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Essential oils are great for healing within, but what you may not realize is that there are just as many that can help combat the physical symptoms. You know, the sore stomach, the headaches, the muscle tension that often come with anxiety and panic attacks. So, here is your go-to guide for the best anxiety essential oils for treating physical symptoms.
Treating Physical Symptoms of Anxiety with Essential Oils
Below you’ll find a collection of essential oils that can be used to treat the various physical symptoms of anxiety. I’ll also give you some ideas on how to use them.
Anxiety Physical Symptom: Sick Stomach
If there’s one physical symptom of anxiety that I can certainly relate to, it’s having a sick stomach. As a child with anxiety, I was always complaining of a sore tummy. Today, I know how to recognize when my stomach is acting up because of my nerves.
Side note: Experts say kids will complain of a sore tummy when experiencing anxiety.
Best Essential Oils for Anxious Stomach
The best anxiety essential oils for treating this physical symptom are:
- Peppermint eases tummy pain and spasms
- Ginger eases gas
- Lavender helps reduce nausea
- Clary sage eases an upset stomach and digestive disorders
- Cardamom encourages internal gas to be released
How to Use Essential Oils for a Nervous Stomach
You can rub any of these essential oils right on your stomach for quick relief. Only a couple of drops are needed. Ginger is a good one to add into a drink. Just make sure the ginger oil you’re using is made for ingestion.
Anxiety Physical Symptom: Headaches
Headaches and muscle tension are something most people experience, as we tend to hold stress in our shoulders. For those with anxiety, these physical symptoms are significantly more frequent. The good news is that I experience tension headaches so often that I have perfected the talent of using essential oils for headaches to eliminate them.
Best Essential Oils for Tension and Headaches
- Peppermint releases tension in muscles to alleviate headaches and pain
- Rosemary improves circulation to reduce the pain
- Lavender helps relax you, which releases muscle tension triggering the pain
- Ice
How to Use Essential Oils for Tension and Headaches
All of these anxiety essential oils can be dabbed right on your temples for the best relief. I will also add a drop wherever I feel the pain, whether it’s on one side of my head, in my neck or in my shoulders. And although ice isn’t an essential oil, I wanted to add it to this list of the best essential oils for anxiety physical symptoms because it is amazing.
Anxiety Physical Symptoms: Dizziness
A common physical symptom of anxiety is dizziness. This typically occurs during an anxiety attack or panic attack, so you’ll want to have these essential oils with you when you go out.
Best Anxiety Essential Oils for Dizziness
Dizziness and disorientation are two of the worse physical symptoms of anxiety. Fortunately, these are some essential oils you can use to treat these physical symptoms of anxiety.
- Lemon balm can relieve nausea caused by the dizziness
- Peppermint essential oil will ease dizziness and the nausea it causes
- Rosemary improves circulation to help eliminate dizziness
- Rose oil soothes dizziness and symptoms of vertigo
- Tangerine helps deliver oxygen to your muscles to ease dizziness
How to use Essential Oils to Treat Dizziness
There are many ways you can use these essential oils to treat this physical anxiety symptom. The easiest is to breathe the scent in, use a hot compress or rub it on your temples or pressure points.
Anxiety Physical Symptoms: Diarrhea
A physical symptom no one likes to talk about is diarrhea – but it happens to all of us. We get nervous and our body stiffens up and our stools loosen. Oh, the joys!
Best Essential Oils for Diarrhea
For this physical symptom of anxiety, you can use any calming oil or essential oils for digestive problems to prevent the diarrhea from coming on, since it’s triggered by anxiety. But if it won’t stop, here are some oils to try:
- Ginger oil relieves nausea, indigestion and diarrhea
- Cinnamon soothes intestinal cramps and muscle contractions
- Lavender relieves diarrhea caused by stress by dilating blood vessels to relax the mind and body
How to Use Essential Oils for Diarrhea
These essential oils can be used in a tea or you can use them as a scent or as a topical treatment applied to your lower stomach.
Anxiety Physical Symptoms: Heart Palpitations
When your heart feels like it’s pounding a million beats a second, grab these anxiety essential oils for heart palpitations.
Best Essential Oils for Heart Palpitations
- Lemon balm decreases blood pressure
- Ylang Ylang reduces blood pressure and acts as a mild sedative
- Wild Orange relieves stress causing the heart palpitations
- Lavender incense reduces stress causing the heart palpitations and acts as a mild sedative
How to Use Essential Oils for Heart Palpitations
Add a couple drops into a diffuser and sit back and breathe in the scent. If you’re out and out, use a roller and apply the essential oils on your pulse points or just smell them for quick relief.
Anxiety Physical Symptoms: Shortness of Breath
The best way to treat this physical symptom of anxiety is to do focused, deep breathing. These essential oils for shortness of breath will also help to bring you relief quicker.
Best Essential Oils for Shortness of Breath
- Eucalyptus improves nasal airflow
- Rosemary soothes the muscles that allow you to breathe
- Ginger oil reduces airway contraction
How to Use Essential Oils for Shortness of Breath
For this physical anxiety symptoms, I like to use essential oil sprays or oils that you can breathe in, while focusing on your breath for a double effect. There are some really awesome anxiety oil blends that combine a variety of anxiety essential oils into one.
Is there a common anxiety physical symptom that I left out? Let me know and I will add to this list of the best essential oils for anxiety physical symptoms. If you are experiencing a crisis, please reach out to a professional at Better Help online therapy for anxiety.
This blog post is sponsored by BetterHelp online therapy, but all opinions are my own. I may receive compensation from BetterHelp or other sources if you purchase products or services through the links provided on this page.
