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    Using Essential Oils for Wellness
    Using Essential Oils for Wellness
    Using Essential Oils for Wellness
    Ebook490 pages2 hours

    Using Essential Oils for Wellness

    By Kate Funk

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    About this ebook

    Kate first put the list of Issues/Conditions together for her own use when a client came for an aromatherapy massage. All the aromatherapy books she found listed the essential oils in alphabetical order with problems they addressed under them. However a client never came to her with a list of essential oils to use, but with difficulties they wanted the oils to address.

    This book is, to the best of her knowledge, unique with this list and would be especially useful for other massage therapists or for people who want to address a problem using essential oils without searching an entire book.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateFeb 7, 2013
    ISBN9781481700542
    Using Essential Oils for Wellness
    Author

    Kate Funk

    KATE FUNK lives and works in Milwaukee, WI with her kitty sidekick, AC. She earned her BFA in photography at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. She now spends most of her time making cat costumes, dreaming up scenes, and spray painting sets, all while ingesting copious amounts of sugar and watching far too much television. When not posing for pictures, AC spends his days napping, giving the stink eye to anyone who disrupts his naps, and getting tummy rubs from Kate.

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      Book preview

      Using Essential Oils for Wellness - Kate Funk

      © 2013 by Kate Funk. All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

      Statements are not evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration.

      Information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

      Published by AuthorHouse   01/03/2013

      ISBN: 978-1-4817-0055-9 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4817-0054-2 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2012923889

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Contents

      Introduction

      Common English To Scientific Latin Names For Essential Oils And Hydrosols

      Carrier Oils

      Issues/Conditions

      General Glossary

      Introduction

      glyphs.jpg

      I have been studying essential oils since 1993 and taking classes in aromatherapy almost that long. I found that when a client came to me, they never had a list of essential oils they wanted me to put together into a blend. Rather they had problems or conditions they were hoping essential oils could help solve. But the many books on the subject did not have lists like that. Instead, there was always an alphabetical list of essential oils that addressed several needs. We had to search through the index in the back of the book one at a time to find the required essential oils.

      This book is different because its main section is an alphabetical list by the issue, condition or problem that you are facing followed by all the essential oils or hydrosols that would address those. Please understand, you do not need to use the entire list of essential oils. Instead, each one of the oils or hydrosols would help with your specific problem. So just using one will probably be enough. Of course, if you use two or three from the list, there can be a synergistic affect increasing the effectiveness of the blend.

      You may find that, as you look up your issues, the same one or two essential oils are listed for most if not all of yours. This is not a coincidence. It may be that one or two essential oils are all you need. Perhaps because of the countries your ancestors were from or because of the main ingredients in the foods you eat or even the climate you live in, your body’s main chemical components will react well with these one or two essential oils’ components. Chemical attraction can be strong in love and in your journey toward wellness.

      I’ve also included a small list of carrier oils that can be used to dilute the highly concentrated essential oils. And there is also a glossary in the back giving definitions of medical terms and physical actions shown in the list of issues and conditions.

      History of Essential Oils

      Plant parts of what would later be distilled as essential oils were used in ancient Egypt to preserve the bodies of the royal dead. They were also worn in a waxy cone on the top of people’s heads to keep away both insects and illnesses, and overcome normal body odor in a hot and humid country before the availability of frequent bathing and deodorants.

      The three wise men gave frankincense and myrrh to Mary, the mother of Jesus, because every mother knew these would treat children’s diseases and injuries. The tears of these two resins came at very high prices. Years later, it was spikenard, carried in an alabaster jar, that a woman used to anoint Jesus’ feet, then she washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. Taking place so close to His death, some realized later that this was the first step in preparing His body for burial.

      In the Dark Ages, a bubonic plague in Europe killed almost half of the population. Burglars were caught in France stealing from the homes of the dead without fear of catching the plague. It is said that they sometimes helped the sufferers along to death to keep them from interfering in the thieving killers’ work. After capture, the king promised a quick death by hanging instead of burning at the stake if the burglars would reveal the source of their immunity—a blend of essential oils, used to tan leather in the burglars’ prior trade.

      In the modern age about a hundred years ago, perfumers were the predominant users of essential oils. Renee-Maurice Gattefosse, a chemist working in the family perfume business, discovered the healing power of essential oil when, after an explosion in his laboratory, he plunged his badly burned arm in what he thought was a vat of water only to discover it was a vat of lavender essential oil. His arm healed quickly without infection or scars. He wrote the first modern book on aromatherapy in 1928. When it was translated into English, its title was Gattefosse’s Aromatherapy.

      His good friend, a medical doctor named Jean Valnet, used essential oils on wounded soldiers during World War II with good effect when the normal medicines were gone. He did not know that Australian solders were sent to the war with essential oils from that country with directions to use it on any wound as first aid. Valnet’s book, The Practice of Aromatherapy, as translated to English, was published in 1954.

      In both France and Germany only medical doctors have access to essential oils, prescribed and taken orally within a pill. A saying is, In Europe, they eat it, in England, they rub it, and in America, they sniff it. Of course, the saying refers to essential oils use in medicine, massage, and scented candles.

      What is an Essential Oil?

      An essential oil is an extreme concentration of chemicals naturally occurring in a plant. It is the chemical constituents that determine the therapeutic value of the oils. Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils for therapeutic purposes with anticipated outcomes. Aromachology is the use of essential oils to help with emotional and/or mental issues. The essential oil is usually gathered in two ways—distillation or expression.

      Most essential oils are gathered by distillation—the plant parts lie on a grid in a sealed, steamy container using steady, low heat. The essential oil, being lighter than water, floats to the top of the chamber to be gathered from an opening there into clean, glass jars.

      Side products of distillation are hydrosols or floral waters from the same container’s heavier steam. These are becoming known for similar therapeutic actions because they contain several of the same chemicals as the essential oils. Since the chemicals are greatly diluted in the water from the steam, hydrosols are especially effective and safe for children and for people with chronic illnesses or for cosmetic uses. The purchase price for 8 ounces of hydrosol is considerably less than 15 ml. of essential oil, so these may be a more practical way to use the benefits of essential oil. Hydrosols, being water soluble, can be added to water or to almost any lotion, cream, gel or milk, rather than to a carrier oil.

      Most citrus essential oils are squeezed or cold expressed from the rind of the fruit.

      A third and relatively new way of capturing essential oils is by using carbon dioxide. When this method is used, the term CO² is used after the common name of the essential oil. These will contain most of the same chemicals as distilled or expressed essential oils but not all, and may contain a few not included in the essential oils.

      Safety

      Of prime importance is that essential oils should be purchased when you can be sure of their authenticity and purity. Quality can vary by the cultivation methods of the plant, extraction method, country of origin, subspecies, and the efforts a reputable company makes to maintain its high quality products and reputation. They should be sold in brown or blue bottles with an unopened, tight lid and a hard plastic integral dropper. Do not purchase an essential oil in a bottle if it comes with a dropper with a rubber squeezer at the top. The fumes from essential oils will disintegrate the rubber and it will end up contaminating the essential oil. If the prices for the essential oils of various plants are all similar, do not buy these, as this shows doubt about the quality. Price for an essential oil is determined not by the effectiveness of the oil but by the rarity of the plant used and the costs of transporting the materials from far away lands.

      The name of the essential oil, both its English common name and its Latin official name, that is genus and species and, if applicable, chemotype, should be on the label along with the weight (usually between 5 ml. and 15 ml.). Sometimes the producer has already diluted the essential oil in a carrier oil to make the product less expensive. In that case the dilution, whether 2% or 10%, is also on the label. If it is not, then the dilution is probably much less than 2% and you have no way of knowing how much of the essential oil you are using compared to the carrier oil used in the dilution or, for that matter, perhaps no way of knowing what the carrier oil is if it is not listed on the label. Sometimes it is better to save up to buy the pure essential oil (rose) or use a less expensive plant product (lavender or clary sage) that may have the same therapeutic action.

      Store essential oil bottles in a cool, dark, dry cabinet, preferably not in a kitchen or bathroom (steam is hot and wet). Children should not be able to get to the bottles. While these chemicals have the power to help with various physical and emotional conditions, they also have the power to harm if used unwisely or kill if drunk from a full bottle. If this occurs, take the child and the bottle immediately to an emergency room.

      There are three ways of using essential oils: first, inhalation, second, through the skin using baths or massage or a compress. The third method, used in Europe, is by ingestion in capsules prescribed by a medical doctor, obviously not available in America.

      Essential oils used on the skin should be diluted to only 1% to 5%, whether rubbed on or in bath water. A good carrier oil is an appropriate way to dilute for rubbing, or a whole fat milk would be good in bath water. Do not add the essential oils mixed with the milk to your bath until the tub is filled or you will be breathing in more essential oils than will be in the bath water. One to five drops of essential oil to a teaspoon of carrier oil or milk would be 1% to 5%. Or you could add one drop of essential oil for each ml. of a carrier oil to get to 5%. More is not better or more effective. If you are using more than one essential oil, it is still only a total of one to five drops in a teaspoon, not one to five of each essential oil.

      5% is the maximum for an adult. For children or those with sensitive skin or a weakened condition, use only 1 drop in two teaspoons, which would be 0.5%. For teenagers, only 3% should be the maximum. No matter how large the adult or how strong the man, only 5% will be plenty to help with whatever condition.

      Always wash your hands with soap before and after mixing or using essential oils to avoid getting the oil into your eyes through rubbing your eyes, or ingesting it with finger foods. Use whole milk or pure vegetable oil to dilute the essential oil if in your eyes. Even fumes from essential oils placed on the face near the eyes can get in and burn. You’ll know when you’ve diluted the oil in your eyes enough because the burning will stop. Essential oils are not water soluble, but are fat soluble, that’s why splashing water into your eyes will not help, unless you want to help spread the burn. If using a steam inhalation over hot water with a towel as a tent for your face, keep your eyes tightly closed and wipe any steam off your face before opening your eyes.

      You should also avoid using essential oils

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