Have An At-Home Spa Day With Treatments For Sore Muscles
Everyone can use a little TLC thanks to a spa day! Now you can have one in the comfort of your home and ease muscle soreness in three ways.
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Try these at home recipes for relaxation to create your own personal spa day.
Refreshing Foot Scrub
Who doesn’t love a foot massage? A scrub is the best way to give yourself a good one, according to April Amstutz, associate spa director at Canyon Ranch spa in Tucson, Arizona. The peppermint oil in our Refreshing Foot Scrub decreases muscle spasms.
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
2-4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2–3 drops peppermint essential oil
Put sugar in a jar or container with a lid. Stir in enough olive oil for desired “scrub” consistency and add peppermint oil. Massage all over feet while in the tub or shower. (Be careful of a slippery floor!)
Soothing Swap: Cut out the peppermint oil and add 10 drops vanilla essential oil and 2 Tbsp. coconut oil instead to make this a relaxing and moisturizing body scrub.
Herb-Soaked Heat Pack
At Canyon Ranch’s renowned spa, Amstutz offers the Muscle Melt for Road Warriors, a treatment developed in Thailand that involves pressing warm herbal pouches into muscles to reduce pain. Create an at-home remedy with Amstutz’s formula for a Herb-Soaked Heat Pack.
Ingredients
1/2 cup loose herbal tea (Amstutz recommends tea containing arnica, chamomile or peppermint)
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 cloth pouch (or cotton sock) and string
Steep tea in water and drain. Mix tea leaves with rice and place in cloth pouch. Tie off opening with string and microwave for 1 minute. Place heat pack on specific muscle area.
Note: Always test the temperature of the heat pack with your fingertip first before placing directly on the skin.
Sore Muscle Rub
Laura Klein is the editor-in-chief of OrganicAuthority. com and EcoSalon.com. She says essential oils penetrate body tissue to relieve aches and pain. Klein also recommends the blend in this Sore Muscle Rub for congestion if you rub a little on your chest.
Ingredients
4 oz. oil (jojoba, apricot, almond or untoasted sesame)
10 drops each of these essential oils: eucalyptus, cinnamon, peppermint, camphor and rosemary
5 drops each of these essential oils: ginger, lavender and black pepper
Add ingredients into a tinted glass jar. (Try to avoid using plastic whenever possible.) Shake well before using. Apply oil sparingly—just a small amount will go a long way. Rub slowly into sore areas. It will take a few moments to feel the oils work at the muscular level.
Bonus Tip: After a freezing run, soothe wind-burned skin with the oil from a vitamin E capsule. Crack open the capsule and spread the oil on two to three times daily until the skin heals.