Wintergreen essential oil for your post-exercise massage

After a long hike in the Jura or a bike ride along the lake, nothing beats a massage to prolong the good feeling of the effort. In changing rooms and drugstores alike, one smell often fills the air at that moment: the fresh, unmistakable scent of wintergreen. It is an interesting essential oil, but one that demands real discipline in use.

What is wintergreen?

Wintergreen – "gaulthérie" in French – is a small shrub of the genus Gaultheria, in the heath family (Ericaceae), like heather and bilberry. Its essential oil has a powerful scent, fresh and slightly sweet, that many people instantly associate with sports massage balms.

This characteristic scent comes mainly from one compound, methyl salicylate, which makes up most of the oil. It is related to acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), which is why wintergreen comes with particular precautions, set out below.

According to the product sheet, our fragrant wintergreen essential oil ("gaulthérie odorante") offers a "fresh, aromatic scent". To learn how essential oils are grouped into families and why some call for more caution, read our sheet on essential oil families.

How to use it

Our druggist reserves it for a single use: massage, highly diluted, for a moment of comfort after sport.

Making a post-exercise massage oil

• Pour 10 ml of vegetable oil (sweet almond, apricot kernel or sunflower) into a small clean bottle.
• Add just 1 to 2 drops of wintergreen essential oil and shake.
• Do a patch test in the crook of your elbow and wait 24 hours before first use.
• Massage the areas you have worked (calves, thighs, shoulders) with slow strokes: the feeling of freshness goes with a real moment of relaxation.
• Wash your hands thoroughly afterwards and do not apply to broken skin.

What to avoid

Wintergreen is not for diffusing in a bedroom, not for the bath, and never to be applied neat, even on a small area.

Precautions

Essential precautions. Never swallow it: ingesting wintergreen is dangerous, especially for children. Keep the bottle tightly closed and out of their reach. If you are allergic to aspirin or salicylates, or if you are on medication (particularly blood-thinning medication), ask for advice before any use. Avoid it during pregnancy, breastfeeding and for children unless a specialist advises otherwise. Keep it away from the eyes, mucous membranes and large areas of skin.

Our products

• Fragrant wintergreen essential oil – fresh, aromatic scent; read the documentation tab before use.

Ask us for advice

Properly dosed, wintergreen fits naturally into the routine of weekend athletes and seasoned sportspeople alike. Because its precautions are stricter than for other oils, we recommend talking to our team before making your first blend: Droguerie Perusset in Yverdon-les-Bains will help you prepare a suitable massage oil.