In this final post by Lane Therrell, she explores how to use essential oils safely to support your health by tuning out the hype and accessing real-world information.
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If you’ve been following my series of
articles on essential oils (EOs) in trauma treatment on this blog site, you’re
likely already integrating EOs into your treatment plan. While I hope you are
having good results and enjoying the process, I wouldn’t be doing my job as a
nurse and EO enthusiast if I didn’t say a few words about safety and best use
practices for EOs.
This article is all about how you can
use EOs safely to support your health by getting past the marketing hype and
accessing the real-world information. I’ll set the stage for your better
understanding by providing some background on the EO industry and some context
about where EOs fit in healthcare. My goal is to empower and inspire you to become
a savvy EO consumer and a safe EO user.
To
be a savvy consumer of EOs, it helps to know how the growing EO industry and
the modern medical paradigm influence the prevalent marketing messages about
EOs that circulate on the Internet.
Current
Growth of EO Industry
The EO industry worldwide has been
growing quickly for more than two decades, and some sources predict the global
EO market will reach $13.94 billion by 2024.
Many consumer goods, including personal care items,
cosmetics, home care and cleaning supplies, foods and beverages, pest control, and
more, use EOs as flavor and fragrance ingredients and as part of their
production processes. Aromatherapy is a fast-growing growing segment of the over-all
EO market, and consumer demand for high-quality natural produces is expected to
continue growing.
Quality Considerations
Savvy EO
consumers keep two major factors in mind when assessing the quality of EOs for
direct personal use: 1) natural EOs are produced from living plants; 2)
commercially produced EOs are subject to adulteration.
The fact
that EOs come from plants means there is a high variability from crop to crop,
year to year. Myriad factors are involved in growing plants and producing EOs.
Everything from the seeds, to the soil, to the water, air, and other growing
conditions, as well as harvesting and production procedures, all have an
influence on the quality of the oil that is ultimately produced. Growers of
plants harvested for EOs must consider and control for numerous environmental
factors in much the same way that vintners talk about “good years” and ‘bad
years” for wine.
A second
quality consideration for EO consumers is known as adulteration. It’s common
practice in the EO industry to adulterate, cut, or extend, a batch of pure EO with
other substances for manufacturing purposes. These adulterated compounds are
less expensive than the pure EO, the process of adulteration also helps to
standardize, or compensate, for the baseline variability of the plant material.
This helps manufacturers, like perfumers, for example, produce a consistent
product over time.
Consumers choosing EOs for direct
therapeutic application must avoid adulterated EOs because the impurities make
adulterated products unlikely to have the intended therapeutic effect. Also,
depending on how the EO was adulterated, it may have a toxic or harmful effect.
As a general rule, inexpensive EOs are
likely to be adulterated.
However, savvy consumers are also aware
that an expensive price-tag alone is no guarantee that the product in the
bottle is pure. When shopping for a
pure, natural EO, investigate the reputation of the brand and check for the
Latin name of the plant on the label. Choose oils that are packaged in dark
glass bottles and do not leave an oily residue on fingers or paper. And of
course, a pure EO will not have an artificial or alcoholic aroma.
Medical Paradigms and EOs
Simply stated, the use of EOs falls outside the prevailing modern
medical paradigm, or way of thinking, about human health. The biomedical model
is described as reductionistic, exclusionary, and even fear-based. While the
biomedical model supports acute care extremely well, it does not adequately
support the treatment of chronic illnesses which are a growing concern and
account for more than 75% percent of today’s healthcare costs.
The paradigm change in medicine to accommodate the need for better,
more comprehensive, chronic care is not yet complete, but the process has opened
the door for public interest in complementary, integrative, healing techniques
such as EOs.
Since
EOs and other modalities that fall under the classification of “natural
healing” or “health and wellness” are part of a different paradigm than that upon
which mainstream healthcare is based, your physicians and other healthcare
providers are unlikely to be educated about them. This speaks to the importance
of finding experts and resources you can trust to provide you with credible
information as the need arises.
If you choose to think about your health differently, you don’t get to abnegate
good judgment or common sense or wear a tinfoil hat. As a matter of fact, your
responsibility for your own health increases when you explore topics on which your
physician is not educated. No matter what paradigm informs your thoughts,
actions and decisions, you still need to use logic and common sense and the
scientific method to make decisions that are right for you.
Influences on EO Marketing Messages:
Context Has Consequences
The rapid rise in popularity of EOs and the
non-mainstream nature of their use for health improvement puts EO marketers
under scrutiny from government industry regulators. The Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) monitors the language used online for promoting and
marketing EOs and stipulates that no public medical claims can be made about
EOs. Broadly interpreted, the mandate also curtails discussions of the specific
chemical compounds and their biological effects, which are central to the
efficacy of EOs.
While
this may sound like an effective form of consumer protection, it results in
marketing and teaching materials about the action and efficacy of EOs that are
vague and non-specific. For example, instead of saying “This oil can
prevent colds and flu,” an EO marketer who wishes to remain in compliance with
the FDA should say, instead, “this oil supports your immune system.”
This
kind of obscurity can make it difficult for those who are new to EOs to
understand how they work, specifically, and how they differ from one another. As
public interest in EOs continues to grow the need for education will increase, and
these limits on public discourse about EOs will continue to perpetuate misinformation,
misunderstanding, and even misuse of the products.
How
is a person with little scientific or medical background and a lot of interest in
EOs supposed to sift through it all and use EOs safely? That very question is part of why
I’m so passionate about helping you to claim ownership of your EO knowledge,
encouraging you to network with EO experts you trust, and steering you toward
reliable resources so you can do your own research.
Tips
for Safe and Sane EO Use
Here are some of my personal favorite
best practices for safe and sane EO use. These tips are from my personal and
professional experience, and are some of the things I wish someone had told me
early on my journey to integrating EOs into my life. I’ve included some sources
and resources at the end of the article that you may find useful.
Use only top-quality
EOs. Find a brand (or brands) you trust, and stick with them. Quality oils
require an investment, so I encourage you to shop around for the best prices. And you if you ever catch yourself saying, or
thinking, “I can get this oil so much cheaper at the drug store,” please review
the section on quality above.
Less is more.
Essential oils are highly concentrated substances. A little goes a long way.
Even if you use EOs in your life daily, you don’t need to use the same oils
constantly. Start with the smallest
amount of EO that produces the intended effect. And remember that even normally
non-toxic substances can have toxic effects if you use too much too often. While a healthy enthusiasm for EOs is fun and
brings joy to your life in many ways, if you find yourself admitting to a
friend, “I diffuse my oils constantly,” it might be time to take a step back
and re-valuate your practices. In general, you don’t want it to diffuse EOs for
longer than 8 hours at time in a small room.
Dilute EOs
with carrier oils, not water. EOs are fat soluble, so if you put a sample
on your skin, and it tingles unpleasantly or turns red, attempting to wash it
off with water can make the reaction worse, not better. Use a “carrier oil,”
such as olive oil, coconut oil, almond oil, jojoba oil, or another fatty oil to
dilute the EO.
Test
first, then apply. And speaking of skin reactions… get in the habit of
performing a patch
test before applying a new oil topically over a large area. Learn to recognize
allergies/adverse reactions, and be aware that while our bodies usually embrace
and assimilate EOs readily as natural products, some people can have reactions
and sensitivities. If you’re ever in doubt about whether an EO is causing
an adverse reaction, stop using your EO. Consult with your physician and
contact an EO expert.
Citrus
oils can be sun sensitizing. When applying citrus oils topically, be aware
that they can increase the sun-sensitivity of your skin. This applies to blends
containing citrus oils as well as single oils.
Be alert
for drug-EO interactions. Some medications just don’t mix with EOs. If the
body metabolizes the oil using the same pathway as the medication, the effect
of your medication could be increased, decreased, or even blocked. So, it pays
to be careful if you’re taking prescription medication and using EOs at the
same time. More research needs to be done in this area, and the research that
has been done so far is not set in stone. As a nurse, I personally like to promote
caution. A well-referenced list of potentially inadvisable drug-EO combinations
is available here.
Just
because an EO works for you doesn’t mean it will work the same way for others.
Every individual is different, and can respond differently to the same oil.
While lavender has a relaxing effect on most people, some people experience
just the opposite. And, if you catch yourself thinking, “If it’s good enough
for me, it’s good enough for Fido and the kids, too,” stop and do some
research. Not all EOs that are safe for pets. And remember that your kids’
bodies are smaller than yours, so you’ll want to use smaller amounts of EOs
with them, and, use a carrier oil to dilute the EO. And, store your EOs out of
reach of children and pets so they don’t accidentally drink or spill them.
Pregnant?
Proceed with caution. It’ not true that you can’t use EOs at all during
pregnancy, but there are some EOs you should avoid; EOs that stimulate the
nervous system, mimic estrogen, or otherwise affect hormones should be avoided.
Remember that using topically or internally is different from diffusing.
Cultivate
the right mindset for EO use. Operating within a different paradigm demands
a different way of thinking. A natural wellness paradigm demands that you see the
health of your body, mind and spirit as a set of interconnected systems. When
you take responsibility for your health, you agree to have an open mind, you
agree to give whatever you try enough time to work, and you agree to keep
records to track your results.
Have
realistic expectations. The EOs act as a catalyst for change and they are
pure natural substances so they bridge the gaps between body mind and spirit
and achieve results in very different ways than targeted pharmaceuticals are
designed to do. You don’t benefit from an all or nothing approach; you do
benefit from integration. You must be willing take responsibility for your own
healing. You must cultivate awareness of your own body, mind, and spirit. Body
awareness is necessary to cultivate. There is a difference between cure,
healing, and quality of life. Your oils are add-ons to your treatments, not
substitutes for treatment.
Consider
your sources. Information is cheap, and there is a lot of misleading or
inaccurate information about EOs on the Internet. If you ever catch yourself
saying, “I got this on the internet so it must be true,” think again. There’s a
difference between reliable sources and marketing hype. Your path to knowledge is your own. Trust your instincts. Always
ask your questions. Keep asking until you are satisfied. Remain skeptical. Look
for your sources’ credentials, training, and background. Find your favorite go-to resources, and stick with them.
Set boundaries
and systematize to build confidence. The vast amount of information
available on EOs can seem overwhelming and even intimidating at first. If you catch yourself feeling ready to
give up, or saying or thinking, “I need to know everything about these oils in
order to use them safely,” I invite you to take imperfect action. You don’t
need to know everything to get started with EOs and use them safely. Just pick
5 oils you’re interested in (go with 3 if 5 seems like too many), and get to
know them like friends—learn about the plants they come from, their chemical
constituents, the best ways to use them, whatever interests you. As you explore
the information on these oils, develop a system you can repeat for learning and
discovering the information—what method worked best for you, what resources
provided information quickest, etc.
Have fun
exploring EOs for better health. When I first got introduced to EOs, it was an
exhilarating experience to read about a new EO and then try it out. Almost two
decades later, I still feel like a kid in a candy store when I get a new EO
book or experience a new oil blend. If you’ve tried EOs, and they’re not fun
and interesting for you, that’s OK, maybe they’re not for you. Let it go. You
can always come back to it later.
EOs offer an unparalleled opportunity to
take ownership of your personal wellness. They can be a powerful tool for
empowering your best health, including trauma recovery. Not only are they
effective, they are pleasant, portable, and even fun. But, like any tool, they
require proper and skillful use and management if you want to achieve the
desired results.
By being a savvy consumer of EOs and observing best practices for their
safe use, EOs can support your efforts to end the emotional roller coaster,
-escape the pain of the past, take charge of your brain, feel less triggered
and more in control, imagine the future you’ve always wanted. EOs may not be
for everyone, all the time, but they are most CERTAINLY worth a try. When you
use EOs with respect and awareness, you can enjoy their benefits long-term in
your treatment plans and in your life.
An Invitation:
I hope you have enjoyed this series about EOs. If you’ve determined
that they are for you and you want to know more, I cordially invite you to
participate in my essential oil study group. In the group, we’ll discuss some
of the specific safe and sane ways enjoy EOs and you’ll have a chance to get to
know other avid oilers as well. Sign up via my web site www.BestHealthInterest.com
Questions for comment: What
did you wish someone had told you before you started using EOs? What do you
enjoy most about EOs? What did you learn about EOs from this article?
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Sources and resources:
Are Essential Oils Safe?
Aromatherapy Resources
Beware: Adulteration of Essential Oils, Part I
Essential Oils and the “Detox” Theory
Essential Oil Market Size To Reach $13.94 Billion By
2024
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-essential-oil-market
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/press-release/global-essential-oil-market
How Do Essential Oils Work?
How To Use Essential Oils Safely
Medicine’s Paradigm Shift: An Opportunity for Psychology
Paradigms in Medicine: Consequences for Medical Education
Pharmaceutical Drug Interactions or Contraindications
Robert Tisserand’s Recommended Reading
Safely Using Essential Oils With Pets
The 6 Principles of Naturopathic Medicine
The Paradigm Shift in Medicine and Science
Using Essential Oils Safely During Pregnancy & Breastfeeding
