Headaches and migraines

• Make a cold compress using lavender and peppermint. Apply the cold compress to your forehead and lie down in a darkened room until the pain eases. Replace the compress with a new one once it reaches body temperature.
• Drink a calming herbal tea, such as lime flower, vervain, lemon balm or chamomile.
• Massage your neck with 3 drops of marjoram mixed into 5 ml (1 tsp) of base oil. Migraine and headaches are often caused by stress and tension, and a neck massage with a warming essential oil like marjoram may well reduce this.

Dandruff

(here are two types of dandruff: simple dry dandruff, where small particles of dry skin flake off the scalp and get trapped in the hair; and what is known as seborrheic dermatitis, where over-production of sebum causes excess sebum lo get trapped in patches of skin on the scalp, which can then become infected, causing itching, scabbing and inflammation.

• For dry dandruff, mix 3 drops each of ti-tree and lavender in 10 ml (2 tsp) of base oil, and give yourself a thorough scalp massage several times a week. lry also adding 4-5 drops of ti-tree or lavender to 5 ml (1 tsp) of a mild, unfragranced shampoo and using this to wash your hair.
• For seborrheic dermatitis, follow the same methods as above, but use bergamot, sandalwood and lemongrass instead of lavender and ti-tree. These essential oils help to balance sebum production and lemongrass is an effective treatment for dermatitis.

Acne

Refer to the advice on oily skin care (see pages 62-63), and in addition try the following treatments.

• Dab individual spots several times a day with a drop of neat ti-tree oil on a cotton wool bud, applying it carefully so that you do not touch the surrounding skin.
• If scarring occurs as the spots heal, apply a little of the following mixture twice a day: 2 drops of neroli and 1 drop of lavender mixed in 5 ml (1 tsp) of calendula oil.

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Essential oils are highly concentrated, as you can deduce from the fact that it takes thousands of rose petals to produce a single drop of rose essential oil. This potency must be respected, and the way you handle and use essential oils is important. Following the guidelines given below (and elsewhere in this book) will ensure that you use essential oils safely and effectively.

Because these oils are powerful and highly concentrated, they can be toxic if used incorrectly. However, if you handle the oils carefully and follow a few simple safety tips, they are safe and beneficial.

Safety Guidelines

• As already mentioned, you should never take essential oils orally. Avoid all contact between essential oils and the delicate mouth area, and avoid placing them in or near your eyes.
• Some essential oils can cause irritation if they are applied undiluted to the skin, so this is recommended only occasionally and in specific circumstances with selected oils. Otherwise, apply only properly diluted essential oils to the skin, and follow the recipes and methods carefully. Do not increase the amount of essential oils used in the recipes.
• A few essential oils, such as bergamot and other citrus oils, are phototoxic. This means that they might cause skin discoloration in bright sunlight, even when diluted. It is therefore best to avoid using bergamot and other citrus oils on exposed skin if the weather is sunny.
• Certain essential oils, such as spices, may cause skin irritation on those with sensitive skin. Occasionally a slight redness or itchiness might occur from using these or other essential oils. If this happens, put some base cream or base oil, such as sweet almond oil, on the affected area and then apply a cold wet flannel until the redness itchiness disappears.
• If you accidentally splash a drop of essential oil in your eyes, use a small amount of base oil to dilute the essential oil, and absorb this with a soft cloth, before rinsing your eyes with cold water. If there is a serious incident, seek medical attention.

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Safety guidelines

If you are already taking medication from your doctor and with a qualified aroma therapist whether it is safe to use essential oils alongside allopathic remedies. For example, if you have a chest infection and have been prescribed antibiotics, it is helpful to use essential oils in steam inhalations, local chest rubs and in the bath, alongside the antibiotics. However, if you are taking other, less familiar medication and do not fully understand its purpose, you must check with your medical practitioner to ensure it is safe to use essential oils alongside with your prescription.

We have already emphasized that you must never take essential oils orally. Another area to avoid is in the inner ear, and you should never attempt to pour essential oils (either neat or diluted) into the ear itself. However, essential oils can be used to great effect in compresses and local massage on the outer ear, for pain relief and to help prevent any infection spreading.

If you have a minor accident, such as cutting your finger with a knife, it is important not to panic. There is always an element of shock or panic present – however mild – with accidents and this needs to be taken into account. However, if you act calmly and do not panic, you can apply the appropriate aromatherapy remedy safely and well.

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This section looks at the healing properties of essential oils, and how they can help us regain and maintain health and wellbeing. A large part of this section comprises of common ailments and minor injuries, together with advice on how to treat them using essential oils. This aspect of aromatherapy, which focuses on physical wellbeing, is of great benefit in daily life.

As well as helping to heal on a physical level, a corresponding feeling of satisfaction and empowerment arises from treating yourself, your friends and family with aromatherapy. Working within an holistic framework, aromatherapy helps you take responsibility for everyday health care. This harks back a few generations, to a time when it was commonplace for the mother or grandmother of the family to keep a store of herbal remedies at home and look after the family’s health.

Medical aromatherapy

The healing power of essential oils is utilized in a medical context in France where some doctors undertake postgraduate specialization in aromatherapy. They practice medical aromatherapy, which is quite different from the way aromatherapy is practiced in the more common therapeutic context.

Medical aromatherapy largely uses prescriptions of essential oils for internal use. The oils are measured and encapsulated in a gelatine capsule and taken orally, according to the prescription. Although this is clearly not within the remit of therapeutic aromatherapy, which never prescribes the internal use of essential oils (except garlic capsules), medical aromatherapy nonetheless demonstrates the extensive range and power of essential oils to aid the healing process.

In this section you will also learn how to use aromatherapy for babies, children, pregnant women and the elderly. All these groups of people are slightly vulnerable, and require gentler and sometimes slightly different treatment from healthy adults. The essential oils used on them are often considerably more diluted. However, once you have learned the guidelines for working with these groups of people, aromatherapy can be of great benefit for them.

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Essential oils for meditation

Before you meditate with essential oils, you need to decide whether to use a burner, room spray or a meditative mood perfume. Using a burner or electric vaporizer of some kind is generally best, because the effect of the essential oil is more powerful than it is with mood perfumes or room sprays. However, meditative perfumes are useful if you wish to meditate outside, or practice the walking meditation. If you want a very subtle effect, then a room spray is a good choice.

Using room sprays and mood perfumes

You can achieve a more subtle effect from essential oils as you meditate by using a room spray. Choose your essential oils as described above, add them to the water in your spray bottle and shake well. Spray the area you will be meditating in just before you start.

To use a meditative mood perfume, choose your essential oils as described above. Blend them into base oil, then apply behind your ears, at the base of your throat and on the inside of your wrists.

How to use a burner

You will need a blend of essential oils of your choice, cotton wool buds, a burner or electric vaporizer, and matches or a lighter.

First, decide which essential oils you are going to use. Analyze how you are feeling and what you wish to gain from the meditation. For example, you may feel tired and want to feel refreshed after your meditation and not fall asleep. In this instance you would choose a mentally stimulating essential oil, such as rosemary, cardamom or basil, and would blend it with something uplifting such as bergamot, orange or rosewood, and with a balancing essential oil like geranium.

Second, choose three or four essential oils according to your feelings. Then do a sniff test, using cotton wool buds, to make sure the blend is pleasing.

Third, fill the burner’s bowl three quarters full of cold water and float the essential oils on top. (This method allows you to begin your meditation as the water slowly heats, so that the essential oils diffuse gradually. If you would like a more instant effect, start with hot water.)

Last, light the candle once you are ready to begin meditating.

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