Raise your hand if your back hates you.
With my history of muscle tension & disc surgeries, I’ve really been through the gamut of back management and relief. Yikes, it’s not a fun road to take. Years of relying on medication really brought me to my all time low about four years ago. My sensitive stomach needed a more natural treatment. Over the years though, I’ve found some pretty great natural solutions that have kept me feeling great and have given me such a better outlook on life!
The natural solutions I use come in the form of minerals, plants, or the essential oils of plants. I’ve found that sticking with natural options really serves my body best and give me exactly what I need:
RELIEF!
It’s no secret that my switch to a healthier lifestyle of REAL food was directly because I was suffering from poor health. Without a doubt, changing my diet and eliminating processed food had a HUGE impact on how my body could get rid of inflammation. I’m telling you, if you can keep your diet clean, you’ll notice your body isn’t as quick to respond negatively! You can read more here about my real food diet here.
Natural Solutions for Back Discomfort
- One of my first life-changing solutions was Magnesium. Magnesium is the “feel-good” mineral. It is essential for over 300 different chemical reactions in the body, including maintaining your energy level, relaxing your muscles, regulating your blood sugar, and sustaining the health of your heart and blood vessels. A deficiency can lead to a HOST of problems (including muscle discomfort) and this deficiency can be caused by carbonated beverages, sugar, & stress, just to name a few.Nearly half of the population is deficient in magnesium and it’s often said that if you deal with muscle tension, odds are you’re low in magnesium.The problem is, magnesium is really tough to supplement with. In my experience, oral varieties (like magnesium citrate) can irritate the gut and cause diarrhea and topical sprays (like magnesium oil) can irritate the skin. I have found two ways to supplement my body with magnesium that work!The first is supplementing orally with Magnesium Orotate. The orotate form is most easily absorbed by the body and doesn’t cause me any digestive upset!The second is supplementing topically with a homemade concoction called “Mag-a-hol” Mag-a-hol is a mixture of Magnesium Chloride Flakes & 80 proof alcohol (Vodka). This combination absorbs into the skin beautifully and has been call the “muscle tension spray”. This is more of an “as-needed” spray. I will use this if my back feels fatigued or if it’s feeling particularly tight and my muscles relax down immediately! The recipe for Mag-a-hol can be found here.
- Herbs & the essential oils of herbs have been used for thousands of years to aid the body and fill in the gaps that stress or nutritional deficiencies leave us with and I’m telling you, after years of back discomfort, it’s always shocking to me how well plants from the earth work! One of my FAVORITE natural solutions is simply taking raw ginger as a natural anti-inflammatory! Check out my post here on the details of how I take it. When choosing an essential oil for back discomfort, it’s important to know how they work. It was recently discovered that the essential oils of Thyme, Clove, Rose, Eucalyptus, Fennel, and Bergamot all can “suppress the inflammatory COX-2 enzyme, in a manner similar to resveratrol, the chemical linked with the health benefits of red wine.” (source) Wintergreen, Peppermint, Lemongrass, Marjoram, White Fir, & Helichrysum are all good for muscle fatigue or achy joints. Seriously, the BEST thing about using essential oils is that you can find blends specific to sore muscles so you don’t have to purchase all the essential oils separately! My favorite is a Soothing blend of the essential oils wintergreen, camphor, peppermint, blue tansy, german chamomile, helichrysum and osmanthus. It’s the perfect combo to knock out that discomfort! This blend also has a hot & cooling effect that you feel almost instantly. Because essential oils are lipophillic, they can absorb deeply into the skin and muscles, giving you results FAST.
When I began to suffer from back discomfort in my 20s, I really thought my life was over.
Finding relief seemed impossible and I felt trapped by my body. My hope is that you’ll find relief and that hopefully natural solutions are your answer! I’ve learned a lot about back health in the last 10 years I’ve suffered, and I hope that my advice gives you comfort. Just know that it can get better!
Hi Shirley, you can enter your email here and I’ll send you ordering info! https://www.weedemandreap.com/how-to-buy-essential-oils/
Raw ginger = YES.
And good point about essential oils being lipophilic, meaning they absorb fast. One thing people seem to be sceptical about oils absorbing into their skin, but we know this is the opposite of the truth! Great post.
How often can and or do you spray it on? Also do you spray it on the site only? I too suffer from back discomfort due to an injury I suffered years ago.
Hi Lynn,
I apply it to the area, yes:)
Why use alcohol instead of water for the magnesium spray, and do you know how much of the alcohol is absorbed?
From my understanding, the alcohol is much easier absorbed through the skin:)
It’s my understanding that alcohol is better absorbed through the skin:)
Love your blog. Love your humor! I have goatie girls and love to hear what you say about raising yours. Thanks!
DaNelle, thanks so much for sharing this. I’ve been a reader for years and always appreciate your recommendations. I’ve been using essential oils for years, but recently switched to your favorite brand. I can’t believe the difference for me in before and after. I wish I had NOT wasted my time and money by thinking I was being so smart by purchasing oils off Amazon. The Deep Blue blend you are talking about in your post has helped my back out tremendously, way more than any previous oils. So I echo the recommendation for your favorite brand from personal experience. I also learned through you about magnesium in one of your wellness Wednesdays, and magnesium has also become a game-changer for me.
Thanks for all you do. Maybe people who complain about free advice should stop and ask themselves why they feel so bad they should tear someone down who tries to help people with their knowledge. If you can’t say something nice, just click the ‘back’ button and move on. Just a suggestion.
Thanks Danni! I’m glad you’ve found Deep Blue to help your back as well!
Interesting Wendy! I’ll have to check it out!
First of all, thank you so much, DaNelle, for sharing your experiences with us! I love your blog and have found so many useful tips and strategies for improving my health and the health of my kids and hubby. 😀
So, on to the point. I was diagnosed with juvenile arthritis when I was 12, and have had a really hard time finding pain remedies that really work. Ibuprofen works the best, but my poor tummy can’t handle it anymore. (I’m 43 now, so you can imagine the amount of Ibu I have ingested over the years!) I have found some really great products out there like Jones Formula 23 from here: http://www.jonesformula23.net, and others that, for some reason, aren’t coming to mind at the moment. I have tried about a dozen essential oil brands on the market, and your favorite brand works the best for me. (Don’t listen to the nay-sayers. I’ve tried all the major brands.) But it seems like pre-made products like the Jones Formula 23 are so expensive! I was wondering if you think it would work to take the Deep Blue and mix it with something to make a spray? My worst pain is in my back, and having super limited range of motion in my arms because of the arthritis, I need something I can just spray from above and hope it hits the spot. 😉
While I appreciate this article… I would’ve like that it wasn’t a plug for your favorite brand. Overpriced and quality has been found questionable too many times. There are a good variety of companies that offer great quality EO’s… Wish this article would’ve provided info for those of us that refuse to be raked over the coals by prices and just want to use our quality (non-your favorite brand) oils to aid our backs. While I’ve got some lists of some EOs out of this article… I find it was more of a plug for your favorite brand and I’m really starting to question why I read anymore. In my opinion a good blogger that’s trying to reach the masses you might wanna take out the constant plugs for your favorite brand and provide more info to pertain to the masses… unless you’re simply using your blog to draw in customers to your your favorite brand business, which make sense. I’m hoping it’s not simply for self-gain… I’m hoping you’re really trying to help people without a greed angle.
I don’t very often put comments on blogs, but your comments about this article are upsetting to me so I can just imagine how upsetting it is to DaNelle. This is her blog and she has given a lot of FREE advice in this article on how to alleviate back pain, naming other products and links besides her favorite brand She has also listed the essential oils that are most beneficial so you are free to get them wherever you want. Obviously she is very impressed with how the favorite brand products work and she sells her favorite brand so naturally she would want to pass that information on as well. I don’t understand why you felt it necessary to make such negative comments. You are free to buy her favorite brand or not, read this blog or not, the choice is yours, if you’re so keen on your own essential oils, why complain about free advice?
My complaint was about the push for your favorite brand and very little useful info regarding essential oils. upsetting or not. i asked and stated my questions and comments. can’t claim you’re offering free advice with nothing but fluff for filler unless your interest is in your favorite brand. no worries – i’m educated way beyond the average reader. just really tired of bloggers claiming to “do good” when lots of it is fluff unless they’re pushing their brand agenda. Oh…and while I am keen on essential oils, I explained about the issues repeatedly found by the labs regarding your favorite brand oils – not all the claim to be…especially with their self-proclamation of high quality. and i’m trying to find the advice other than to use your favorite brand… again – causing me to consider whether or not to continue following. if I wanted an agenda i’d call a politician. but thanks for your words and opinion. my comments were definitely necessary… maybe it’ll give some people something to think about and maybe not make claims currently being put out there. take care.
Thank you Yvonne!
Kim, let me enlighten you for a moment. For the past 7 years I’ve blogged about 20-30 hours a week, and worked for FREE for about 5 of those years. I have over 600 blog posts full of free advice and tips. Running a blog costs money, especially when it gets a high amount of traffic. Many people are shocked when I tell them it costs me $2,000 EACH MONTH to keep this site running.
Does it occur to you that maybe I blog about things that I am passionate about because I have used them in my life and I believe they work? I didn’t write this blog post about all the back contraptions you can buy, or all the shady internet supplements you can take (because take it from somebody who’s suffered through 2 failed back surgeries), there are a helluva lot of supplements that don’t work on back pain.
So yes, I promote my favorite brand of essential oils. And magnesium. And raw milk. And sourdough starters. And other things that work for me. I used my favorite brand of essential oils for 2 years before I shared about them or started to sell them. I believe in their products. I followed up on every bad article about my favorite brand of oils and did my research, contacting the actual scientist who tested the batch of oils in the so-called “3rd party testing”. I’ve done my research and I not only feel comfortable selling them, I know they work and I know the company has integrity.
Why is it that we slam people for getting paid for doing their jobs, as if getting paid for their time somehow makes them disingenuous? When you go to your naturopathic doctor, he sells you supplements along with a hefty office visit bill. When you go to your massage therapist, you pay her for her services, when you go to a holistic health coach, a teacher, a doctor, a farmer, they’re all getting paid for what they do. This is what I do. What started as a way to help family and friends when they asked me about recipes, my thoughts on health, or farming tips, has turned into this huge site, and I spend every day and night thinking about how I can help more people and make it better learning experience for all, including me. If that’s not good enough for you, feel free to move on.
Well said DaNelle!
ReMag by Dr Carolyn Dean works wonders!
I really appreciate your article. I am a Wellness Advocate for your favorite brand and use my oils to promote healing for back discomfort. Thank you for your post and you know there are always those people out there that think it is their job to voice their opinion in a negative way..God Bless you