The vericose vein part could really go with any massage, you have to be careful when giving a massage to someone with vericose veins, as the blood pools in those areas, and there can sometimes be bloodclots that you don't want to break loose.

when I was working and people had extenuating medical issues, other than what I was trained for, I would always need a doctors note that it was alright, or have them sign a waiver stating they knew the risk involved. IE, cancer is a huge contraindication, but I have worked on several cancer patients in the last phase of thier lives, just to make them more comfortable. (with a doctors ok of course)

as with anything, always check into it.

thanks for the info.

Saw Palmetto Berry - Rejuvenator

Yellow Dock Root - Improves Circulation

Valerian Root - Calming Antispasmodic

White Willow - Relieves Aches & Pains

Chamomile - Relaxant

Yarrow - Promotes Healing

Cinnamon - Antispasmodic

Spearmint - Relaxant

Lemongrass - Relieves Pain

Rosemary - Relieves Headaches

Lavender - Relaxant

Peppermint - Relieves Pain

I love essential oils! Thanks, Jaime, for the "how-to" on your massage oils. Lemongrass always seems to help me feel better, and is one of my favorites. Rosemary is one of my favorite scents. Mmmmm, my bakery makes this divine Rosemary & Olive Oil Bread that is sooooo good! Don't know why I just thought about the bread, LOL

I love lavendar, too, but you are right, sometimes it's too strong, at least full strength. My favorite use with lavendar is in the auromatherapy eye & neck pillows,.. with dried lavendar in them.

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Sarcasm: Embrace it!
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I just wish he didn't trust me so much.
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Homeopathy is different than alternative therapies, per se. Homeopathy is actually a type of alternative therapy that is pretty specific. How it works, in general, is by producing the reaction similar, in a healthy person, to those of the illness. What they do is take an extremely diluted amount of the toxin or whatever it is that is causing the illness and shake the heck out of it, which is what is considered to keep it from being toxic, and create the remedy. It's usually suspended in alcohol, water, or sugar.

If you've ever heard of Oscilliscinum (sp?), it's a flu remedy, that's a homeopathic remedy. It's little sugar buds you put under your tongue and let dissolve. You take a total of 3 tubes, 8 hours apart, which gets rid of the flu. That stuff works like a dream! I love it. Other remedies are similar, but maybe with different directions. Some come in dropper form, tho, like Samento, and others come like the Oscillicinum... You typically can find them in health food stores, but it's best to get them from an actual Homepathic practitioner, so you can get the medication specifically for you. Certain remedies are universal and others are not.

Hope that helps!

Buckron, you certainly have some interesting ideas. I looked at your theroy that essential oils penentrate every part of your body in 20 minutes since I find that to be a facinating claim for topical penetration. As it enters the blood stream, the essential oils would not particularly go to places in the body that have less blood, like joints.

What I found is that some essential oils can penetrate into the blood stream in that time and others take longer. I also found that the carrier oil one uses to mix with the essential oils changes the rates of absortion. The heavier the oil, the slower it penetrates and with some heavier oils, it may prevent penetration entirely, as the molecules are too big. I guess it's important to use light oils such as grapeseed.

Also, the lyme bacteria has very unusual properties, most likely many still unknown, and as there are no studies involving lyme bacteria and few in vivo studies in general, so there's really no way to know what essential oils would do to the bacteria that I can think of. Perhaps you could elaborate. Maybe I missed where you attained this information.

I found several really interesting studies with essential oils. Unfortunately, most of them are in vitro, not in vivo. Some essential oils seem to be quite effective in killing specific bacteria on hard surfaces. I'll definately have to look into to that more.

I also found a website from the University of Minnesota that discusses essential oils at length and in one place. This cite is takes you to safety issues page but it covers many other topics as well.

http://www.takingcharge.csh.umn.edu/therapies/aromatherapy/ are_essential_oils_safe

The following is not meant as a slam in anyway, but I thought is was important for those of you using these on your skin to have this information.

"Dose is the most important factor in essential oil safety. Some essential oils used in the wrong doses or too high a concentration have been found (in animal and laboratory studies) to contribute to tumor development and other harmful changes in the body. Some essential oils can even be damaging to the skin, liver and other organs if used improperly."

There is also a short section on application that seemed to apply to some on this this thread.

Keep the information coming, it's very interesting and I've never really looked into it before.

Thanks all!