Tiger balm: benefits against stress?
Written by: Loris Vitry (holistic coach)
Validated by: Cathy Maillot (Osteopath)
Caution: If you have any medical questions or concerns, please speak to your doctor. Even if the articles on this site are based on scientific studies, they do not replace professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Product resulting from a thousand years of practice of traditional Chinese medicine, tiger balm is recognized around the world for its countless therapeutic virtues.
Muscle pain, insect bites, sore throats, headaches or migraines, none of the everyday ailments escapes its beneficial effects.
Even stress!
We take stock in this article.
Tiger balm: The origins
Tiger balm is an ointment, almost miraculous, which helps relieve multiple ailments ranging from inflammation to lumbar weakness, through neck pain or muscle pain.
This natural and versatile remedy developed in the late 19th century by a Chinese herbalist provides a pleasant sensation of heat and then freshness when applied to the skin.
The effectiveness of its soothing action on pain comes from its basic ingredients, such as camphor, cajeput, cloves and menthol.
Tiger Balm comes in two formulas, the difference being in the addition of ingredients such as eucalyptus oil for white tiger balm and blackcurrant oil for red tiger balm.
While red will primarily be used to relieve muscle and joint pain and contractures, white is primarily used to treat headaches and respiratory ailments.
Tiger Balm: What are the benefits?
The applications of tiger balm, whatever the formula, are many and varied.
A perfect remedy for stress
Stress is a part of life.
It is a normal state allowing us to react better in the face of a complicated situation.
But it can become very damaging to the body when it gets too much.
This is why knowing how to manage stress is essential.
As such, red tiger balm is also a great solution.
Used as a cream during massages, it radiates your body with benefits that immediately relax you and soothe any tensions that you may have accumulated during the working day.
Then, feelings of serenity and well-being win your mind and your body and put you back on your feet.
And if you don’t have time for a massage, simply resort to white tiger balm.
You just need to inhale the aromas to experience the same feelings of relaxation and calm in your body in your mind.
An effective remedy for pain
The effectiveness of red tiger balm in quickly relieving all kinds of pain comes from its analgesic properties.
Whatever the cause of the pain (sprain or strain, body aches, poor posture, physical exertion, etc.), applying red tiger balm to the affected part is sufficient to relieve muscle contraction.
Its different ingredients act directly on the nerve receptors creating two different sensations.
At first, camphor and clove induce a sensation of heat, followed a few minutes later by a sensation of freshness resulting from the combined action of menthol and cajuput.
These two sensations, occurring within a period of time, cause desensitization to the pain and therefore make your pain disappear as if by magic.
An excellent relaxant
The red tiger balm has since its inception, until today, proven its effectiveness in relieving stiff necks, low back pain and all other musculoskeletal disorders.
Its accelerated action on muscle contractures has made it famous in Asian countries and, since, in Europe where it continues to tear itself apart like hot cakes.
A few friction is enough for the balm and its properties to diffuse throughout your body and make your pain disappear in a short time.
A proven nasal decongestant
Eucalyptus essential oil added to the composition of white tiger balm combined with menthol has an effective decongestant effect to unclog blocked noses.
To do this, it amounts to passing a little around the edges of the nose and presto!
A few minutes later, you are breathing normally again.
White Tiger Balm can also be used to treat colds, rhinitis or sinusitis, coughs, sore throats, and many other respiratory ailments.
An effective cure for headaches
As with a blocked nose, it is the presence of eucalyptus and menthol in white tiger balm that helps relieve headaches.
The refreshing, pain-relieving effect it provides eliminates headaches in minutes.
Just put some on the temples and let it work.
You don’t need to get it in.
An essential product at home
Tiger balm, apart from those mentioned above, has many other benefits that make it an essential product for everyday life.
Among others, it is useful for:
- Relieve insect bites: a gentle friction on the affected part and the itching disappears in no time;
- Repel insects: Putting an open tin of tiger balm in the corners of the house scares away insects that are allergic to the eucalyptus scent it contains;
- Fight against perspiration odors: apply it to the parts affected by these body odors.
- Treat digestive disorders: in the case of diarrhea, rub a little tiger balm around the navel then cover it with your hands for a few minutes.The heat diffuses inside and calms the heat in your stomach.
Tiger balm: Precautions to take
Tiger balm should be used with great care, because of some of its components, especially camphor.
Indeed, it can create irritations and allergies in some people with sensitive skin.
This is why, for a first try, it is advisable to put a little on a part of the body in order to first appreciate its effect on your skin.
It is not recommended to apply the precious ointment to irritated skin, eye contours, wounds, mucous membranes and other sensitive areas.
Tiger Balm is primarily intended for outdoor use.
It should not be ingested.
Therefore, you should always wash your hands thoroughly after using it.
Its application on children under 7 years of age and on pregnant women is also not recommended.
Tiger Balm originated thousands of years ago.
Since then, its benefits have not changed.
Among these is its calming effect which relieves stress.
Continue reading:
Carpal tunnel: what natural treatment?
