Although some women float through perimenopause and menopause without experiencing any of the classic difficulties, most women experience some degree of discomfort in the form of hot flashes, bloating, water retention and constipation.
During menopause oestrogen levels fall to between 40% and 60% of the premenopausal level, and progesterone levels fall to almost zero. Hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disturbance, depression, loss of energy and lose of concentration are all common symptoms of menopause.
Welcome to the world of Aromatherapy! It can be a wonderful tool to add to your lifestyle and assist with these physical and emotional symptoms. Diffusing beautiful smells that calm and heal – creating an oasis of tranquillity and serenity in your home.
Using aromatic sprays for those times when you are experiencing your own ‘personal tropical holiday’ aka hot flushes. Diffusing for the ‘menopausal snoring’ helps you get better quality sleep and is less traumatic for the rest of the family.
Self-care actions such as massage, aromatic baths and diffusing, add pampering and self-love to your aromatic journey in transitioning from before with mood swings, hot flushes, bloating, snoring, brain fog to relief. It adds that extra zip and energy to your daily life. LeRêve’s Emotional Lift Roll Ons also boost moods and emotions, adding serenity and bliss to your life.
HOT FLASHES
Lavender helps with insomnia, hot spells, night sweats and headaches. Rose is helpful for menopausal syndrome, hot flushes and has strong hormonal regulator properties.
Try Breathe Easy Roll On with Intuitive & Wise Roll On rubbed over the abdomen, lower back and along sides of neck. Or alternatively use PMS Ease Roll On with Breathe Easy Roll On and have a play.
Add 1 drop of each of Peppermint, Geranium, Chamomile & Rose and add to 5mL of Baby Care Bath and Body Oil and rub over abdomen and lower back. Or simply grab your PMS Ease Roll On and Breathe Easy Roll On and rub alternatively over same areas.
Add 10 drops of each of Breathe Easy Pure Essential Oil Blend or Peppermint + Lavender + Rose add to Aromamix Spray bottle. It’s important to add 2mls of solubilizer to mix these essential oils safely, then top up with pure bottled water or rose water. Shake and spray.
An alternative recipe is our limited-edition Feel Good Pure Essential Oil Blend & add 1 drop of Peppermint and create your own Spray treat.
The combination of Lime & Lemongrass as a refrigerant helps in hot spells, hot flushes and can be used in massage or footbath/bath. Try Love Story Bath and Body Oil or Stressless Bath and Body Oil.
Rub Breathe Easy Roll On along temples, behind ears and alongside of neck and top of shoulders for a cooling treat. This is a must have when you are taking your own personal tropical holiday. Keep it by your bedside table.
FLUID RETENTION
Aromatic bath, massage and a foot bath are ideal ways of using aromatherapy for this condition. We have lots in our range that will be beneficial.
A foot bath can help. Add a drop each of Celebration Pure Essential Oil Blend, Rose, and Chamomile to a few drops of Baby Care Bath and Body Oil and pop it into a foot bath. If you add Epsom salts, this also helps get magnesium into the body. A foot bath is an easy way to relax, especially if you have been on your feet all day. Massage PMS Ease Roll On around ankles and upwards on leg after the foot bath treat. Or massage Love Story Bath and Body Oil around the calves and feet. A warm towel may be wrapped around the lower legs to aid penetration. Love Story also helps for cold hands and feet. Clary Sage, one of the ingredients in Love Story, has a special bond with the female hormonal system and is indeed successfully used in PMS and menopausal symptoms, to treat the associated mood swings and headaches in particular.
Choose either Brain Power Roll On or Stressless Roll On to also help with peripheral circulation. This is great for hands and feet.
Celebration Pure Essential Oil Blend featuring Cypress is renowned for reducing water retention in legs and ankles and abnormal day or night sweating.
Limited Edition Feel Good Pure Essential Oil Blend contains Lime which helps stimulate tired minds and is a lymphatic stimulant so helpful for cellulite and fluid retention.
Geranium is good for water retention, PMS, menstrual cramps and sweating.
SLEEPLESS IN MENOPAUSE
Gently relaxing and sedative Essential Oils may be beneficial in a diffuser, massage or bath.
Use Sweet Sleep Roll On at night on the temples. Pure Essential Oil Blend is great in the diffuser and to make linen sprays.
Soothing Secure & Content Roll On contains Vetiver which is known as the oil of tranquillity. It is a restorative/regulator for atonic hormonal disorders from oestrogen or progesterone deficiency, perimenopause and menopausal syndrome with hot flashes and low libido. Imagine being able to get a good sleep and reduce the severity of night sweats at the same time! Ylang Ylang also helps for menopausal syndrome and loss of libido.
THE MENOPAUSE SNORE
Diffuse either Breathe Easy Blend or Winter Wellness and add a drop of Frankincense to either Blend to help to open the airways. Breathe Easy relieves nasal congestion, Winter Wellness helps for the throat and chest, and Frankincense helps to go from shallow breathing to deep breathing. These Essential Oils help for cough/colds/flu/sinus/snoring from top of the head to the lower diaphragm and will keep everyone else safe for winter colds/flu.
MONOPAUSE MOOD SWINGS
Mix your own oils of Orange, Geranium, Rose and Lavender. Rose’s systemic hormonal support helps for fatigue, anxiety, insomnia and emotional withdrawal and shines for gently uplifting mood swings.
Our Emotional Lift range is ideal for a variety of mood swings. The Creative & Sensual Roll On is focused on the womb area; associated with women’s issues in chakra healing.
MENOPAUSE HEADACHES
Oestrogen can cause blood vessels to dilate, while progesterone causes them to tighten. As the level of these hormones fluctuates, the blood vessels are constantly expanding and contracting. This can cause pressure changes in the head and result in headaches.
Headache Help Roll On or Lavender, Peppermint and Geranium are also helpful.
Enjoy a Love Story Bath and Body Oil scalp massage for hormonal headaches.
MENOPAUSAL HAY-FEVER
Have you noticed an increase in allergic reactions during menopause and perimenopause?
Women can become more susceptible to new or heightened allergic reactions due to hormone fluctuations impacting the immune system. Women who may have never experienced hay fever before, could become vulnerable to it during and post menopause, because of menopausal fatigue and poor digestion. This can leave your body susceptible to infections. Use Breathe Easy Pure Essential Oil Blend in the diffuser, Breathe Easy Roll On as a topical application or blend Peppermint, Lavender, Lemon, Eucalyptus/Cedarwood and/or Frankincense in diffusion or massage.
EXHAUSTION/FATIGUE
Diffusing can help lift energy. Pure Essential Oils and Blends that help include Geranium, Frankincense, Eucalyptus/Cedarwood, Ylang Ylang, Brain Power Roll On, Celebration Blend, Stressless Blend, Loving & Joyful Blend, Confident & Calm Blend and Creative & Sensual Blend. An aromatic bath using Stressless Bath and Body Oil also works wonders.
DRY ITCHY SKIN
Evening Primrose Oil is often taken as a supplement to aid hot flushes, dry itchy skin – it is one of the delightful ingredients in our Skin Revival Bath and Body Oil and Baby Care Bath and Body Oil. These body treats have four famous beauty oils – Evening Primrose Oil, Rosehip Oil, Peach Kernal Oil and Camellia Oil – that These Blends are readily absorbed into the skin, alleviating dry skin and nourishing your body. Love Story Bath and Body Oil also helps and contains menopause friendly oils.
WRINKLES & SPOTS AT THE SAME TIME!
With hormones out of whack, it can bring out the worst in our skin. Apply First Aid Roll On over the spot to kill germs. Baby Care Bath and Body Oil or Skin Revival Bath and Body Oil both assist in treatment also while Rose Essential Oil helps with its beauty properties. LeRêve’s Bio-Scientific Skincare range can also come to the rescue.
PERIMENOPAUSE & MENOPAUSE
Use Rose Essential Oil or PMS Ease Roll On. Rub a few drops between the palms of your hand, cup hands to face and inhale…. Bliss! Essential Oils do not contain hormones but they can work with the limbic area of the brain to help you feel more balanced, emotionally stable and calmer. Geranium is great for this when inhaled. Traditionally Essential Oils such as Lavender, Chamomile, Orange and Peppermint are helpful for this transitioning phase in life. Rose helps to tone the uterus and regulate the menstrual cycle and is known as the oil of love and nurturing. LeRêve PMS Ease Roll On was created specifically for hormonal swings, period cramps and pain.
Make an aromatherapy spray/spritzer and use around the face, neck and shoulders during a hot flush. To make up a Spray, add 15 drops of Essential Oil to a 50mL Aroma Mix Spray Bottle (with 2mL solubiliser if possible), swirl then top up with bottled water. Simply shake and spray.
Rotating the mix of calming and menopausal supporting oils helps prevent the body from becoming inured to the Essential Oils. Variety adds extra spice to life and means you can match the blend of Essential Oils to whatever is ailing you at that moment. It’s like a smorgasbord of goodness at your fingertips.
Enjoy your aromatic journey.
This article was written by Tricia Granata, a passionate LeRêve Consultant with over 30 years’ experience who is both an Aromatherapy enthusiast and an Environmental Scientist.
REFERENCES
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Holmes, P 2019 Aromatica – A Clinical Guide to Essential Oil Therapeutics Volume 2 – Applications and Profiles.
Jacobson, Lea (2017) essential Oil Profiles – Aromatherapy reference manual for the everyday beginner and beyond.
Kerfkhof-Knapp Hayes, M 2015 Complementary Nursing in End of Life Care p323
Moskowitz 2001, Hormones and Balance – In Wilson K, Moskowitz, D, Thomas D “A Woman’s Health Resource, Portland Transitions for Health, 3-37
Schmid & Rubinow 1991, Menopausal Related Affective Disorders, American Journal of Psychiatry 148 (1): 844-852.
Worwood, V.A. 1991, The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy, 209-213
