Massage therapies and therapeutic oils go hand-in-hand for relaxation and pain relief. But for a professional massage there has to be an appointment made and money paid to get any relief. If you have a willing partner at home, or if there are areas of pain that can be done alone, then why not create your own therapeutic massage oils. You can save time and money alone with the convenience of at-home massages. These pain and relaxation massage oils are easy to make and are cheaper in costs than to purchase ready made oils.

The main oil base can be most any oil that is cold-pressed or expeller-pressed. They are both carrier oils with very little processing and this is important for last longer during the massage therapeutic session. To store your oil when not being used, the best place is to be cool and dry, while it should have 300 IU's of vitamin E per each pint of oil. Vitamin E should be added every 4 weeks to the oil during storage to keep the oil from breaking down. It is the various blends of essential oils or oils distilled from the many various plants, roots or seeds that will do the specific healing of pain during the initial massaging of the inflamed area.

Some of these essential oils include pleasingly scented ones like, sweet almond oil that acts as an anti-inflammatory relief. Sweet almond oil is a light blend and good for most all skin types, and especially dry skin. Apricot kernel oil will reduce stress, provide balance, and can improve prematurely aging skin. Borage oil is good for eczema and psoriasis, while penetrating deeply to regenerate and stimulate for healing. Neem oil is anti-inflammatory and is used for arthritis, sore muscles, bruising and eczema. The Kukuk nut oil is an anti-bacterial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory being lightweight and warm oil. Olive oil also gives a nice warming effect for relieving stiffness throughout your muscles and joints.

There are many more essential oils to blend with good carrier oil for various types of relief and relaxation. Some therapeutic essential oils are sandalwood, rosemary, lavender, eucalyptus, orange, peppermint, patchouli, lemon, rose, jasmine, basil, and cedar and tree oil. These are only a few of many other mixtures for blending to a specific need. There are several ways to find out the exact essential oils that you desire. Most all organic stores and independent markets has an area were all of these types of oils are sold and a knowledgeable staff member can help in your needs and questions. Of course, the Internet has a lot of information on massage oil blends.

Heal pain using a massage oil therapy based on the use of essential (concentrated) plant oils. The oils are usually massaged into skin, put in a bath or inhaled. The concentrated essential oils aromatherapists use to treat conditions are aromatic and volatile (ie which evaporate easily) elements from plants. The oils are not concentrated from whole plant parts - unlike herbal medicines - but are extracted, generally by steam distillation, from flowers, leaves, roots, grasses, peel, resin or bark.

A French chemist called René-Maurice Gattefossé, coined the term aromatherapy to describe the process of using plant oils therapeutically. The story goes that, while working in a perfume factory in the early 20th century, he burnt his hand and instinctively grabbed some lavender oil and poured it onto the burn. He was so impressed by how quickly and cleanly the burn healed, he began studying the healing powers of plant oils.

Essential oil is now used to treat a whole range of conditions and is believed to work on people both physically and psychologically. The first part of the theory is that when you smell an essential oil, it triggers your limbic system - the part of the brain that controls emotions and stores and retrieves learned memories - and relaxes you. The other part of the theory is that the essential oils are absorbed through the skin, and have medicinal properties which act on the cause of the problem.

Just some of the conditions essential oil is used to treat are:

• Anxiety, stress or insomnia
• Muscular aches and pains
• Headaches
• Asthma
• Eczema
• Digestive problem
• Menstrual or menopausal problem

You can choose to be treated by an aromatherapist, or you can buy certain essential oils over the counter at pharmacies and health shops, and treat yourself. These are used as massage oils, add them to your bath, or inhale them using steaming water, a diffuser or an incense burner.

How does essential oil therapy work?

Aromatherapy products such as toiletries contain only small amounts of essential oils. But in their concentrated form the oils can be very powerful and should always be handled with care - you only need a few drops in a bath for example. More could cause irritation, and some essential oils are toxic if used incorrectly - such as eating or drinking them. Essential oils can have side-effects - nausea, headaches or an allergic reaction for instance. Some of them, including citrus oils such as orange, lemon and bergamot, react with ultraviolet light and can cause skin to burn more easily in sunlight. You can buy a range of essential oils over the counter in pharmacies, health food shops and even supermarkets. Check the labels as some are already diluted whereas others are pureEssential Oils.

Learn About Essential Oils

Aromatherapy is an ancient science of using aromas to treat a patient who might be suffering from any kind of disease. Not only do the aromas of plants and herbs used effectively to cure and relaxes a person, it affects a portion of the brain which is highly receptive to olfactory nerves, stimulating relaxation and providing stress relief. Essential oils are the core of the science of aromatherapy, which provides base for this fragrant treatment. Aromatherapy uses essential oils, that everyone knows commonly but do you actually know what essential oils actually are?

Essential oils are extracted from various plants using steam or water of leaves, roots, the stem, bark, flowers and all parts of the trees are used effectively. Distilled essential oils are known to be transparent and clear but some are colored.

Aromatherapy uses blend of oils which are available, and may work better than simply using single aromatic oils. Aromatherapy works with essential oils as vaporization of these oils creates different moods and can produce a beautiful ambience, along with releasing a soothing fragrance which fills your soul. The right way to vaporize aromatherapy oils is to use oil burners, light bulb rings and aroma stone vaporizers. However, essential oils which are derived from orange, lemon, tangerine, lemongrass and patchouli are yellow in color. These oils are volatile, concentrated and usually come in small bottle but as they evaporate easily, leaving no oily residue which is also an indication of purity and should be kept tightly closed.

For skin care benefits, apply the oils after diluting them in almond oil or olive oil or other pure natural oil bases. Essential oils are real blessing to our health and skin care regimen as their application is known to be highly beneficial in medical conditions also.

You might be wondering as to where and how to purchase these oils?

Although these are available in health stores while you can also purchase them over the counter in many drug stores. When purchasing these oils, be careful to buy only the highest quality products. Essential oil prices vary depending on availability and quality as the product is fixed on the basis of country of origin, quality standardization of distilment and the amount of oil derived from the plant. Essential oils will be priced very steep in comparison with the artificially manufactured oils.

Organic and Natural Oils

Various essential oils have been used medicinally at different periods in history. Medical applications proposed by those who sell medicinal oils vary from skin treatments to remedies for cancer, and are often based on historical use of these oils for these purposes. Such claims are now subject to regulation in most countries, and have grown correspondingly more vague, to stay within these regulations.

Interest in essential oils has revived in recent decades, with the popularity of aromatherapy, a branch of alternative medicine which claims that the specific aromas carried by essential oils have curative effects. Oils are volatilized or diluted in carrier oil and used in massage, or burned as incense, for example. Most natural essential oils are usually expressed mechanically, or cold-pressed. Due to the large quantities of oil in citrus peel and the relatively low cost to grow and harvest the raw materials, citrus-fruit oils are cheaper than most other essential oils. Lemon or sweet orange oils that are obtained as by-products of the commercial citrus industry are even cheaper.

Most flowers contain very little volatile oil to undergo expression and their chemical components are too delicate and easily denatured by the high heat used in steam distillation. Instead, a solvent such as hexane or supercritical carbon dioxide is used to extract the oils. Extracts from hexane and other hydrophobic solvent are called concretes, which is mixture of essential oil, waxes, resins, and other lipophilic (oil soluble) plant material. Although highly fragrant, concretes contain large quantities of non-fragrant waxes and resins. As such another solvent, often ethyl alcohol, which only dissolves the fragrant low-molecular weight compounds, is used to extract the fragrant oil from the concrete. The alcohol is removed by a second distillation, leaving behind the absolute.

Supercritical carbon dioxide is used as a solvent in supercritical fluid extraction. This method has many benefits, including avoiding petrochemical residues in the product. It does not yield an absolute directly. The supercritical carbon dioxide will extract both the waxes and the essential oils that make up the concrete. Subsequent processing with liquid carbon dioxide, achieved in the same extractor by merely lowering the extraction temperature, will separate the waxes from the essential oils. This lower temperature process prevents the decomposition and denaturing of compounds and provides for a superior product. When the extraction is complete, the pressure is reduced to ambient and the carbon dioxide reverts back to a gas, leaving no residue. Although supercritical carbon dioxide is also used for making decaffeinated coffee, the actual process is different.

Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine, in which healing effects are ascribed to the aromatic compounds in essential oils and other plant extracts. Many common essential oils have medicinal properties that have been applied in folk medicine since ancient times and are still widely used today. For example, many essential oils have antiseptic properties, though some are stronger than others. In addition, many are claimed to have an uplifting effect on the mind, though different essential oils have different properties. The claims are supported in some studies and unconfirmed in others.