I had the thought to post this as I was amping up my essential oils usage today. I realized that I had a major challenge on my hands in March of 2011 when I made the connection with medications having corn derivatives (as well as wheat, dairy and soy derivatives, all of which my daughter is allergic to) in them.
At the time, she was on several prescription medications for various things. After I had the lightbulb moment, I had the strongest feeling that we needed to get her off of them NOW. All of a sudden it made so much sense as to why nothing had worked for ridding her of pain (for a long time it was migraine-type pain that never went away, no matter what we did. We bounced around from doctor to doctor, trying medication after medication. I'm not trash talking modern medicine in stating this; it's just that we were barking up the wrong tree and no one made the possible food allergy connection for several years.)--the very medications that were supposed to help reduce or eliminate pain contained ingredients that due to her allergic reactions, caused her pain. So we were adding to the problem, not fixing it. And I found myself backed into a corner where I literally could not give her medication if she got sick. There are some medications that can be compounded, but not all can be. Out of necessity, I HAD to learn other methods of treatment.
At this point I knew pretty much nothing about natural remedies. One day as I was pondering what to do and felt worried about the direction I felt insurance was going to go in the not-too-distant future, I had some distinct words come to my mind, some of which were, "Learn how to treat illnesses at home." This doesn't mean that I am anti-doctor; we have a wonderful one who we use now, but I'm so thankful that that's not my first line of defense anymore. I never knew up to that point that there was so much you can do on your own to treat symptoms without over-the-counter medicines and prescriptions, and that is what we do first now. I feel like I have a really good sense now of when it's truly out of my hands and I need something more.
Shortly after having those words come to me, I got a nudge to learn about essential oils from a friend who lives near me. I ended up having the opportunity to attend a 12-hour weekend workshop she taught where I learned so much. Since starting to use them over two years ago, I have literally not been to a doctor for illness. The few times I have felt myself starting to get a bug, I have nipped it in the bud and been fine 24 hours later. It's the coolest thing. Last year was a particularly nasty year for flu and weird strains of it around where I live and a lot of people were dealing with it for long periods of time. I realized with a jolt one day that our family hadn't caught the flu at all. I was thankful for this because we had more than enough going on already, but it was such a testament to me that essential oils really work.
I've also slowly learned about herbs; this is an area that really appeals to Brittany--she loves learning about them. It's so cool to learn what they do and how to use them. I still have TONS to learn, but we have come up with a few staples that we keep on hand. I also love learning about home remedies. Below I'm listing a few standby oils that I use the most and what for. This is really just scratching the surface, so I encourage you to learn as much as you can. You can really move to a place of feeling empowered, which is an awesome contrast to how overwhelmed and helpless I felt as the "can't use this" pile got bigger and bigger.
ESSENTIAL OILS
*French Intensive Method: This is the method I use anytime I am initially treating illness, pain or injury symptoms with oils. For the first hour, you apply the oil to the needed area(s) every 15 minutes. For the second hour, apply every 30 minutes. For the remaining four hours, apply once every hour. After that, apply as needed to relieve symptoms. It's amazing how quickly and effectively this works.
If I were going to choose four essential oils to absolutely always have on hand they would be tea tree (sometimes labelled as melaleuca), peppermint, ravensara and lavender. For the purposes of this post as it relates to treating common illnesses, I'll address the first three and talk about lavender in another post. You can get a lot of information through google searching on the uses, but here are a few basic things I use them for: (NOTE: All three of these can be harsh on the skin, so you may want to use a carrier oil with it. I generally use pure jojoba oil or extra virgin coconut oil (you can also get it as fractionated oil so that it stays in liquid form and has no fragrance) as a carrier, but there are others you can use such as grapeseed and avocado oil. I personally wouldn't do almond because it has a very distinctive smell and I wouldn't want that to mix with the fragrances of the essential oils. To use a carrier oil, put about a teaspoon in the palm of your cupped hand, then add a couple of drops of essential oil to it. Rotate your hand gently to mix, then gently rub hands together and apply to needed area. In addition to the skin sensitivity issue, using a carrier oil is a particularly a good idea if you need to spread the oil over a larger area.
Tea Tree: Tea tree oil feeds off infection. It LOVES it. It also tackles viruses like nobody's business. As soon as you feel that first tickle in your throat, reach for it. The brand I use is food grade and 100% pure with a high potency level, so you can actually put a drop on your tongue, swish it around in your saliva and then swallow (I would not recommend ingesting oils that are commonly found in stores and will not do that myself). I've done that "at first tickle," gone to bed and been absolutely symptom free when waking up the next morning. I also use foot reflexology charts to see where the various areas of the body correspond on the feet, and apply the oil directly to that part of my feet. It's crazy how quickly that works; you can literally feel it within seconds (the bottoms of the feet are the fastest receptors to the rest of the body). If you feel you are starting to get a sore throat, you can apply a drop or two on the sides of the throat and in front at the base (top of your chest).
I have also successfully treated ear infections on myself using tea tree oil, colloidal silver, and a heating pad. Put a drop of the oil on your finger and run it around the base of your ear on the outside (never put the oil inside of your ear), tracing it down the eustacian tubes down the side of your throat. Lie down with affected area on heating pad. I use colloidal silver in the amount recommended by the company twice per day for 10 days, just as you would for a prescription antibiotic (colloidal silver is a natural antibiotic).
Another cool thing I did with tea tree oil was to eliminate the need for surgery to have tubes put in my ears to drain them. This is a big deal for me, because from the time I was a small child I have had trouble with having fluid in my ears. My parents didn't know what was going on until I was in first grade, but by the time I was three or four my father figured out that I was lipreading. I got tubes put in for the first time in first grade, then had them again the summer after ninth grade. I needed them again about twelve years after that when my kids were small. I realized for a couple of years before discovering oils that it was that time again because I was turning volumes up on the television and radio, saying "What?" all the time and actually found myself defaulting to lipreading again. Isn't it crazy how your system just reverts to something like that? No conscious decision; just closely watching people's mouths while they talked to get clarity. I had the thought to try and treat it myself with tea tree oil and did the same thing I did for ear infection, minus the colloidal silver. I also applied the oil to corresponding areas on my feet. I had cleaned my diet up quite a bit after having testing done and identifying sensitivities, as well. Within less than two weeks of applying the oils regularly and using the heating pad every night when I went to bed (rotating which side I laid on to take care of both ears), my ears were clear. All of a sudden I was hearing background music at work that I hadn't even known was on and could understand the words. Totally the coolest thing EVER!
Tea tree smells and tastes pretty nasty, but it's totally worth it in my book. One thing that sucked early on, though, was that Brittany's body reacted to it and it was frustrating to know that I couldn't use something for her that has so much possible benefit. Now that her sensitivity levels are lower she uses it topically.
*Peppermint: This is another oil that is so versatile, and this is the first one that I tried using. I kept it on hand and used it all the time for about a year before learning more and doing the workshop. Initially my friend had passed me some when she noticed I had stuffy sinuses and it was crazy how fast they cleared up when I put less than a drop at the base of each nostril; I barely touched my skin. I made the mistake of using my index finger, which she told me NOT to do, and then later rubbed my eyes. Yeah. Not a pretty sight. You always want to use your pinky or ring fingers when applying oils, since you are less likely to touch your eyes, etc. with them afterward.
Peppermint is also so great for easing headache pain, tired legs, etc. It has a relaxing effect. If I use it on my legs I use a carrier oil with a few drops, rub my hands together and then rub it into my legs.
I use peppermint oil a LOT on my feet when I'm treating sinuses (something I deal with a lot even if I'm not sick because of allergies). The pads of all your smaller toes are receptors to the sinuses, so I apply there. You can also apply to your chest for congestion, as well as to the bottoms of your big toes since they are the receptors to the chest.
*Peppermint is NOT recommended for young children. Use spearmint instead, which will have the same benefit but be much safer.
Ravensara: I was so glad I had this on hand last year when Brittany had some episodes where she had a really hard time breathing. Whether it's congestion or inability to breathe deeply, this oil is fantastic for opening up those airways. I used a couple of drops with a carrier oil and applied over her entire chest; also applied to her back. She felt the benefit very quickly. This is also safe to use on babies, but rub into the bottoms of their feet. Since they're so tiny you really just need a drop rubbed between your hands and then rub their feet.
I'll address the herbal/home remedies in a post tomorrow. I hope you find the information I've shared here helpful (and coherent; I know I shared a lot and I typed this up pretty late at night)!
