Have you heard the saying it’s important to put your best foot forward? It’s hard to do so when you have plantar fasciitis. The web of tissues connecting your heel and toes is the plantar fascia. It supports your arch, acting like a shock absorber. Inflammation of this ligament tissue is plantar fasciitis, the result of damage and tears.
Heel pain first thing in the morning makes it hard to get going. You’ve read that essential oils help with ligament, tendon, and muscle ailments. Yes, it’s time to take next steps with some oils to ensure return of your confident stride.
Why Essential Oils are good for Plantar Fasciitis
The symptoms of plantar fasciitis are clear. There’s the sharp heel pain first thing in the morning, or after you’ve been sitting a while. Sometimes it’s more a nagging dull ache. It came on gradually and is worse in one foot. You’ve heard that running, shoes with little support, or being on your feet a long time are causes.
Essential oils care for plantar fasciitis by promoting circulation, flushing toxins from your system, and relieving pain. They do this by softening ligament tension, reducing swelling, and providing analgesia. These caring benefits are the result of each oil’s amazing compounds!
Best Essential Oils For Plantar Fasciitis
1. Birch (sweet) Oil (Betula lenta)
Birch is known for providing comfort for aching muscles, ligaments and tendons. This marvelous benefit is due to birch’s quantity of methyl salicylate. It is absorbed through use of deep heating liniments. When used topically as a rubefacient skin becomes red as capillaries dilate and circulation increases. Birch is stimulating, offering you a lightened mood as it helps to release toxins.
Two drops of birch blended in 5 ml carrier oil goes right to the sore spot.
Best for: Pain relief.
2. Helichrysum Oil (Helichrysum italicum)
Helichrysum is among a higher classification of everlasting flowers. This enduring quality is conveyed as it boosts your immune system. You’ll experience reduction in the irritation, swelling, and tissue tension of plantar fasciitis. Pinene is the terpene compound bestowing these benefits. Helichrysum relieves pain as it wraps you in a calming cloak, helping you through each new day.
Create a foot compress to soothe your feet while relieving swelling and pain. Fill a basin with very warm water, adding 3 drops of helichrysum mixed with 10 ml of milk dispersant. Soak a large towel in the blend, wring out and wrap your feet in soothing warmth for 10 minutes.
Best for: Boosting the immune system.
3. Ginger Oil (Zingiber officinale)
Ginger is spicy and transformative! It contains compounds the body changes into gingerols that reduce the swelling and irritation of inflamed tissues. The oil offers analgesia as its terpene compounds calm deep tissue pain.
Ginger protects feet prone to plantar fasciitis. It loosens stiff, achy soles, early signs of this condition. It adds warmth, comforting your mood when you’ve spent too much time on your feet.
Have a ginger personal inhaler on hand when you are on your feet a lot.
Best for: Softening ligament tension.
4. Frankincense Oil (Boswellia carterii)
Frankincense offers sedating care when your weary feet are afflicted by plantar fasciitis. It is calming, reducing plantar fascia tension. As tissues soften, swelling lessens, aiding in release of toxic products.
Frankincense encourages serotonin, a neurotransmitter that enhances feelings of wellbeing and hope. Added to this, it aids with relief from pain that is specifically linked to inflamed tissues.
Blend 2 drops frankincense with 10 ml of a carrier oil and massage into knee and ankle pulse points for quick absorption.
Best for: Relief from pain related to swollen tissues.
5. Juniper Oil (Juniperus communis)
Juniper scavenges the free radicals that cause inflamed tissues. Because it acts as an antioxidant, it reduces toxins that can cause further harm to torn foot tissues. Its alcohol compounds stimulate the flushing of toxins from your system. Sesquiterpene compounds bestow calming effects, making juniper a friend when plantar fasciitis brings step-by-step agony. It calms your mind as it gives your feet a lift.
Add a few drops of juniper in 20 ml of bath gel to shower your whole system with its detoxifying benefits.
Best for: Reducing toxins that inflame tissues.
6. Peppermint Oil (Mentha piperita)
Peppermint’s uplifting qualities soothe and cool the aches and pains that come with connective tissue inflammation. Its analgesic effects relieve general discomfort. Its stimulating qualities help to lift mental gloom thus clarifying thinking and lightening your mood.
Peppermint’s actions are brought on by a ketone that relieves pain, and an ester that is anti-inflammatory as well as soothing. Swelling is lessened, thus reducing pain.
Blend 2 drops peppermint and 1 drop ginger in 5 ml of vodka; add to 40 ml of distilled water to create an invigorating room spritzer.
Or mix 2 drops peppermint with 1 drop birch in 15 ml of milk dispersant for a pain relieving foot soak.
Best for: Generalized discomfort.
7. Pine Oil (Pinus sylvestris)
Pine’s uplifting aroma clears your head, helping you to focus. This is such a relief when foot pain causes anxiety and fuzzy thinking. Pine is rich in limonene, a compound with strong antioxidant benefits. It eliminates toxins, promoting tissue wellbeing throughout your body.
Pine stimulates circulation, bathing your feet in nutrients to reduce the swelling of plantar fasciitis. It then graces you with its analgesic effects.
Three drops of pine in a steam inhalation bowl brings comfort after a long day on the floor or out on the trail.
Best for: Reducing foot pain.
Best Essential Oils For Plantar Fasciitis Recipes
Super Salve For Plantar Fasciitis
This salve delivers so much goodness for your aching, pained feet. It boosts circulation and your immune system. It detoxifies and reduces swelling, along with offering you pain relief and a brightened mood. Best to use this power-packed salve when you can put your feet up for a good while!
- 30 ml of coconut carrier oil
- 8 drops of birch
- 6 drops of juniper
- 4 drops of frankincense
Blend oils together and store in an amber or cobalt blue glass jar. Massage oil thoroughly across the sole of each foot. Extend massage up each Achilles tendon to soften any tension that may be developing there. Do the same with your toes as they can get tense too!
Tension Relieving Foot Bath For Plantar Fasciitis
Time to sit and soak those tender, swollen feet. This foot bath is designed to wash away worries as it relieves swelling, tension, and pain. To set the tone for this foot care session, be sure you are seated comfortably. Have what you want at hand. Perhaps a relaxing beverage, a sweater, and favorite music or reading. Plan on the bath lasting at least 20 minutes.
- Basin of cool water
- 20 ml milk dispersant
- 12 drops peppermint
- 8 drops juniper
- 4 drops helichrysum
Fill basin with cool water, testing temperature safety with your hand to assure it is not too cold. Mix oils with the milk dispersant. Blend well and mix into the foot bath water.
Soak for at least 20 minutes, adding more warm water as needed.
Dry feet thoroughly. This is a good time to check changes in swelling, heat, and skin health.
Pain Away Oil For Plantar Fasciitis
Oh the words to utter when that sharp points of pain stop you in your tracks! This oil delivers fast pain relief. It asks you to slow down for a few minutes to massage it deeply where needed, promising its quick absorption. This is a good oil to keep on hand wherever you go, just in case it’s needed.
- 30 ml sunflower seed oil
- 6 drops birch
- 6 drops pine
- 4 drops Roman chamomile
- 2 drops helichrysum
Blend oils well, pouring into a small bottle to have on the go, and a larger one for at home and replenishing.
When pain increases, catch it as soon as possible! Take a few quiet minutes to massage this oil onto the soles of your feet, focusing on specific pain points.
If circumstances allow, rinse and dry your feet between applications.
To Summarize
- Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the foot tissue joining the heel and toes. The plantar fascia suffers minor tears, becoming swollen, hot, and painful. Causes are not always known though possibilities include running, ill-fitting shoes, and long hours on your feet.
- Essential oils provide you with caring benefits that include reduction of spasms, swelling and pain; immune system and circulation stimulation; antioxidant support; and brightened mood.
- Oils for plantar fasciitis relief are birch, helichrysum, juniper, pine, peppermint, frankincense, and ginger.
- Use tips include massage oil, steam inhalation, a personal inhaler, foot bath blends, and room diffusers or spritzers.
Read more:
- 15 Essential Oils For Pain Relief & How To Use Them
- How To Use Essential Oil – Basic & Most Popular Methods Explained
