Help aid swelling in a knee injury with essential oils!

Essential oils to the rescue!

I had a skiing accident five days ago where I completely tore my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and have a partial tear of my MCL (medial collateral ligament). This happened to my right knee, therefore I can't drive, which is not optimal in a house with kids that have all the places to be. After two doctor consultations and two sets of X-Rays it's determined that this will be a long process because nothing can move forward until the swelling is down, the knee is bending more, and basically letting my MCL heal more. Honestly my knee didn't swell up as much as one would think it would, nor did it bruise. Ok, so I lost a knee cap in the process but I seriously would have thought the swelling would have been much worse. At the second doctor's appointment, four days after the accident, it was swelled only halfway to what it had been. He still thought it was swelled too much to precede further at the moment.

I have followed doctor's advice and have been icing my knee constantly, but I believe the lack of massive swelling and lack of bruising this soon after trauma was greatly helped by my immediate use of essential oils. I used what I had on hand the first two days because we were on vacation in a resort. Moral of this story is never leave home without some essential oils! Those first days I layered on Chamomile-German, Lavender, Lemon, & Peppermint, because again this is what I had on hand. When layering oils you let one oil dry on the skin before applying the next and so on. If you have any skin sensitivity or have never used an oil then place a little carrier oil on your hands during application. A carrier oil can be anything on hand like olive oil or coconut oil.

Once I got home I gathered my preferred essential oils for swelling & pain and started layering those twice a day, but 3-4 times a day would be best.

I love these printer's trays I found to hold my essential oils!

The essential oils I am choosing to layer at the moment are all anti-inflammatories.

Cypress oil calms and relaxes muscle spasms and works to sooth inflammation, but one of the best things about it is it's ability to improve circulation and drive fluid retention away.

Chamomile-German oil is a strong anti-inflammatory that can reduce swelling and alleviate pain while soothing muscle tension and reduce spasms.

Eucalyptus oil had a cooling effect on muscles and reduces pain and inflammation.

Lemongrass oil works quickly to reduce inflammation and swelling.

Peppermint oil contains menthol, which has a cooling effect on sore, achy muscles. it also has pain relieving, antispasmodic, and anti-inflammatory properties making it a triple threat!

Lavender oil is prized for it's ability to calm and relax. It also relieves pain and inflammation.

Lavender oil has to be my #1 every day oil. I have been using it these past couple of days as more of a relaxation for myself than on my knee for treatment but it truly can be a beneficial layering oil as well. Some other oils that I may consider layering in place of some I am currently using is Black Pepper oil, Rosemary oil, & Melaleuca oil or better know as Tea Tree Oil. These all have tremendous properties that would aid in the relief of my knee pain and swelling.

I hope you never have a knee injury to have to use this treatment, but if you do then I hope I have helped!