Black Pepper Oil and Circulation

First, a personal anecdote.  Years ago, when Nature's Gift was just me, I had an order for two small bottles of Black Pepper Essential Oil.  I was working in the back room/work room, pipetting the oils into the 5 or 15 ml bottles, sealing, labeling, etc.   When the task was finished, I came back into the family room and was told "You're running a fever!"  "No I'm not, don't be silly!"  "Well, go look in the mirror...you're all flushed."

And I was.


That was my first experience with the circulatory effects of Black Pepper Essential Oil. I later learned that Black Pepper is a capillary expander, thus increasing circulation in the extremities, and, indirectly, lowering blood pressure. (More blood in the extremities = slightly less in the heart, I'm told.)   I know that inhaling Black Pepper eo on a tissue or in an inhaler can warm up frigid fingers and toes.   I had been told that inhaling the essential oil would make it easier for a technician to draw blood.  I keep meaning to test this one out, since I have very difficult veins... they are hard to see, and they roll. No fun for the nurse or technician, and definitely no fun for me!

During Dr. Jane Buckle's presentation at the recent AIA conference, she discussed a case study done in a phlebotomy lab, with patients with a history of problems accessing their veins.

A 20% Piper Nigrum dilution was used, applied to the skin 10 minutes prior the the attempt to draw blood.   

There were three different "grades of difficulty" used to evaluate the patients:

• No vein visible or palpable
  
• Vein visible but not palpable
  
• Vein visible and palpable.

It was a small study, only 10 participants, but of the 10,  2 went from no vein visible to vein fully visible and palpable, while 8 went from "vein visible but not palpable."  

Now this is a much stronger dilution of Black Pepper than we normally suggest using, but it would be applied only to the area where the blood will be drawn.  I would love to see a follow up study using either an inhaler, or a lower dilution.  I'm also thinking that if I am ever again hospitalized, I hope I have a roller bottle of diluted Black Pepper with me!

At any rate, if you, like me, have "bad veins" this might save you a lot of pain and frustration.