What Happens If You Bathe in Lavender Water?

Healing herbs profoundly affect our bodies and impact our overall health. Aromatic herbs like lavender are useful in treating many health maladies and bringing total rejuvenation. Soaking in warm lavender water can calm your nerves and relax your senses. It not only soothes your body but also clears your mind to relieve stress and induce deep relaxation.

Lavender water is botanical water from the lavender plant. Unlike concentrated lavender, it has a subtler scent that is not too overpowering. It is loaded with bioactive compounds that get released into the water as it soaks. Lavender water is prepared using essential oil or fresh and dried blossoms.

Health Benefits of Lavender Water

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) is a well-known ornamental plant valued for its distinct scent and color. The plant grows abundantly in temperate climates and it is cultivated mostly for its essential oil. Lavender essential oil has many different uses in herbal medicine, cosmetics, balms, insect repellents and perfumes.

Lavender water is a haven of therapeutic properties you need for many debilities. A lavender bath is worth indulging in and here are the reasons why.

Induce Sleep

A nice lavender bath before bedtime helps you drift off to a dreamless and relaxing sleep. Lavender contains linalool, linalyl acetate and camphor that seeps into the bath water. These compounds have a mild sedative effect that re-wires the brain to help you get a needed snooze.

The good thing about lavender baths is you will get a good night’s rest without morning drowsiness. Most sleep prescription medicines have side effects like drowsiness, upset stomach and eating changes that lavender bath does not.

Reduce Anxiety

Lavender capsules are used as an herbal remedy for anxiety, as effective as the prescription drug lorazepam. A lavender bath likewise induces a kind of relaxation by reducing the activities of the brain. Lavender acts on the parasympathetic area of the nervous system. Inhaling its compounds in bath water regulates the heart rate, breathing and hormone secretion to manage anxiety symptoms.

Heal Skin Problems

Superficial skin problems and wounds heal faster when you immerse yourself in lavender water for a few minutes. Lavender is an antiseptic and analgesic that gets rid of bacteria and reduces skin inflammations. It also stimulates collagen production to help the skin recover quickly from any type of skin infection, wound or burn.

Relieve Headache

If you have a headache, try dipping yourself in a warm bath with lavender extract. Lavender acts like a analgesic. Along with its relaxing activity, it can soothe a nagging headache. The therapeutic benefits of lavender leach into the water and get absorbed through the skin. It enters the bloodstream and directly stimulates the nervous system to give you lasting relief.

Repel Mosquitoes

The linalool found in lavender acts as an active chemical that deters mosquitoes and bugs. Mosquitoes detest the smell of lavender and are unlikely to feast on it.  If you have mosquito bites, lavender water also helps reduce the pain and itchiness. Lavender bath is one of the most effective, reliable and natural alternatives to commercial insect repellent.

Cool Down Sunburn

Scorched skin is also an inevitable situation to deal with. Excessive sun exposure can result in redness of the skin, peeling and inflammation. Severe sunburn can produce blisters and intensely hot skin. It may take about 2 weeks for the skin to heal but you can speed up the process with a cool lavender bath.

Take a lavender bath once a day to ease skin soreness and cool its surface. It will also prevent infection of blisters and any open skin with its antiseptic property.

Manage Arthritis

Lavender is a relaxant and anti-inflammatory herb that decreases joint stiffness and related pains. Using lavender bath water with an anti-inflammatory diet has a significant impact on reducing rheumatism and arthritis.

For chronic joint pain, prepare a warm bath with a few drops of lavender essential oil and a drop of clove oil. Soak in the water for 15 to 20 minutes once a day to relieve muscle and joint stiffness and alleviate the accompanying pain.

Note: If you want to use clove oil, use it sparingly. Clove oil is too strong; it can heat the blend and make the bath uncomfortable.

Relieve PMS

Lavender baths can effectively alleviate muscle cramps and other Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) symptoms. It also brings more therapeutic benefits than just relieving the pain. The fluctuating hormones caused by the menstrual cycle results in stress and moodiness in women. Lavender can reverse these negative behaviors and help make you feel better.

Take a dip in lavender water for about 5 to 10 minutes to relieve the menstrual cramps, improve your mood and get a restful sleep. Don’t worry, soaking in water during a period is completely safe and has no evidence to prove it otherwise.

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Manage Hair Loss

Hair loss stems from different causes and more serious conditions can lead to total baldness. Losing hair can be due to hormonal imbalance, bacteria or fungal infection, excessive sebum production or lack of nutrients. Genetics and certain medical conditions, especially those affecting the brain, can also make one shed their locks.

There are a lot of therapeutic herbs used to slow down and prevent the problem. Aloe Vera, Coconut oil, Olive oil and Stinging Nettle are just a few. To boost their effect, you can also use the stress-busting effect of a lavender bath to help manage the situation. Lavender improves brain activity to reverse stress and anxiety that contributes to hair loss. Applying lavender water and lavender oil can improve hair growth.

Instant Natural Perfume

If you need a quick fix before you head outside, lavender water can save the day. Lavender baths can give you long-lasting freshness and added benefits for your skin. It has a subtle freshness that does not irritate the skin or annoy the people around you. You can either take a full bath of lavender water or splash it on your pulse points for a fresh fragrance.

How To Make Lavender Water

There are different ways to prepare lavender water. You may simply add fresh lavender buds into your bath water, put in a few drops of lavender essential oil or use distilled lavender water.

Lavender Bath Infusion

The simplest way of indulging in the therapeutic benefit of lavender is soaking in its infusion. You can use 1 cup of dried lavender flowers, or two cups if fresh. Run very hot water for about 10 to 30 minutes, infusing the lavender into it. If you don’t want a floating mess of petals, you may put the petals in a cheesecloth or mesh beforehand.

Allow the water to cool to a temperature according to your preference.

Lavender Botanical Water

Distilled lavender water is one that you can keep in the fridge and whip up when needed. You can use this for personal grooming, cleansing, hair rinse or perfume anytime.

Bring 1 liter of water to a boil. Place 2 cups of fresh (or dried) lavender in a heat-proof bowl and pour the boiling water over it. Cover the bowl and let it infuse overnight. Strain the infusion into a clean bottle and keep it in the fridge where it will last for a couple of weeks.

Lavender Essential Oil Bath Soak

If you don’t have access to fresh or dried lavender flowers, you can still concoct your refreshing bath with lavender essential oil. Add about 6 to 8 drops of lavender essential oil to a bathtub of water and agitate the water to mix them well.

The easiest way to thoroughly scatter the oil in water is to add it to a cup of Epsom salt before dumping the salt in the bath water. Epsom salt boosts the effect of lavender and helps aid in body aches and joint stiffness.

Relax in the bath for as long as you want to get the mental boost and relaxation that you need.

Takeaway

Lavender is a prized ornamental and tonic herb for its sweet scent and its myriad of medicinal benefits. It is particularly used in aromatherapy as an incense stick or essential oil for relaxation and sleep. It works on the regions of the brain to reduce stress and reverse bad moods. Lavender is also beneficial in cosmetics for its valued skin health benefits.

You can use lavender alone or with other aromatic herbs to complement its aroma and boost its healing effect.

There are plenty of reasons to use lavender baths in boosting your overall health and optimism. But its topical use may sometimes cause allergic reactions in people sensitive to the lavender family. So before using, do a test patch on a small area of the sensitive part of the skin to be sure.

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