Experience Life - September 2010

called NF-kB. One caveat: The
plant itself can be toxic, so use
only arnica gels and tablets, not
the raw herb.
How to: For whole-body
trauma, like after surgery,
or widespread muscle aches,
take five tablets of homeo-
pathic arnica four times daily
until you experience relief.
For a milder, more isolated
injury, like a bruise or sore
muscles, apply topical arnica
cream or gel as soon as pos-
sible and repeat three to five
times daily until pain, bruis-
ing and swelling are gone.
Tip: Hope recommends arni-
ca tablets labeled 12X, which
are available commercially. If
you can find 6X tablets, even
better — they pack a more
powerful punch.

Good for: Mild to moderate sunburn and household burns Because: Aloe vera gel soothes and cools the surface of the skin, calming the heat and irritation of a burn. The viscous juice of the aloe vera plant contains natural inflammation fighters, called salicylates. As pain and swelling subside, other aloe ingredients (a.k.a. polysaccharides) goad the body into making antibodies, which speed healing. Petri-dish studies show that regenerating skin cells, called fibroblasts, reproduce up to four times faster when treated with aloe vera. “When it comes to sunburn, aloe vera works beautifully,” says Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, author of Pain Free 1-2-3 ( McGraw-Hill, 2004).

Aloe Vera

How to: Slather aloe vera
gel onto a sunburn or minor
kitchen burn every couple of
hours until heat dissipates
and pain lessens. Look for
ingredient lists with aloe vera
near the top. Aloe vera gels
can be naturally drying, so
you might want to apply a
moisturizer once the aloe has
done its job. (Particularly for
burns, avoid aloe products
with alcohol, which can fur-
ther dry out the skin.) And
skip the day-glo green aloe
vera gels, which are laced with
artificial colors.
Tip: It won’t fit in your medi-
cine cabinet, but if you’re will-
ing to think outside the box,
keep an aloe vera plant in
the kitchen. For burns, clip
segments from the oldest,
bottom-most leaves (so you
don’t stunt the plant’s growth)
and slather the juice on your
red, inflamed skin. It should
quickly relieve the pain. If
the pain returns, simply clip
another segment and apply
more gel.

Good for: Upper-respiratory infection

Because: Squeezed from the
leaves and branch tips of euca-
lyptus trees, eucalyptus oil also
has antibacterial, antifungal
and anti-inflammatory proper-
ties, all of which may help fight
off infection and speed recov-
ery. Eucalyptus oil is also an
expectorant, meaning it helps
expel mucous from the lungs.
How to: Put two or three
drops of eucalyptus essential
oil in a pot of boiling water
and inhale the steam. For chil-
dren with chest colds, add a
few drops to a vaporizer and
run it in their bedroom at
night. During the day, a couple
of drops of essential oil placed
under the nose can keep con-
gestion at bay. Smell familiar?
Eucalyptus owes its activity to
menthol, a key ingredient in
most vapor rubs.
Tip: A little eucalyptus oil goes
a long way. Too much of any
essential oil can be a skin
irritant, so use sparingly as a
topical treatment.

Good for: Stomach cramps and bloating (use tea or tablets), as well as aches and pains including headaches (use essential oil)

Because: Topically, in small
doses, peppermint oil eases
the pain of sore muscles
and headaches by stimulat-
ing nerve receptors on the
skin, which override pain
signals, says Teitelbaum, who
serves as medical director
of the national Fibromyalgia
& Fatigue Centers. “There
is only so much signal that
can travel along any given
nerve, and I’d rather have a
minty-fresh signal than an
ouch signal.”
Internally, peppermint can
be inhaled, tossed back in a
tablet or sipped as a tea. For
a stuffy nose, a few drops of
peppermint essential oil in a
vaporizer can ease breathing.

For stomach troubles after a meal, a simple cup of peppermint tea aids digestion and supports the breakdown of food.

Peppermint Tea, Tablets and Essential Oil

For intestinal problems, though, peppermint tablets are best. Peppermint is a muscle relaxant, so the herb can relax muscles that are prone to cramping during digestion. In a 2007 study published in the journal Digestive and Liver Disease, patients with IBS who swallowed peppermint capsules one hour before eating felt a 75 percent reduction in symptoms, compared with only a 38 percent drop for those who popped placebos.

One caveat: If muscle-relax-ing peppermint oils come into contact with the esophageal sphincter, they can cause it to loosen up, which can lead to heartburn. The fix is to use enteric-coated peppermint capsules, which protect the esophagus on the way down and get the cramp-relieving oils where they need to be — in the colon, explains Jamey Wallace, ND, clinical medical director of Bastyr Center for Natural Health in Seattle, Wash. How to: For tension headaches, massage two to four drops of peppermint oil into the skin of the forehead (more than that can be irritating when applied directly to the skin). To soothe a cough, squeeze three to four drops of peppermint oil into hot water or a vaporizer and inhale the steam. For digestion, drink a cup of peppermint tea after a meal. And, if you’ve been diagnosed with an irritated colon, try enteric-coated peppermint tablets and follow instructions on the label.

Tip: Mark Blumenthal, executive director of the American Botanical Council, likes to keep peppermint spirits handy for a quick stomach soother. A blend of peppermint leaf extract and peppermint essential oil, peppermint spirits offer fast-acting relief from both stomach upset and gas. Place a dropper’s worth of spirits in a glass of water and drink up.