Frankincense and myrrh: ancient resins, modern pain research

4 minute read · Drakensberg Cannabis Journal

Their names carry centuries of history. Their chemistry is giving contemporary researchers fresh questions about comfort, movement and inflammation.

A fragment of resin is easy to underestimate. It looks still and solid, a small amber or brown piece of a much larger tree. Warm it, prepare it or extract it, and a different character emerges. Resins are concentrated botanical materials with distinctive aromatic and chemical identities.

Frankincense and myrrh are often discussed together, but they come from different plant groups and have their own research stories. For us, their interest extends beyond the scent they bring to an oil. They invite a closer look at how long-valued botanicals are being investigated today.

Frankincense enters the joint-health conversation

Frankincense comes from Boswellia species. An important area of study concerns boswellic-acid-rich extracts taken orally for knee osteoarthritis.

A 2024 double-blind, placebo-controlled trial randomised 105 participants to two strengths of a standardised Boswellia serrata extract or placebo for 90 days. Researchers reported improvements in pain, function and walking performance, with some pain changes appearing by day five. By day 90, total WOMAC symptom scores had improved by about 69% and 74% from baseline in the extract groups, compared with 22% in the placebo group. Read the full study.

Those percentages describe changes within groups, not a 74% advantage over placebo. The trial had ties to the extract’s manufacturer. Even with those qualifications, it offers an interesting clinical signal: an ancient resin is being tested against practical outcomes such as walking and everyday joint function.

The important distinction for a massage oil

Boswellic acids and the volatile aromatic fraction are not the same thing. An oral standardised resin extract is therefore a different preparation from frankincense essential oil in a massage blend. The osteoarthritis trial cannot be used as a clinical test of our massage oil.

This distinction makes the botanical more interesting. A single tree-derived material can lead to quite different preparations, each with its own sensory character and research questions.

For someone living with joint pain, a useful result is often measured in ordinary moments: walking, dressing or moving with greater ease.

Myrrh has a different chemical signature

Myrrh comes from Commiphora species. A 2017 pilot study investigated a standardised oral Commiphora myrrha extract in 184 volunteers with several types of pain. The researchers reported pain-alleviation signals that varied by the amount used and the participant group. Its mixed conditions, short duration and exploratory scoring approach make it an early clinical lead, rather than a definitive comparison with standard pain treatment. The MyrLiq study describes the extract and its furanodiene-related constituents.

It is useful to know that this work exists. Myrrh is too often reduced either to an ancient anecdote or to a fragrance note. Investigating the material’s chemistry gives a third route: specific experiments that can guide more focused research.

Making space for the sensory experience

A massage oil has another dimension: time set aside, the glide of an oil, the experience of touch and an aroma that changes the character of a room. These are part of why people value botanical preparations. They should be described in their own right, rather than borrowing a clinical result from a different route of use.

Our massage-oil ingredient list combines CBD, myrrh and frankincense with grapeseed and cold-pressed olive oils. It reflects our interest in bringing selected plant materials into a considered, locally made preparation. We do not present the studies above as trials of that formula.

The wider story is encouraging. Traditional materials are not confined to the past. With the right questions, they can become part of an active scientific discussion about how people might find relief and maintain mobility.