Yesterday I texted my friend. I told her I had done my homework. I placed my initial order for DoTerra Vitamins and Terrazymes as well as some Slim and Sassy.....Goodness knows I could use a bit more slim and maybe a little sassy too! I had opened up my personal website and had started this blog to document the journey. She thought I was on the ball and made one more suggestion....to use the oils I currently had on hand and use them on my family to see what happens. My initial thought?
"Ya, whatever. Not gonna do it. I will just wait to see what happens with the vitamins and terrazymes and go from there."
Fast forward a few hours to lunch time when my husband came home from work for a bit of food. He told me his back was hurting again. Not uncommon for him. He has chronic back pain. I thought of the peppermint oil, which I have from an order sometime last year, and remembered that I had heard alleviates muscle pain. I asked him if he would like for me to rub some on his back. He was not overly excited, although his excitement and non excitement often look the same to me. ;) Needless to say, he decided that maybe bedtime would be a better time to apply and left to go back to work.
Fast forward several more hours to bed time. My stomach had been upset most of the day yesterday. As in, pain on the right side of my abdomen. I felt sluggish, grumpy, swollen and was having major hemorrhoid problems (sorry, I guess I should worn you that my physical issues are not always pretty, but if I am going to document this journey, I need to be honest about the issues). I was pretty grumpy about it all yesterday. About an hour or so before turning out the lights, I decided to take some peppermint. I had also heard it was good for stomach upset. What could it hurt? I went out to the kitchen, filled a glass with water, dropped one drip of peppermint oil into the water and chugged it down. Uh, yeah. It isn't entirely tasty and I discovered it burns ones lips. But, oh well. I was willing to see what would happen.
I went back to knitting and watching tv with the family. And a few minutes in, cause I like to give things due amount of time to work, I noticed my stomach pain was still there. So much for peppermint oil working. I was ready to throw it out as one more attempt to use oils that have not worked for me. However, within about 20-30 minutes, I realized the pain on the right side of my abdomen seemed to have gone and that my stomach seemed to have relaxed. Hmmm.....maybe there is something to this thing after all? Maybe. It was enough to peak my interest to try this experiment again the next time I have stomach pain. I felt pleasantly surprised, though I think I will be on the look out for capsules or something to put the oil in for consumption since the sensation of my lips being on fire is not something I would like to experience again :)
Now, on to my dear husband. Around the same time, he made some smart remark about how I had not rubbed oil on his back yet. (Don't worry, it wasn't mean. Sarcasm is his middle name and it has brought a lot of laughter to our marriage.) I was a little surprised he remembered, but sure, I was willing to oblige him. I prefaced the back rub with reminding him that the oil will not cure his back, but might alleviate the pain, much like taking some ibuprofen, tylonal, or advil. He showed me right where the pain was the greatest and I anointed :) his back with oil, rubbing it in well to the afflicted area. I told him it might burn a bit, but both of us agreed, that "burn" on an achy muscle resembles the burn of an Icy/Hot pack and is quite welcoming. Awhile later, a little afraid to ask but curious all the same, I asked how his back was feeling. He said, it still hurt, but not as bad. It seemed to have helped a little. I asked if it helped enough that he would use it again to help buffer the pain he often feels. He said, "yeah, maybe", which translate to yes, I believe :) His yes was confirmed, when a short time later he said, "you might want to rub that on my neck and shoulders as well." :)
The conclusion and verdict to last nights experiment is this: While I don't want to make any fast and hard claims about the health benefits of peppermint oil nor would I be able to explain why it helped my stomach or why it helped Rob's back, I would say, I was pleasantly surprised to find my stomach pain was gone and that my husband seemed to be relieved a bit from his back pain. It was a good enough experience, that the next time I have tummy pain and Rob has back pain, I would definitely try it again.
I am curious to know what others have experienced when they have used peppermint oil. What did you use it for and what were your results? If you have never tried it then maybe you could join me in the petri dish, try it once, and let me know what you think. What verdict and conclusion would you give?
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