How Getting Pneumonia Was Great for My Skin
Sounds crazy, right? First I thought getting the flu in the middle of summer was weird. Then… pneumonia? Wildly outrageous. But there I was, not moving much more than from bed to couch and back again for nearly three weeks in August. I had hoped to take a little time off before my part-time teaching job resumed, but this was really not what I had in mind! But the complete break from pretty much all of my activities did have its benefits, not the least of which was avoiding the newspaper and all the disconcerting things contained therein.
couples massage package with towels and hot stonesAs my cough got worse, I began to slather on the essential oils that are soothing and promote healing: tea tree oil (sometimes sold as melaleuca, its Latin name), peppermint, and eucalyptus were the main three. Eucalyptus was great in the bath, so soothing. Side note: I don’t recommend putting peppermint oil in your bath – that was by far the weirdest bath experience I have had to date! The water is warm yet I was cold from the peppermint so I had to keep adding more hot water. In August. So odd!
And two to three times per day – I’d mix those oils up with some jojoba oil and rub it all over my chest and neck, and put a little under my nose to inhale into my lungs.
As I started to feel better and climb out of illness, I noticed something: the age spots on my chest that I’d been bemoaning looked visibly lighter. I had noticed earlier this year that they seemed to have taken a turn for the worse, and I was not at all happy about that. And there was no doubt about it – my chest looked much, much better. How had I not heard of this particular benefit of essential oils?
Massage oil and hot stones
I began to Google. And sure enough – there are several oils that have this wonderful benefit, and among them… tea tree oil! I had stumbled upon this quite accidentally and was thrilled.
I found LOTS of recipes using lots of different oils, but I don’t believe you need a magic combination or proportion. It’s always best to mix essential oils with a carrier oil like jojoba, and I discovered that fractionated coconut oil also helps with age spots. I already had some of this for the facial rejuvenation cupping service that I do at Renu… So now I’m using that at home as well.
Other oils great for reducing age spots include frankincense, myrrh, and rose. Frankincense is quite expensive but wonderful on so many levels, so I already had some of that. But the best low cost trial would be just tea tree oil mixed with your carrier oil of choice. Therapeutic grade oils are best for any medicinal purpose such as this.
Now I use the oils twice daily – morning and night. I’ll keep going with this and am excited to see the results over time!
Here’s a site with a great list of oils: http://essentialoilbenefits.com/21-best-essential-oils-for-age-spots-on-face-and-hands/
