How To Handle Essential Oil

Essential Oil Safety Information

Essential oils are highly concentrated liquids that can be harmful if not used carefully. Implementing aromatherapy into your lifestyle shouldn't cause paranoia or undue worry. By treating essential oils as medicines and following the steps outlined below, you will be well on your way to safely enjoying the many benefits that aromatherapy can offer.

These safety guidelines are not a complete safety reference for the proper use of essential oils. When in doubt, consult your physician and/or a qualified and trained aromatherapy practitioner.

Essential oils should never be used undiluted on the skin. There are instances when experienced aromatherapy users and practitioners make exceptions to this precaution, but only once significant essential oil knowledge is gained should you ever attempt to apply an undiluted oil on the skin. Lavender and tea tree are listed by a large number of aromatherapy sources as being oils that can be used undiluted. Undiluted use of lavender and tea tree, however, should only be done on rare occurances as severe sensitivity still could occur in some individuals. Again, the safest rule of thumb is to never use any essential oil undiluted.

Some oils can cause sensitization or allergic reactions in some individuals. When using a new oil for the first time, do a skin patch on a small area of skin. Place a small amount of the diluted essential oil (never use essential oils undiluted on the skin) on the inside of your elbow and apply a bandage. Wait 24 hours to see if there is any form of reaction. Even if a particular essential oil is not known to cause irritation, this step should not be ignored. Even if an oil does not irritate you, it still can irritate someone else. It is important that you always keep that in mind.

Some essential oils should be avoided during pregnancy or by those with asthma, epilepsy, or with other health conditions.

Less IS More. When using essential oils, use the smallest amount of essential oils that will get the job done. If one drop will get the job done, for example, don't use two drops.

Not all essential oils are suitable for use in aromatherapy. Wormood, pennyroyal, onion, camphor, horseradish, wintergreen, rue, bitter almond and sassafras are some of the essential oils that should only be used by qualified aromatherapy practitioners, if ever at all.

Never let children use essential oils without the presence of an adult knowledgeable about their use. Most essential oils smell wonderful and many essential oils such as citrus oils can smell like they are safe to drink. Keep your essential oils away from children. Treat the oils like medicines that are poison in unknowing hands.

Essential oils should not be taken internally. Essential oils should only be taken internally after receiving a detailed consultation and prescription from a trained and qualified aromatherapy practitioner.

Essential oils are flammable. Please keep them out of the way of fire hazards.

By aromaweb.com

http://www.aromaweb.com/articles/safety.asp

Understanding Aromatherapy

What are Essential Oils?

An essential oil is a liquid that is generally distilled (most frequently by steam or water) from the leaves, stems, flowers, bark, roots, or other elements of a plant. Essential oils, contrary to the use of the word "oil" are not really oily-feeling at all. Most essential oils are clear, but some oils such as patchouli, orange and lemongrass are amber or yellow in color.

Essential oils contain the true essence of the plant it was derived from. Essential oils are highly concentrated and a little goes a long way.

Essential oils are not the same as perfume or fragrance oils. Where essential oils are derived from the true plants, perfume oils are artificially created fragrances or contain artificial substances and do not offer the therapeutic benefits that essential oils offer. See the What are Fragrance Oils? article for more information on fragrance oils and why they are not used in aromatherapy.

The chemical composition and aroma of essential oils can provide valuable psychological and physical therapeutic benefits. These benefits are usually achieved through methods including inhalation and application of the diluted oil to the skin.

Essential oils are often used by diluting them with a carrier oil (sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, grapeseed oil) and then applying this blend to the skin for absorption. See the What are Carrier Oils? page for more detailed information about carrier oils.

Careful inhalation of the oils can also provide therapeutic benefit as the oil molecules enter the lungs and are absorbed into the bloodstream.

Essential Oils are usually sold for individual use in very small bottles. See the Storing Your Oils page for information on how to store your oils and to view pictures of essential oil bottles.

Essential oils can very greatly in quality and price. Various factors that can affect the quality and price of the oil include the rarity of the plant, country and conditions that the plant was grown, quality standards of the distiller, and how much oil is produced by the plant.

Essential oils can often be purchased as blends of several essential oils. The advantage if it is a blend of pure essential oils is that you can save from having to buy every essential oil individually. The disadvantage is that you have no control over the blend by not mixing it yourself nor can you reliably mix the blend with other oils.

AromaWeb's Business Plaza provides a wonderful categorical directory of sellers of essential oils and aromatherapy products.

By aromaweb.com

http://www.aromaweb.com/articles/whatare.asp