Some cool natural stuff

I'm back again, and not only do my muscles not feel as soor, but I also have a slightly better range of motion.  The physio helped for sure, but I also stumbled on something else that really helped too.  I forget exactly what I was Googling at the time - I think it was something about baby oil because at that time I was trying to find some way to keep the chlorine from getting to my skin when I go swimming - but while I was surfing the U. of G. I somehow found out that eucalyptus oil and peppermint oil were antispasmotics and pain relievers, as well as having other great benefits.

I'd just bought some baby oil and also had some peppermint oil from the grocery store, so I splurged and bought some eucalyptus oil and vitamin E gel-caps from the drug store.  I mixed some eucalyptus oil, peppermint oil and vitamin E into the baby oil and voila!  As well as a big old oil slick to clean up, I had a body oil that moisturized me, kept the chlorine from absorbing into my skin, and also made my muscles feel good and easier to use - WHOO-HOO!!!  I have to shake the bottle before using it to mix up all the oils, because the vitamin E and peppermint tend to separate from the other oils, but it's worth it.

So then I started putting the eucalyptus, peppermint and vitamin E into my body wash for an extra kick.  This is especially helpful for me on weekends when I don't have an attendant to put the oil on for me.  So, although I don't consider myself a nature buff exactly, it was really great to learn about some of the natural remedies out there.  Here's just some of the stuff I learned so far:
- Olive oil is just as good as baby oil for keeping that nasty chlorine off your skin, and even more moisturizing and better for your skin.
- Vitamin E helps the healing process as well as moisturizing skin.  If you're using vitamin E capsules, just pop them open with a CLEAN pin or paper clip and squeeze the contents into your mixture.  You may have to shake each time to mix well.
- As well as eucalyptus and peppermint oils, grapefruit essential oil is also good for stiff muscles.
- Lemon, lime, and other citrus essential oils are good for cleansing and other stuff, but don't use any more than 2% in your mixture, because they can make your skin photosensitive.
- Essential oils are much stronger than the stuff you might buy in the drug or grocery store, so if you're using essential oils only use 10 drops per ounce of mixture (that's about 0.5ml per 29.57ml).  Otherwise you might irritate or damage your skin.

So I got to say, thanks God, for making all this cool stuff!  Oh yeah, by the way, I now have a funnel, so now when I mix up my stuff I won't make such a big mess and waste stuff.