Are your joints or muscles feeling sore and tired? Use this homemade achy joint and muscle balm to relieve your pain! Made with organic herbs, shea butter and essential oils, your body will be feeling better in no time.

For many of us, gardening is all about the veggies. And sometimes fruit. You plant a garden to feed your family all year long. But what many of us — urban gardeners or full-time homesteaders — don’t do is grow a garden specifically to create medicine or healing remedies.

Sure, some gardeners have a small herb garden full of traditional culinary herbs like thyme, basil and rosemary. However, there are few that truly know how powerful these little plants can be.

I was guilty of that until recently. Little did I know that cayenne wasn’t just for adding a kick to a bowl of chili. Or dandelions weren’t just those pesky weeds popping up in your lawn. These fellas were created by God to provide relief and healing.

One of my most popular homemade products, using fresh herbs from the garden is this achy joint and muscle balm. I have had many friends and family members request a jar to help treat their sore body. Originally the balm was created for my husband, who can sometimes come home sore and achy from his job. But recently I tried some myself when I twisted my back. I applied the balm twice a day and felt much needed relief from the intense back pain!

The quartet of herbs in this pain relieving balm is cayenne, ginger, dandelion and comfrey. Most people don’t bat an eye at the ingredient list until they hear it has cayenne. I assume they think it’ll burn them because of the heat from the pepper. But this is far from the truth. The cayenne in this recipe provides a slight warmth to the troubled area on your body, helping to stop pain receptors and stimulate circulation. It makes a great addition to homemade body care products that are intended to reduce aches and pains.

Pain Relieving Herbs

While there are a multitude of wonderful herbs that could be added into this sore joint rub, each ingredient below was selected with a specific purpose in mind.

Shea butter is commonly known as skin moisturizer. But in this herbal remedy, it was selected for it’s anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving abilities — perfect for soothing sore muscles and upset joints.
Ginger commonly used in teas to reduce nausea or for culinary purposes, also has the medicinal property of stimulating veins and promoting circulation.
Cayenne is not only great for blood pressure issues, when taken internally, it also works wonders when used topically for arthritis.
Dandelion is a mild analgesic, perfect for pain relief!
Comfrey. Where do I start with this powerful herb? To keep it short and sweet, this puppy is anti-inflammatory and helps to speed up the healing process of a variety of ailments.
Lavender essential oil is great for supporting the healing of the body and soothing sore muscles.
Rosemary essential oil is excellent at reducing stiffness.

How to Relieve Sore Muscles and Joints Naturally

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Soothe aches, pains and other painful conditions with this sore joint and muscle balm.

Makes: one 2 ounce jar

Ingredients

1 cup plus 2 Tbs (243 g) sunflower oil
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs (10 g) dried cayenne peppers, chopped
1/4 cup (3 g) dried dandelion flowers
2 Tbs (2 g) comfrey leaves, torn into small pieces
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 1/2 tsp (7.5 g) beeswax pellets
1 Tbs shea butter
8 drops rosemary essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil

Directions

To begin making your sore muscle and joint balm, you will need to infuse the cayenne, dandelion, ginger and comfrey into the sunflower oil. Here are two great ways to create herb infused oil.

Option #1 – My favorite way is the slow sunny window method. Place the dried cayenne, dandelion flowers, ground ginger and comfrey leaves into a mason jar. Slowly pour the sunflower oil over top of the leaves. (If the leaves are not completely covered, push them below the oil with a spoon.) Cap the mason jar with a lid, place within a paper bag and sit on the sill of a warm, sunny window. Shake the jar daily. Within 7-10 days, the infused oil will be ready to use to create your homemade joint balm.

Option #2 – Alternatively, you can also add the oil and herbs into a small saucepan on your stove over low heat. Allow the herbs to simmer for no more than 2 hours. Do not boil. This method works well if you are in a hurry but the infused oil may not be quite as medicinally strong as the slow method.

When the oil is ready to use, strain the herbs out of the oil using a fine mesh strainer. Place 1/4 cup (52 g) of the infused oil into a pint size mason jar. Store the leftover oil in the fridge for future batches of this herbal balm. Add the shea butter and beeswax. Set the jar into a saucepan with a few inches of water over low heat until the beeswax has melted.

Turn off the stove burner. Remove the jar from heat and cool for 5 minutes. Stir in the essential oils. Place the jar into the fridge for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to create a smooth balm that will be easy to spread on sore body parts.

Scoop the finished balm into an airtight container such as a mason jar or an amber glass jar. Store in a cool, dark place for several months. To use the herbal balm, rub into your sore joints or muscles such as your knees, back, elbows or shoulders.

Homemade Herbal Balm Tips

Only use herbs that have not been sprayed with herbicides. From your own backyard is best. If you don’t have access to these herbs, there are a several reputable sellers online that sell a variety of organic dried herbs.

Use a scale to measure out your dried herbs, oil, shea butter and beeswax. It’s much easier and precise than using a measuring cup. If you don’t have a measuring scale, try this one. We’ve had ours for years and it works great!

Did you know that sunlight can damage the medicinal properties of herbs and essential oils? Be sure your herbal remedies, such as this achy joint and muscle balm is stored in a dark container like an amber jar. If you only have a clear jar, no worries. Just stash it on a shelf in a closed cabinet.

This stuff makes a great gift! Bottle up a jar of this balm for a friend or family member who needs a little healing and relief.

Looking to fill your medicine cabinet with more all-natural, home remedies? Try out this headache relief recipe and vanilla mint lip balm.

Yield: One 2 ounce jar

Achy Joint and Muscle Balm

Ingredients

1 cup plus 2 Tbs (243 g) sunflower oil
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs (10 g) dried cayenne peppers, chopped
1/4 cup (3 g) dried dandelion flowers
2 Tbs (2 g) comfrey leaves, torn into small pieces
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 1/2 tsp (7.5 g) beeswax pellets
1 Tbs shea butter
8 drops rosemary essential oil
10 drops lavender essential oil

Instructions

To begin making your sore muscle and joint balm, you will need to infuse the cayenne, dandelion, ginger and comfrey into the sunflower oil. Here are two great ways to create herb infused oil.

Option #1 - My favorite way is the slow sunny window method. Place the dried cayenne, dandelion flowers, ground ginger and comfrey leaves into a mason jar. Slowly pour the sunflower oil over top of the leaves. (If the leaves are not completely covered, push them below the oil with a spoon.) Cap the mason jar with a lid, place within a paper bag and sit on the sill of a warm, sunny window. Shake the jar daily. Within 7-10 days, the infused oil will be ready to use to create your homemade joint balm.

Option #2 - Alternatively, you can also add the oil and herbs into a small saucepan on your stove over low heat. Allow the herbs to simmer for no more than 2 hours. Do not boil. This method works well if you are in a hurry but the infused oil may not be quite as medicinally strong as the slow method.