Q: My cousin has just had a really traumatic birth which resulted in emergency surgery and lots of painful stitches. Which essential oils would you particularly recommend to help speed her recovery?

A: Firstly, she needs to take Arnica pills - a homeopathic remedy to help her heal and to ease internal bruising (ask which strength at any Boots chemist). Rescue Remedy would be good too, 3 drops 3 times daily to help alleviate the shock.

In terms of aromatherapy and essential oils I'd recommend a daily bath with 1 cup of Dead Sea Salts, 10 drops of Lavender, 4 drops of Tea Tree and 2 drops Neroli essential oil. The first two essential oils will help speed up the healing process and help prevent infection, and the Neroli will help ease the shock and stress of it all.

I'd also add these oils plus a couple of others to Base Formula's Organic Moisturising Lotion. For every 100ml of base lotion add 25 drops Lavender, 10 drops Frankincense, 8 drops Tea Tree, 4 drops Neroli and 4 drops of Roman Chamomile. This can be applied externally on a daily basis.

Booking an aromatherapy massage with a professional therapist would also be beneficial.

With regard to diet - I recommend she eats lots of green veggies, avocado and seeds, especially sunflower, pumpkin, sesame and ground linseed - add 2 tablespoons daily on cereal, salads or soups. Oily fish 3-4 times weekly will help boost her Essential Fatty Acid intake to help her heal and will also be good for her baby if she's breast feeding. I would probably also get her some vitamin C powder from Biocare, to make sure she's got enough vitamin C to super-charge her healing process. They do a wonderful low acid one "Magnesium Ascorbate", which you just add to water/fruit juice.

If she'd like any further advice, please feel free to contact me again.

Joannah Metcalfe
Consultant Aromatherapist