Natural Body Guru

Every home has a first aid kit but there is an alternative, have you ever thought about assembling your own aromatherapy first aid kit? All you need is a good container marked Essential Oils, Alternative First Aid, or Aromatherapy to house the kit and keep your oils away from light, dampness and extreme heat so they don’t deteriorate. The three major oils to stash in your kit are eucalyptus, lavender, and tea tree oil.

These three oils will aid with colds, wounds, burns, bruises, insect bites, muscle pain, fungal infections and much more. They can be dispensed in a number of ways depending on the need including directly from the bottle, in a carrier or base oil, in a steam bath, or on a compress. We will continue with more information about your alternative aromatherapy first aid kit as well as a few more essential oils to add to your stash in another post.

I used to purchase over the counter antiseptic creams for my family’s cuts and bruises. When I first heard about using lavender or tea tree essential oil for the same purpose, I was skeptical but I purchased the essential oils anyway. Then, one day my middle daughter got a scrape on her leg and I was out of antiseptic cream so I used both lavender and tea tree essential oils on the area. The lavender calmed her down and she stopped crying quickly and returned to playing with her sisters.

My girls had a ritual whenever a band-aid was necessary. We had to look at the sore place every day until it was healed. I would apply more antiseptic and they would get a nice new child friendly band aid. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the sore spot healed when we used the lavender and tea tree essential oil.

I tried the lavender and the tea tree separately on different occasions and both work equally well. I never purchase over the counter antibiotic or antiseptic medications any more because they contain extra ingredients that I don’t believe are necessary. I can use the essence of flowers and plants with the same or even better antiseptic, antibiotic, and anti-fungal properties. The essential oils are all natural and contain no questionable ingredients.

Therapeutic grade essential oils are mainly concentrated flowers, plants, and herbs. People are missing out on their health benefits because of the misconception that they are only for elevating mood or to be used as perfume oils. Numerous essential oils also have properties that kill germs, purify the air and have antibiotic, antiviral and antifungal properties. They can rescue and protect us from every ailment between acne and urinary tract infections.

If you would like to add additional essential oils to the basic three we discussed in a previous post, you may wish to include rosemary, peppermint, orange, geranium and lemon. Your aromatherapy rescue kit should also include carrier oils such as almond oil, jojoba oil, or shea oil in which your essential oils can be diluted. You can also include aloe vera, vitamin E and garlic oil. Create your own garlic oil by mixing garlic cloves with sweet almond or grape seed oil.

Every home has a first aid kit but there is an alternative to those over the counter medicines we use. Let’s assemble our own aromatherapy rescue kit. First of all, you need a good container marked Essential Oils, Alternative First Aid, or Aromatherapy to house the kit and keep your oils away from light, dampness and extreme heat so they don’t deteriorate. An empty cookie tin like the one in the picture works great for me.

The three major oils to stash in your kit are eucalyptus, lavender, and tea tree oil. These three essential oils will aid with colds, wounds, burns, bruises, insect bites, muscle pain, fungal infections and many other ailments. They can be dispensed in a number of ways depending on the need including directly from the bottle, in a carrier or base oil, in a steam bath, or on a compress. We will continue with more information about your aromatherapy rescue kit as well as a few more essential oils to add to your stash in another post.

The most effective aromatherapy essential oils are broad-acting and can be used for a variety of symptoms so you don’t have to take a lot of them with you when you travel. Collecting your essential oil travel kit can be simple, inexpensive, and aromatic. Using eucalyptus essential oil for respiration; tea tree essential oil for first aid; rosemary essential oil for stimulation; peppermint essential oil for digestion; and lavender essential oil for soothing sedation – you can treat just about any ailment that might occur while you are away.

• To treat nausea and motion sickness, use a blend of one drop each rosemary and peppermint essential oils on a handkerchief and inhale the aroma.
• To calm travel anxiety and help you sleep, take a whiff of lavender straight from the bottle!
• For trouble sleeping, sprinkle a few drops of lavender essential oil on your pillow. Add a few drops of lavender and peppermint to a hot bath to help you settle down or apply a warm compress of lavender to the forehead or chest.
• To treat aches and pains from traveling, blend rosemary, peppermint, and eucalyptus essential oils in a carrier oil like almond oil, jojoba oil or shea oil to use as a rub for sore muscles and limbs.
• To treat a sprain or similar injury, use the RICE method – Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation combined with a gentle massage using rosemary essential oil diluted in almond or comparable carrier oil.

OK, I am doing laundry so I’ll have enough clean underwear for the trip so I will continue this blog tomorrow. This will give you time to find a nice small bag to carry your essential oils and carrier oils with you.

We are on our way to visit relatives for the Thanksgiving holiday and I know lots of readers will be doing the same thing this weekend. Every time I travel, I carry my essential oil travel first aid kit with us for those emergencies that always seem to occur. Whether you travel by plane, train, bus, or car, it won’t cost you very much to assemble an essential oil travel kit; but it can save you a lot of problems and anxiety on the road. It is usually not a problem to carry essential oils on an airplane as long as the quantities you take are less than an ounce each. You can take everything you need for the most common ailments that may plague you or your family members while you are away.

Every home has a first aid kit but there is an alternative, have you ever thought about assembling your own aromatherapy essential oil first aid kit? All you need is a good container marked Essential Oils, Alternative First Aid, or Aromatherapy to house the kit and keep your oils away from light, dampness and extreme heat so they don’t deteriorate. The three major oils to stash in your kit are Eucalyptus, Lavender, and Tea Tree Oil.

These three oils will aid with colds, wounds, burns, bruises, insect bites, muscle pain, fungal infections and much more. They can be dispensed in a number of ways depending on the need including directly from the bottle, in a carrier or base oil, in a steam bath, or on a compress. We will continue with more information about your aromatherapy essential oil first aid kit as well as a few more essential oils to add to your stash in another post.

What do you do when your child or grandchild gets a little scratch or scrape and comes running to you crying? Well, I just kiss it, wipe away the tears, and together we go to “doctor it up” with a non-stinging first aid solution for minor cuts and bruises.

Let your child help and learn first aid. Saturate a cotton ball with witch hazel and one to two drops of lavender essential oil. Gently wipe the affected area and add a fun band-aid. This will take their mind off the boo-boo and the lavender will calm them down and kill the germs.

An even faster method is to pre-blend the witch hazel in a one-ounce bottle and add five to six drops of lavender essential oil. Shake the bottle before use to mix the ingredients. The next time your youngster gets a minor injury, you’ll already have a liquid first aid concoction on hand and the child can shake it up and put it on the cotton ball. The crying will stop in no time!

I rubbed my index finger on the top heating element of the oven when I reached in to take out some chocolate chip cookies I was baking for my grandchildren. I didn’t say a bad word but I did yell and almost dropped the cookies. I usually put aloe vera juice directly from the plant on burns but my grandkids watered my plant to death and I had given it to my neighbor to nurse back to health (because I definitely do not have a green thumb.) My husband swears by lavender essential oil for everything from bruises to cuts to burns so I put lavender on the burn and hoped for the best.

This was a really bad burn because when I jumped I also rubbed the skin against the metal bracket holding the heating element and tore the burned flesh. I put two to three drops of lavender oil neat (no carrier oil) on the burn 2 to 3 times a day and it was healed in a week.  You can barely see where the injury was and it is still fading.

Eucalyptus essential oil, from the eucalyptus tree originally native to Australia, has been used for centuries to treat chest and other respiratory problems. It is a very versatile oil that is anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antibiotic, diuretic, analgesic, and deodorizing. Research has proven eucalyptus has antiviral properties as well.

You probably know about its effectiveness against coughs and colds because several over the counter cold medications list eucalyptus as an ingredient, including many cough drops. It is similarly effective in the treatment of cystitis and sunburn and can be used as an insect repellent for humans and pets.