Whether you’re pregnant, breastfeeding a baby, or it’s simply an everyday occurrence, breast pain and inflammation of any degree can be a major life hindrance. There are a number of natural home remedies, including natural healing oils, that can help with breast soreness, tenderness, and other general health issues.
While we are hesitant to make any specific health claims in regard to more serious illnesses, some people find naturopathic solutions for breast cancer, lumps, infections, fibrosis, etc (of course, always speak to a healthcare professional before making any serious medical decisions). The symptoms we’re mainly focusing on are general breast soreness, hormonal breast pain, and inflammation stemming from a variety of sources. Later on, we’ll also outline some ideas for improving breast health – in a 100% natural way.
Using essential oils for breast pain and tenderness
Over half of women experience some form of breast pain. Such discomfort can stem from a variety of issues, such as the few days each month leading up to your period. This can impose swelling, general aches, and other unfortunate symptoms.
Before we get into the best essential oils for breast discomfort, we’ll first identify the more common areas of concern. It may sound obvious, but if you are more well endowed, make sure your bra fits properly and provides you with adequate support. Quality bras can even save yourself years of back, neck, and head pain.
[amazon box=”B00O13KZ70″]Additionally, identify any medications that may be causing discomfort. Certain drugs can be a common catalyst for these symptoms. If traditional medications are the culprit, it might be time to consider a natural alternative – like essential oils.
Aromatherapy is a great way to treat breast soreness. Frankincense oil is one of the more popular oils for dealing with this specific form of pain. Couple frankincense with some myrrh and you have the perfect recipe::
- 1 drop of frankincense
- 1 drop of myrrh
- A couple drops of carrier oil
Simply rub the oils together in the palm of your hand and then massage on the affected area. If the pain is keeping you up at night, you might also consider diffusing a blend to promote relaxation:
- 2 drops of lavender
- 2 drops of ylang ylang
- 2 drops of vetiver
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Natural ways to improve general breast health
In addition to using essential oils for pain, we thought we would also offer up some great natural tips on improving breast health. Just like many other aspects of wellness, your diet can have a significant impact on breast health. For instance, high amounts of chemicals can contribute to cancerous breast tissue. Such chemicals can include everything from parabens to aluminum. Eating a fresh, whole food diet can greatly decrease the risk of chemical exposure.
Here is a list of supplements and herbs for breast health:
- Vitamin D: According to a study by the University of California, researchers estimated that 350,000 cases of breast cancer could have been prevented across the globe by boosting intake of vitamin D.
- Omega-3 fatty acids: As reported by healthy.net, “Women with high amounts of Omega-3 acids in their system, have a 500 percent lower incidence of metastasis compared to women with the lowest level of Omega-3’s.”
- Curcumin: An extract from Turmeric, this is a powerful antioxidant that can improve overall health. Sold in a capsule form, Curcumin can be procured by adding Tumeric in cooking or a cup of tea.
Note: Check out Natrol’s Extra Strength Turmeric supplement here and Tiger Balm’s 100% natural pain relief ointment here.
Here are some other natural lifestyle tips for breast health:
- Natural deodorant: There is a heated debate over whether the chemicals in antiperspirants and deodorants can link to breast health. Years ago, British researchers discovered that aluminum in cancerous tissue had to be removed during a mastectomy. The concentration of aluminum was significantly higher in tissue near the armpit.
- Clothing: This argument is a little on the “contentious” side. But some doctors have linked certain bras (particularly of the underwire variety) to an increased risk of cysts and cancer. The philosophy is that wearing snug-fitting bras can constrict lymph flow and block the body’s ability to curb toxins from the body.
- Hormones: There really isn’t any doubt, hormones play a large role in breast health. This is why contraceptives and various procedures can unnaturally alter hormone levels. While we would hardly recommend against the use of contraceptives, there are potential links.
- Exercise: Improving circulation and lymph flow, through exercise, can improve breast health for several reasons. Exercise helps maintain healthy weight balance. This is important, considering obesity can increase the risk of breast problems.
[amazon box=”B07Y3YZGBF”]Breast pain, and the many things that can impact general breast health, is certainly a complex issue. There are many different factors that can contribute to breast problems. Above are a just a few ways we’ve chosen to support healthier breasts. While it’s hardly an exhaustive list, and certainly not a replacement for professional diagnosis, taking preventative measures certainly can’t hurt!
Still loving your site. I happened on to your essential oils site and like a good book, I can’t put it down. I really appreciated this article along with suggestions on essential oils, and mentioning other helpful tips as well. Women have used these tips and has helped us. Something else that helped us is when we switched over from regular deodorant to the natural salt deodorant which was found at the time at a health food store near where we live. Now it can be found in some superstores as well. A doctor also recommended to me several years ago taking 400 iu’s daily of vitamin E would help greatly. He recomended to me to start out with small doses the first week and work up each week till I reached the 400 iu’s. That is something that helped me. Self care is vital to my health. If we don’t take care of ourselves, who else will give us the self care we so deserve. Thankyou for all of these wonderful suggestions and tips. I will make these suggestions part of my daily self care routine. There’s got to be a lot of plus that come from practicing these self care suggestions.
Thankyou again for these helpful suggestions. Something that has helped me along my way to better health is educating myself about the body. I really appreciated you mentioning the lymph system. What I have found out in my research in asking authoritative advice and reading, is that the lymph system is the body’s watse disposal system, and if we don’t keep those lanes in our body open, the garbage trucks can very possibly shut down and the garbage backs up, and as in my case health issues insued. I could be wrong, but I my family, and friends, and I feel it’s very important to educate ourselves. Thankyou for mentioning the lymph system.