Oh, the beauty of spring with all its blooms! But with the beauty, we also have to deal with the itchy, watery eyes, sneezing and stuffy nose, headaches, and rashes! Did you know that essential oils can be used with success as an alternative and/or complementary treatment for these symptoms?
Let me start out with my three favorite stand-bys: Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint.
The synergy (where the interaction of two or more substances combined have better effects than the oil alone) of these oils help with most allergy symptoms. Lemon boosts alertness and gives you energy as well as helping reduce congestion. Lavender, known as the calming essential oil, does just that. It calms the inflammation process as well as the enlargement of mucous cells. Peppermint, also known to calm inflammation will help with congestion as well as headaches.
The way I prefer to use these together is in a diffuser with distilled water. You can get relief by using it in a carrier oil such as olive or almond oil and rub on the tips of toes on both feet. Can you ingest? Well, there’s a lot of debate on this topic. One being check with medicine reactions and a naturopathic or medical doctor. I have found them safe to use by putting one drop each in a cup of clean water or putting them in a vegetable capsule. I also would use only an organic brand of essential oil that you know how they source their oils.
Let’s also take a look at Eucalyptus. There are many different types such as E. smithii, E. globulus, E. radiata, and E. citriodora. The one I am referring to in this article is E. globulus. This is wonderful for stuffy noses and best diffused but not if you’re pregnant or under the age of 5 as well as if you have a seizure disorder as it can increase seizures. A fast way to open up your sinuses is adding a drop or two to a washcloth and drop in the bottom of the shower; so that while you’re showering it will work with the warm water.
If you are dealing with itchy rashes, try Lavender with coconut oil. Another one I truly love is a blend of Frankincense with Roman Chamomile in coconut oil to decrease the inflammation of the rash.
One very important step to take that doesn’t include essential oils would be to rinse your nose out with a nettie pot (1 cup of clean warm water with 1 tsp of pink sea salt) at least twice a day. Rinse off in the shower once you have been outside and wipe those fur babies off with a damp cloth to get rid of pollen.
Happy Spring and Naturally Yours,
Sheila McGinnis
*Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash
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