let's talk about essential oils

[feelsunshine]

Hello to this lovely community!

I haven't been active here on the board since there was a lot of stuff going on in real life.  

I discovered and fell in love with essential oils <3
Well. Essential Oils are basically as old as mankind. But except for using eucalyptus when I have a stuffed nose, I basically never knew how much more  stuff you can do with it. That goes from perfume-like use, over breathing it in to calm down or to get more focused when tired... help balancing emotions... and a lot of useful ideas around the house for cleaning purposes.. There are even oils brands that are allowed to be swallowed. So having a few drops of lemon oil in your water gives it a nice refreshment. My overall game changer was an oil that contains all good things for stomach and digestion. It helped me so much. The great thing about the oils is, that they are plant-based, no chemical additives to it.

So, anyone else here who has discovered essential oils and uses them?
I hope it's OK to talk about brand-names, I'm using doTERRA. Which brand do you use?


oh and by the way - in order to get back to the main topic why we are here.. . if a nice, good looking, single, 40ish year old Para from Germany reads this: I'm here. You found me 


Have a great day everyone!!! <3

[ichbin]

I know the brand and used it a lot for my son also. I looove the smells!

I also learned the essential oil-massage with this brand.

[myrrh]

I used to be a lab rat for a major producer and distributor. That's where my display name came from, it was one of my favorite scents! Essential oils are in many/most of our foods and cosmetics. People often think that because they come from plants, they're automatically healthier or less toxic than synthetic substances, but it's important to remember they're all chemicals and should be handled with care. Many are generally recognized as safe, and some are produced in food-grade facilities and are suitable for ingestion. I know everybody here probably knows that, but I used to get some really concerning emails from people asking if it was ok to eat all sorts of stuff.

All that to say, I looove to add drops of peppermint oil to my water and coffee, and keep eucalyptus and orange around for cleaning. I also keep several vials as keepsakes, small-batch experiments distilled from random trees or botanicals. One time, I brought in some flowers from a lovely bush in my yard and tried to distil them.... Unfortunately, the only compounds that survived extraction smelled like a really dirty foot.

[feelsunshine]

myrrh peppermint in coffe. That reminds me… a friend tried that, too and loves it.
I forgot to try it but now its back in my mind.

[lookingfor]

MLM's,like DoTerra, are predatory and problematic. This absolutely sounds like a sales pitch and I really hope it's not.

Here's some info on the safety of essential oils. They can be harmful, especially to children, pets,and even adults.

Essential oils should not be used on or around babies, toddlers, children in any situation, and even some adults.

The oils can potentially poison children through ingestion or excessive application to the skin. They can cause skin rashes if a child ingests them. Essential oil can get in their lungs and cause pneumonia. Essential oils can also potentially cause hallucinations and even seizures.

Other toxic effects include painless chemical burns, hypo-tension, acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute liver failure, severe metabolic acidosis, and cerebral edema depending on which essential oil is in question.

skeptoid.com/blog/2013/02/02/essential-oils-a-perfect-example-of-alternative-medicine-exaggeration/

www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductsIngredients/Products/ucm127054.htm

sciencebasedmedicine.org/doterra-multilevel-marketing-of-essential-oils/#more-24253

www.fda.gov/ICECI/
EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2014/ucm415809.htm

Another danger, of lavender in particular, is it can be harmful to skin. In vitro tests show lavender is harmful to skin cells, with a proposed mechanism of membrane damage. If left exposed to air, lavender oil oxidizes, forming chemicals very irritating to the skin - with the study both identifying the oxidized components causing the irritation as well as showing irritation on patches of skin on test patients. The most common ones you'd think of to "help" Lavender and eucalyptus are associated with respiratory distress to seizures in kids under 2.

First, the two most thorough, dealing with aromatherapy and EOs in general:

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0032645/#!po=87.6623

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0025082/

Next, other info:
AAP on EOs pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/112/Supplement_1/240

"Many plants contain essential oils that are distilled, packaged, and sold unregulated to the public for medicinal purposes. Essential oils include any of a class of volatile oils composed of a mixture of complex hydrocarbons (often terpenes, alkaloids, and other large molecular weight compounds) extracted from a plant.4 Essential oils give the plant its characteristic aroma and will evaporate quickly from the skin or another surface; they are so concentrated that, if applied directly to the skin, they will often cause inflammation and dermatitis. Fixed oils are nonvolatile oils made of long-chain fatty acids, such as mineral oil or safflower oil. These are often used as carriers into which a few drops of the very concentrated essential oil are diluted during their application. Resins are solid or semisolid organic substances found in plant secretions; they are usually applied topically as creams or ointments."
“...any claims of health benefits from an herbal remedy should be subjected to the scrutiny of evidence-based medicine. "

"Infants and young children are physiologically more vulnerable to certain adverse effects of herbs than are adults.”
“Unfortunately, gaps exist in the regulation of herbal products and dietary supplements. Congress has passed legislation, The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994, that does not include the usual consumer protections applied to medications used in the treatment of health problems.49 The ability of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require premarketing tests of safety and effectiveness is curtailed by this legislation, as is its ability to intercede in the marketing claims of an herbal product or dietary supplement unless the product has been shown to be overtly dangerous to health. DSHEA requires no testing of safety or efficacy for herbal products and dietary supplements, specifies few restrictions on product claims or controls on product purity or ingredients, and requires no postmarketing surveillance. DSHEA also makes no provision for the centralized reporting of adverse events.”

[feelsunshine]

thanks lookingfor for doing all the research. I really appreciate that.
I however wonder where your rejection comes from. Did you try oils yourself and found yourself with skin reactions or anything else that caused you to stop using them?

As long as I can think, essences have been around in beauty products and cleaning products everywhere. But, when I buy a random brand off a store, I’m not aware of what additional chemical additives are used. For example I personally immediately tend to get headaches when using some cleaning products or I can’t enter a perfume store without getting a headache. This is why I never really used scents or perfumes.
I’m therefore honestly really happy to have found a brand that I trust in. And with what I used so so far, there were no experiences with headaches due to chemical additives, because there are none.

Thanks also for giving the warning about dosage on kids and animals. I’m aware that one uses other doses as with adults. Thats actually a part of why I like the sales way of dōTERRA because the person who sells the product to you makes sure to give you all the details on usage, dosage and so on. If I have any questions I can always get back in contact.
If in contrary, I buy a random oil from a grocery store, there won’t be anyone who can fill me in with the details.

[lookingfor]

feelsunshine I am extremely sensitive to most essential oils. The majority of them trigger migraines and I feel physically ill. I have seen far too many essential oil reps from various MLM's, including yours give dangerous advice regarding application and use, while making unsubstantiated claims about the effects. I've seen claims of essential oils treating depression, anxiety, and even Autism. This advice is unsafe and ableist.

[wheelzoffortune]

I've only really used eucalyptus, lemongrass, and lavender. Not really sure they do anything, but the smells can be pleasant sometimes.

[myrrh]

Respectfully, there's a huge difference between "peppermint coffee yummy in my tummy" and "pennyroyal oil enema cures autism" (to paraphrase a bit, I'm just trying to keep it playful.) The MLM huns pushing lavender as a liver detox are anti-science, no doubt, but so are blanket claims of harmfulness. Leave that to medical researchers. Most of the oils that you can buy easily are not too different from baking soda or bleach-- they're fine for their intended purpose, but capable of causing harm when used inappropriately. You put a tiny bit of baking soda in your cookies, you don't spread it all over yourself. Essential oils are in a significant percentage of food and cosmetics, simply listed as "natural flavors" or "natural fragrance" (and sometimes not at listed all, as is famously the case with orange juice.)

Earl grey tea is made by spraying bergamot essential oil on black tea.

[feelsunshine]

Jul 9, 2024 17:00:51 GMT -5 lookingfor said:

feelsunshine I am extremely sensitive to most essential oils. The majority of them trigger migraines and I feel physically ill. I have seen far too many essential oil reps from various MLM's, including yours give dangerous advice regarding application and use, while making unsubstantiated claims about the effects. I've seen claims of essential oils treating depression, anxiety, and even Autism. This advice is unsafe and ableist.

Thanks for giving your perspective on that. Fortunately I haven’t been told that the oils can cure serious stuff. I see the point to use them, as I said, for cleaning purposes on my way to use less chemicals around the house, flavor my water with one drop of lemon or grapefruit. And I see that they help me relax or can boost my mood when I’m down or lazy.

Fortunately I haven’t experienced any skin problems or headaches caused from them. But it’s really interesting to read that it can be the opposite.

[not THAT violet]

Jul 9, 2024 17:00:51 GMT -5 lookingfor said:

I've seen claims of essential oils treating depression, anxiety, and even Autism. This advice is unsafe and ableist.

Hee hee, given that this is a forum for PWDs, I was so sure this thread was going to be snark about how essential oils regrew someone’s limb and/or made them walk when they were told they would NEVER WALK OR TALK!!!11!!zomg

Seriously, that’s how prevalent essential oil suggestions can be from people who know absolutely nothing about other people’s physical condition and what they’ve already done (over YEARS, and with success to even get to where they are today). There is no “cure” for autism, CP, blah blah blah.

And the worst part is how predatory this idea of hope can be to families, especially young and overwhelmed women, dealing with difficult diagnoses and completely smacked down by the prospect of the costs and emotions of the coming years. Wouldn’t you choose a little bottle of oil instead of an invasive hospital stay? /s

Even just a “what’s the harm?” attitude can be dangerous when you consider that you shouldn’t use the same oils for cleaning as you should for ingesting.

[devogirl]

Jul 9, 2024 16:18:53 GMT -5 feelsunshine said:

 I like the sales way of dōTERRA because the person who sells the product to you makes sure to give you all the details on usage, dosage and so on. If I have any questions I can always get back in contact.
If in contrary, I buy a random oil from a grocery store, there won’t be anyone who can fill me in with the details.

The doTerra sales person is not trained in medicine or science. You might as well ask the clerk at the grocery store, they are equally unqualified to give you usage directions.

It is a major problem that many ingredients are not required to be listed on the label, and so many things can be lurking in "natural flavors" etc. But just because the major label brand is bad doesn't mean a direct-sales product will be better, because they are also not required to disclose all ingredients. I get it, I also like the way some essential oils smell and Western medicine is not always as reliable as we would hope. But companies that push "alternative" cures are just as driven by profit and are more likely to be peddling snake oil.

doTerra has been warned by the FDA and FTC for claiming its oils cure cancer, autism, ebola, and covid. It is also a MLM, despite their claims that it is not, it absolutely is. It's one of many MLMs that emerged from Mormon communities in part because women are pressured not to work outside the home. MLMs flourish in the US because we have weak consumer protection laws and these companies have been very clever about making partnerships at the highest levels of government and academia which shield them from investigation. It's too bad they are allowed to operate in the EU, I thought consumer protection laws were stronger there. MLMs should be illegal everywhere.

For a deep dive on MLMs in general and wellness MLMs in particular, I highly recommend the podcast The Dream, seasons 1 and 2.

[feelingroovy]

Here's one true story! Being the sucker I am whenever I feel the need to help, a friend once told me to try out their miraculous deep blue cream and oíl, and even mentioned that I could use it with patients. So she gave me the cream for free and I bought the oil vial. As far as I know, I'm only allergic to hyaluronic acid, but I decided to try this thing in my own skin, so I rubbed it on my back, I've tried all sorts of creams, gels and my skin at most turned red.
The reaction after 5 mins was crazy, I had to clean my back with wet towels cause I was at work, my skin burned even after cleaning. Went to see a dermatologist right after and she told me what I got was pretty similar to a chemical burn, like a peeling treatment.
So yeah, that goes to prove doTerra's product safety and dosage.

[ichbin]

Jul 10, 2024 3:02:37 GMT -5 not THAT violet said:

And the worst part is how predatory this idea of hope can be to families, especially young and overwhelmed women, dealing with difficult diagnoses and completely smacked down by the prospect of the costs and emotions of the coming years. Wouldn’t you choose a little bottle of oil instead of an invasive hospital stay? /s

That would be me in my mid-20ies! (with my severely disabled child)... 

I hated the MLM structure, and the meetings felt wrong to me. That´s why I never "joined". 

But I like the smell of the oils, and lavender has often helped my son in the acute situation of seizures. 

With the "deep blue" cream, I had similar experiences as feelingroovy

[mswarrior1]

I know nothing about essential oils, but does anyone recommend one for nerve pain? Anything like that? Thanks.