Boiling Chicken Broth Damaged My Hand

Note: Not all essential oil brands are the same, and you get what you pay for. If you expect to achieve results similar to those described in this testimonial, then ensure that you are using oils from pesticide-free plants. Also, the brand should use 100% pure, high-quality essential oils that do not contain any synthetic additives. Do your own research or ask a trusted friend to find a brand that is reputable. Buyer beware.

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The broth had been simmering for 45 minutes, cooking the chicken. I had added some olive oil already. I was beginning the process of pulling off some of the broth and putting it into a half-gallon mason jar.

I had the jar in my left hand over the boiling pot of broth, I took my ladle and got my first load of steaming goodness, lifted it over the jar and promptly missed the jar and poured that boiling chicken broth over the back of my left hand.

I am a Massage Therapist and for an instant I was mortified because I envisioned months of painful recovery time. I held firm the jar so that I didn't add lacerations to my foot or boiling broth to my face by dropping it. I put the jar very carefully on the counter across the kitchen and rinsed the burn with cool water and a dash of soap. By now it was hurting at about a level of 22 on the pain scale of 1 - 10!

I immediately remembered the story of how Aromatherapy got it's beginnings, with a scientist burning his hand in the lab and sticking it in a vat of Lavender Essential Oil. So I got my bottle of Lavender and put drops everywhere it was hurting. From the web of my thumb to 3 inches up my forearm. It was about 5 drops.

It stopped the pain for about 10 seconds. So I repeated the application every time it began hurting again for the next two hours. By that time, the pain was removed for up to 10 minutes and I was able to apply only three drops over the area. I repeated this for the next two hours, then I went to bed.

When I woke the next morning it was burning still at a level of about 11 on the pain scale. So I grabbed the Lavender and applied three drops to the area. I noticed that the skin was pink all over the area, but no blisters had formed, and the skin was smooth and there was no visible swelling.

In about three hours, the pain had reduced to an intense sunburn type stinging on the inside whenever I needed to reapply the Lavender oil and that was happening about every hour now. However, all morning my thumb joint felt like it was separated and popped several times. So I knew even though I didn't see any swelling on the outside, there was damage on the inside.

By the end of the day, my thumb joint over to about mid-hand and down about three inches of the forearm began aching like the muscles were overworked. The stinging continued to be my signal that I needed to apply the Lavender, but between those applications I began to apply the Valor oil blend (just two drops) to the area to begin rebuilding the muscle and repair the nerves.

I continued this over the next week and I was able to apply only three times a day.

On the first day of the second week, I tried giving a one hour massage. Even though I protected my thumb joint as best I could, it was hurting like I had the joint had dislocated. So I continued working only giving Raindrop Techniques and NO massages.

At the end of that week, the thumb joint had a slight nerve burning around it and the muscles were hurting at about a 7. So I called my chiropractor and she applied Laser Therapy to the entire injured area. That was on a Friday, and over the weekend the joint felt good with minimal pain. I went in again on Monday for another treatment and on Monday evening resumed massaging clients.

My skin had regenerated and kept in perfect condition with the Lavender oil, but the tissues within sustained damage. So it was a bit like having major surgery laparoscopically.

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Additional keyword(s) assigned by the editor: accident, burned, burns, burnt, muscle damage, nerve damage, scald, scalded, scalding.