Benefits and Uses of Peppermint Essential Oil

Essential oils are truly valuable with amazing health promoting properties. Among them, peppermint oil is a unique blend of health and medicinal benefits. It is pleasantly scented and comes with abundant antimicrobial properties, making it a perfect health-promoting essential oil.

Peppermint is one of the oldest European medicinal herbs, used in ancient Chinese and Japanese medicine. The essential oil is obtained through steam distillation of aerial parts of the peppermint plant, which is a hybrid of spearmint and water mint. The primary active ingredient of peppermint essential oil is menthol and menthone.

Benefits of Peppermint Oil

Peppermint oil has so many uses for body and mind related problems. It is an effective natural solution to pharmaceutical drugs.

• Peppermint has anti-nausea benefits. It boosts energy as well.
• The cooling sense of peppermint is one additional benefit that soothes the skin.
• The essential oil has calming effect for both mind and body. It also improves mental focus.
• Peppermint oil helps to relive sore and tight body muscles on topical use. It also reduces muscle spasms.
• The antimicrobial properties helps sooth various internal problems such as stomach aches and headaches.
• It has soothing effects on colon and gastric problems.
• It promotes oral health and freshens up bad breath.

Uses of Peppermint Oil

Peppermint essential oil is an effective natural painkiller. For muscle pains, you can mix peppermint oil with any carrier oil such as coconut oil or castor oil. Heat the mixture and apply this gently to the pain area.

Peppermint oil is great for sinus care. Inhaling a pot of hot water with peppermint oil helps relieve colds, cough sinusitis, and also asthma problems. It actually acts as an expectorant.

When you have achy joints, apply a mixture of peppermint oil and lavender oil to cool the body muscles. It acts similar to an ice bath, soothing the joints.

Inhaling peppermint oil through a diffuser can help improve mental focus and concentration for those having chronic fatigue syndrome. It also energizes your mind.

Diffusing peppermint oil along with eucalyptus and clove oil helps relieve from nasal allergies.

Peppermint has nausea relieving properties. Add few drops of peppermint essential oil to water and diffuse it. Alternatively, you can also rub few drops behind the ears to reduce nausea.

Peppermint helps to freshen up breath. You can add a drop of peppermint oil under the tongue and drink a glass of water then. This will help to combat bad breath.

You can check out the post on Essential Oils Aromatherapy for Health Problems.

Skin and Hair Care Uses

Peppermint essential oil can help improving the effect of shampoo. Adding 2-3 drops of peppermint essential oil to your shampoo and condition helps stimulate the hair scalp. As a powerful antiseptic, it also helps remove dandruff and lice.

Peppermint oil is good for skin health. It has excellent anti-microbial properties that help in facial treatment as well. It also helps cure acne naturally.

Alternatively, check out our other essential oils for skin care post.

Peppermint oil can also be used for foot care. So, you can make Peppermint Foot Scrub at home for your pedicure.

Peppermint oil also helps to repel bugs, ticks, mosquitos, and cockroaches. You can make a natural Essential Oil Bugs Repellent with a blend of peppermint oil, cinnamon, geranium, eugenol, and lemongrass oils.

With all these benefits and uses, peppermint essential oil is truly a versatile one. Try it out and share us in the comments, if you know of more uses of peppermint.