Old scars and Varicose Veins

[MistyNightWind]

The topic title describes two problems which I am currently trying to deal with.

As for healing old scars I've heard sage, patchouli, rosehip and Helichrysum is good a repairing tissues, has anyone found this to be true? The scars are not very old, around a couple of months.

As for the Varicose veins I've read that cypress oil, witch hazel, rosemary oil, comfrey, geranium oil, amoung other things are helpful in relieving discomfort, again has one found this to be true or found anything else to work. The surgery for it sounds horrific! So anything to avoid this will be done.

Love and Laughter
Misty

[Lailoken]

Healing old scars:

If a scar is pinkish and still healing, you can reduce the appearance. If they're white and healed, you're pretty much stuck with them.

15mL creme base
glycerin
2 drops either eucalyptus, orange, basil, clary-sage, petitgrain
3 drops either cypress, lavender, lemongrass, geranium
2 drops either neroli, frankincense, benzoin, immortelle, jasmine, vetiver

Add oils to a couple mL's of glycerin, stir well, then add to creme, stir well. You can add the essential oils to one of these carrier oils to make a massage oil or compress:

15mL either avocado oil, rosehip seed oil, or vitamin E oil - You can even add a few mLs of these carrier oils to the creme recipe.

You can also make a toner by mixing the oils in with the glycerin and add to 250mL of distilled water.

Varicose veins:

2 drops either cajeput, bergamot, lemon, clary-sage
3 drops either cypress, sandwood
2 drops either ginger, frankincense, rose

Follow same steps, for creme or oil recipe. Your carrier oil choices for varicose veins would be either almond, calendula, or St. Johns Wort. If you're adding a carrier oil to the creme, only use calendula or St. Johns Wort.

You can always substitute lavender for an essential oil that's called for in a recipe that you can't get your hands on.

Hope this helps!

[MistyNightWind]

Thank you Lailoken, that is very helpful.

Just a case of finding the oils now. Could you explain what the glycerin is and where I could find it? As for the cream base, would you reccommend a non-perfumed cream? I've made my own cream before using beewax which worked very well.

One last question, would you know which of these- cream or massage oil- is more effective? I'd imagine the oil because it's ikely to be more concentrated.

Thanks again, Misty.

[Lailoken]

Because oil and water do not mix, you will use the glycerin when you're adding essential oils to your water-based creme or to water for the toner recipe I gave. It's an emulsifier, allowing the oils and water to mix. You can find a good-quality glycerin at a health food store or Whole Foods.

The creme base needs to be all-natural, so yes, it will not be perfumed. Many chemicals and synthetic ingredients common in cosmetics reduce the efficacy of essential oils.

The oil will be most effective because the carrier oil choices I gave you have properties specific to your concerns. While they will absorb into the skin, they will do so at a very slow rate. Therefore, the creme base is good in the morning as you're getting ready for work, and won't have to worry about the oil getting on your clothes.

[Nicholaas]

The current treatment for venous insufficiency is rather simple and noninvasive. Essentially, a physician will access one of your symptomatic veins distally (further downstream), not unlike an IV insertion, and using ultrasound, help guide a small guide-wire up into the vein. The tip of this vein is equipped with a "bulb" that can be heated up and subsequently pulled slowly down the length of the vein, thus ablating it and preventing blood flow.

I used to work in an interventional radiology suite where these were done, and it's really quite straightforward. The mild discomfort from and following the exam pales in comparison to the pain of living with varicose veins.

[MistyNightWind]

Thankyou Nicholaas for your reply, that is very comforting to know since what I read on the nhs and bupa quite frankly sounded horrific!

Love and Laughter
Misty