My tween daughter had some growing pains lately. It became very uncomfortable.

Her mobility was poor and it resulted in very tight tendons and muscles.

Here’s my eldest daughter 10 months ago. She’s 12.5 years old.

I’ve been using essential oils on her since January.

We first became concerned about her a year or so ago. She walked on her toes and said her feet and legs hurt. She was unable to place her heels on the floor.

I got her new shoes, in the correct size. She hadn’t told me for several months that her boots were too small. She loved those boots that much. I felt like a bad mom.

It didn’t completely help the problem.

So, we took her to the doctor. And another. And then a specialist.

Some doctors said she needed surgery on her legs.

Her tendons were too tight. She had hammer toes. Her spinal column was too short. Her ankles were weak. She needed pins in her ankles to straighten and strengthen.

They all said different, scary things, but they all wanted surgery.

What we did instead of surgery:

We bought her yet another pair of shoes – expensive, super stiff-soled walking shoes with rigid ankle brace inserts.

We did yoga. Pi-yo. The whole family encouraged, helped, participated. All the other kids wanted to do stretches too. It was great.

She wasn’t very successful at running track last season because she was almost in tears after practices and therefore didn’t do well in the races. She was in constant pain.

So we went the physical therapy route for a while, last spring and summer. It helped some. They ended our sessions with the comment that she wasn’t progressing because she feared pain, even though she wasn’t experiencing it any more. They had done all they could for her.

It seemed strange that she could run barefoot through the yard just fine.

I think she was improving, but when she thought about it, that fear of pain came back. When she didn’t think, she walked and ran fine.

We let it drop for a while since she wasn’t complaining of pain.

Absence of pain isn’t always the best answer.

Then, I noticed that she seemed to be getting worse again, instead of better. She still walked up on her tippy toes and cried that it hurt to place her feet flat on the floor.

I still remind her nightly to do her stretches, assigned to her by the PT. We do yoga most mornings and more stretches. I encouraged her to walk barefoot in the house and yard, reminding her that it’s heel to toe, and even to stomp, if it helps.

A real miracle at work has been the essential oils. I massage her legs and spine with the oils. We begin and end with a wonderful essential oil blend (it’s been called “chiropractor in a bottle”). It’s supposed to help her body naturally realign the spine and nerves. Basil, Wintergreen, Cypress, Marjoram, Oregano, Peppermint, Thyme, and a few other oils and blends are helping manage her leg pain.

And I pray over her.

Every night. Every morning. Multiple times per day. For physical as well as spiritual and mental healing.

When it became possible in our budget, my husband took her to his chiropractor. He also uses essential oils in his practice and is very into natural methods.

The chiropractor “turned on” all her core muscles. They were all nonfunctioning! That certainly was much of the problem. Only five sessions were needed to get everything working properly. He affirmed that she should continue to do the stretches prescribed by her PT. Now I know she’s really on the road to recovery.

And she is now in Civil Air Patrol – with all the marching and standing at attention, it’s all coming together and her posture is much improved. She passed both her physical training tests last month, running 1.5 miles well under the necessary time, along with many sit ups and push ups.

No pain. The combat boots help her stand straight with her heels down. And the good peer pressure to conform to the squadron helps her to try harder to stand at attention well.

Here she is on Easter morning. Her posture is so much better than it was!

I am so thankful that surgery wasn’t necessary.

I just felt in my heart that we should look to alternative medicine to heal and her growing body would adjust itself with time and therapy.

We’re still praying. Still doing stretches, still monitoring and still massaging with essential oils.

Still encouraging her and thanking God that there’s been no need for surgery.