For faster relief, I will apply it directly to the spot for relief. These oils can be pricey to get high quality, but for many people it’s worth every penny because it works so well. I like to have it on hand for those unexpected minor tweaks. I dilute it for everyday use. This is a wonderful tool to help relieve and support muscles and joints.

2)   Dr. Christopher’s Cayenne Heat massage oil or ointment. This tool is also powerful, but works a bit differently. The heat of the cayenne counteracts pain and brings healing circulation to the area. It’s like Icy Hot, but with natural, not synthetic ingredients. Synthetic products help with pain, but don’t heal, nourish or balance the way plant-based products do.

Cayenne Heat

Cayenne Heat is more economical at $15 for 2 oz or $19-20 for 4 oz of the oil or ointment. Its natural color is red because of the cayenne and it can stain clothes. For super pain relief & healing, I put several drops of deep essential oil blend on the area, then rub in cayenne ointment and cover with a cloth overnight. For daytime application I use the massage oil because it absorbs faster.

3)   Vickie Sorensen’s Muscle Relief essential oil blend. This is another blend I love for everyday muscle soreness. I used this before I found my current company and I haven’t completely let go. One big difference is that this blend is premixed with half carrier oil already. This makes it cheaper ($16 retail for 15 ml) and easy to apply straight onto the skin. It works well and smells good.

4)   Dr. Christopher’s Complete Tissue massage oil & ointment. This formula is more for fast healing than immediate pain relief. I use it for healing strained or torn muscles, ligaments, skin and even bones. For topical healing, I just rub in the ointment or oil as often as I can.

For broken bones, marathon recovery or other serious issues, I would take up to a half a bottle of Complete Tissue capsules per day to in many cases, cut healing time in half. This stuff works, you just have to get enough of it. Intensive treatment for broken bones, spinal or back injuries involves making a tea with Complete Tissue herbs, soaking a towel in it and leaving it on the injured area overnight, 6 nights a week, until healing is achieved.

5)   Heat therapy. This can be done wet or dry. Just like taking a hot bath or sitting in the spa helps sore muscles relax, heat can be used in other ways for healing. And when you combine heat with the tools above, you can dramatically increase the effectiveness and absorption of essential oils and herbal formulas.

Heat Types

There are different types of heat you can use, such as electric heating pads, microwaved bags of beans or rice, towels soaked in hot water then wrung out and applied to the body, or just soaking in a hot tub.

I usually don’t use additional heat with Dr. Christopher’s Cayenne formula because it gets too hot to tolerate and not in the case of too much inflammation. But I do like to apply a hot, wet wrung towel over a sore area after I’ve applied Deep Blue or Muscle Relief essential oils. The heat and moisture help the oils to penetrate more deeply.

My daughter, Raquel, jammed her finger today while I was working on this article. Her knuckles on her pinkie finger and at the base, got very swollen.

In this case, we applied ice and deep essential oil to reduce the swelling.

Discomfort: The Body’s Signal

Pain is the body’s way of communicating that there is a problem and nourishment is needed. The wonderful thing is that there are plants that nourish specific parts and systems of the body. We just have to learn what those plants are and how to get enough of the plant to that part of the body. Fortunately in our day and age,  these natural tools are available abundantly to us in many different forms.

I have a friend who’s son shattered his elbow, so she had him taking 100 capsules of Christopher’s Complete Tissue formula per day. The conventional doctors they visited were amazed that he wasn’t in any pain. It was because he was getting enough specific nourishment to the injury.

Individual essential oils that help with pain are lavender, peppermint, helichrysum and cypress.

So consider having some of these natural tools on hand for the next time you encounter sore or damaged muscle or tissue. They make life so much sweeter!

What have you done in the past to treat your muscles?

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease.