These are very common complaints from clients. Cold hands, feet and/or varicose veins. They say that cold hands means a warm heart, but not much comfort for those who suffer from this condition.
There are a number of oils that can be helpful for circulation issues with legs, feet and hands. Black pepper,rosemary, lemon, sweet marjoram, cypress, geranium.
To help generally with circulation a suggested blend would be black pepper 1 drop, juniper 2 drops, rosemary 2 drops in 10ml of calendula macerate or sunflower carrier. Always apply in a movement that goes towards the heart. If no varicose veins exist you can use a firmer massage stroke and this will also help to stimulate the circulation.
For varicose veins a suggested blend would be cypress 3 drops, geranium 2 drops, lemon 1 drop in 10ml of calendula macerate and/or wheatgerm – 5ml of each if used together. NB very gently apply with the full outstretched palm and fingers on the skin, moving up the leg from feet towards heart. This is not a massage action, but rather just smoothing the oil over the skin on the leg, with no pressure applied. As this is a daily treatment change the oils you use from time to time, perhaps using juniper or rosemary in place of the lemon, or lavender instead of geranium.
For chilblains a useful blend would be black pepper 2 drops, lemon 2 drops and rosemary 2 drops in 10ml sweet almond or calendula macerate as a carrier.
Our own ready made Muscle Rub could be very useful to use for general circulation issues too, as it contains rosemary, eucalyptus blue gum and black pepper essential oils. This is ideal if you want a ready blended product. The essential oils are in an organic aloe vera gel, for ease of use and as a great medium to get the oils right into the skin.
NB always blend these oils with carrier oils before application to skin, if you don’t have the ones mentioned any good quality oil such as extra virgin olive will be fine to use. You can of course increase the size of the blend just by multiplying each of the ingredients to the desired quantity.
For specific medical conditions or if you are on medication always consult with a qualified aromatherapist prior to using essential oils.
