essential oils for ms

[HP Resource]

hello all,

a work colleague asked if there were any essential oils that would be useful for Multiple Sclerosis.

I was told my an aromatherapist that Walnut carrier oil is useful, but my aromatherapy books have not listed anything useful for MS.

Any suggestions greatly received.

 

[Sai]

Hi!
Sorry think this may be a little long!
I got the following info from various MS society's websites on the net:

MS is an autoimmune condition. This means that your immune system, which normally helps to fight off infections, mistakes your body،¦s own tissue for a foreign body, such as infectious bacteria, and attacks it. In MS, the immune system attacks myelin. This damages the myelin and strips it off the nerve fibres, either partially or completely, leaving scars known as lesions or plaques. This myelin damage disrupts messages travelling along nerve fibres ،V they can slow down, become distorted, pass from one nerve fibre to another (short circuiting), or not get through at all.

As well as myelin loss, there can also sometimes be damage to the actual nerve fibres. It is this nerve damage that causes the accumulation of disability that can occur over time.

As the central nervous system links all bodily activities, many different types of symptoms can appear in MS. The specific symptoms that appear depend upon which part of your central nervous system is affected and the job of the damaged nerve.

Primary pain is as a direct result of MS damaging the central nervous system. This is called neurogenic pain and includes:
„h burning sensations
„h tingling
„h optic neuritis (eye pain)
„h spasms
„h electric shock type feeling
„h trigeminal neuralgia (facial pain)
Secondary pain is caused by 'knock-on' effects of MS such as muscular pain.


Symptoms of MS are unpredictable and vary from person to person and from time to time in the same person. For example, one person may experience abnormal fatigue, while another might have severe vision problems. A person with MS could have loss of balance and muscle co-ordination making walking difficult; another person with MS could have slurred speech, tremors, stiffness, and bladder problems. While some symptoms will come and go over the course of the disease, others may be more lasting.
Massage and MS symptoms
Many people with MS use massage for relief of the following symptoms:
„h Spasticity،Xmassage can help relax muscles and enhance range of motion exercises.

„h Poor circulation،Xmassage can increase blood flow through superficial veins by friction, through deeper arteries and through veins by petrissage. It can increase capillary dilation through light stroking. It may be helpful in preventing the development of pressure sores but should not be used if pressure sores or reddened areas of inflammation are present.

„h Pain،Xmassage is useful in any condition in which a reduction in swelling or mobilization of tissues leads to pain relief. It can provide pleasurable stimulation, giving the client a chance to relax, relieving anxiety and fear. If massage is used as an aid for controlling pain, it should be used under the advice of a physician.

From this I would initially talk to the client's carer or doctor to establish exactly how advanced the MS is, and what neural damage has occured.
Then if it's ok to treat would choose EOs accordingly, ie oils for pain, oils for emotional upset (a main one as most who are no longer physically able are still mentally able and get very depressed), oils for muscle pain etc.

As such there are no specific MS oils, it would be more select the oils for the client's individual symptoms, as you would for anyone else. Just be careful about over stimulating the immune system or any over stimulating oils generally.

 

[orappyzer]

thanks for that

i thought that it would be from an approaching symptoms stance.