Stuffy nose? Sore throat? Watery eyes? Allergy season is coming, and you feel woefully underprepared. You’ve likely tried a host of different allergy medications, but regular drugstore medications don’t seem to help as much as you want them to.
But don’t worry! You’re not alone.
Luckily, there are alternative options to find you some measure of relief from the constant sneezing. Have you ever tried using aromatherapy and essential oils to help relieve some of your worst symptoms?
How Can Essential Oils Work for Allergies?
Essential oils have deep roots in history as a way to alleviate both physical and mental ailments.
They can be hugely beneficial for the respiratory and immune systems, which are specifically targeted when allergies occur. It can help relax the over-engaged systems and alleviate symptoms that occur as a result of any intolerance to the allergen.
However, essential oils themselves can cause allergic reactions as well.
This is most common with topical application choices when diluted oil is applied directly to the skin. Due to the high concentration of the oil, making sure your oil is watered down enough to avoid side effects is very important. Those with sensitive skin should be especially careful and start using the oil in small amounts to monitor reactions before developing a routine.
Which Essential Oils Work Best For Allergies?
There are multitudes of different allergies and, therefore, different ways to treat them, as you’re likely well aware. However, if you’re looking for allergy relief, the essential oils listed below are the ones seen as most beneficial for reactions caused by allergies and hay fever.
Lemon Oil
Rather than focus on your immune system, lemon essential oil helps lessen the effects of seasonal allergies that affect your respiratory system, in particular, reactions involving congestion of the lungs and blocking of the sinuses.
Lavender Oil
Lavender essential oil has been found to naturally possess antihistamine properties that allergy drugs from pharmacies strive to emulate in helping soothe the immune system. These properties for allergies are best put to use when inhaled, but topical applications have also seen success in pain relief, specifically with low-grade burns.
Eucalyptus Oil
Eucalyptus oil is another essential oil that helps best with seasonal allergies, as it mainly targets and relieves symptoms of the respiratory system. However, it is also a good oil to mix with other scents as it also strengthens the general health of the immune system.
Chamomile Oil
While most popularly consumed in tea form and loved for its relaxing properties, chamomile essential oil has also shown effectiveness in reducing allergy symptoms associated with the respiratory tract and reactions seen on the skin, like hives.
Other Oil Choices
There are multitudes of different essential oils to choose from, but not all are geared at helping alleviate allergy symptoms. The oils listed above have the best general consensus of working well for allergies. However, there are others that you can still try as they have similar effects that have less research on being used for allergies specifically.
Some of these other oils include: tea tree oil, peppermint oil, and frankincense oil. The menthol in peppermint essential oil can be particularly helpful with headaches and nasal congestion. Tea tree oil is believed to have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, and frankincense oil has long been considered one of the best essential oils for allergies, especially when blended with sandalwood.
Additionally, mixing oils can be beneficial for targeting specific allergic responses. While one could help with the immune system, another could soothe the respiratory system, and yet another might relax skin reactions. If you choose to mix oils, proceed with caution to ensure you don’t have an unfavorable reaction. Everyone has different body chemistry and therefore reacts to certain oils differently.
What Are the Different Ways To Use Essential Oils?
There are two main ways to use essential oils and a third option that should only be used under instruction of a doctor.
Using Oils Topically
Using essential oils topically is one of the easiest ways you can achieve fast results.
Topical oils are usually available in gels, lotions, balms, and other sorts of creams, but if you choose to make your own, be sure to dilute your oil as much as possible with a carrier oil such as jojoba or coconut oil.
Topical applications are best for targeting specific areas of physical pain and can achieve especially fast results when applied to the head and feet. However, topical oils can sometimes cause skin irritation if you have especially sensitive skin and/or the oil hasn’t been diluted enough. In such cases, always monitor your first uses of new oils to see how they affect you.
Using An Oil Diffuser
Essential oil diffusers are best for when you want to achieve your results through scent inhalation. Scent inhalation of essential oils is especially useful for comforting mental health.
Diffusers take a mix of water and a few drops of oil to create a light mist, distributing the essential oil scent naturally around the room. Small and compact, they are a perfect addition to any house and/or office space.
Luckily, our Essential Oil Diffuser is available to you! Not only are they stylish and durable, they include seven different LED colors, an ETL safety certification, and an automatic shut off function after your oil and water mix has run out! They also run for up to 13 hours without stopping, guaranteeing a worry-free environment for you.
Ingesting Oil Under The Guidance of A Doctor
Swallowing any type of essential oil should first be discussed with and approved by a doctor before use. That is because essential oils have extremely high concentrations and can cause harmful reactions if not diluted and applied correctly.
If you want to consume essential oils, and have talked to a doctor, consider putting small doses in your food first to see how your body reacts.
What Should You Be Aware Of Before Using Essential Oils?
Essential oils, although used all over the world for thousands of years for health benefits, have not been explicitly approved by the FDA as a health remedy. As more studies are conducted, this is liable to change, but as for now, you must be aware of which types of oils to buy and the risks associated with the essential oils.
What To Look For When Buying/Using Essential Oils
When looking to buy essential oils, it is of utmost importance that you only buy them in their purest extracted form. If you cannot find anything on the label that proves that, and the proprietor cannot provide verification, you should not buy the oil.
Additionally, make sure that the bottles are contained in glass bottles and never plastic bottles, as plastic over time can wither under the strain of the concentrated oil.
Being able to read and understand labels is important when buying anything health-related, but is especially important when buying essential oils due to the occasional adverse reactions that can come from the highly concentrated nature of the oils.
Also, make sure that the label includes the oil’s scientific Latin name and country of origin, thus making sure your oil comes from a reliable source.
When Should You Not Use Essential Oils?
Essential oils, although created from natural ingredients, are still powerful and potent in their undiluted form. This potency can be harmful to those who are unfamiliar with how to use essential oils and those who are sensitive to the oils themselves.
For those who have sensitive skin or are aware that their bodies can be very reactive, you should take one step at a time and monitor yourself every day before developing a consistent routine. Sometimes consulting an aromatherapist, an allergist, or a regular doctor can be very beneficial and stress relieving when first trying out essential oils.
Additionally, it is very important that those who have allergies be aware of whether or not your allergy exists within a “family.” For instance, the mint family also includes basil, thyme, and lavender, among others, so those with mint allergies should proceed with an abundance of caution when trying out an oil that exists within the same family.
Essential oils can be used by a variety of ages but should be closely monitored when used on or around children, as the high potency of the oil can cause different reactions in children than in adults.
The same goes for animals as well. If you want to use essential oils on your pets, you should consult with a vet first, as a high number of oils can be extremely toxic to animals, even while safe for humans.
Summary
To conclude, essential oils are a soothing DIY way to help reduce allergy symptoms like your runny nose, itchy eyes, and the never-ending sneeze without using the pharmacy drugs that you’ve tried and tested over and over again. They can also provide long-lasting relief for your general mental and physical wellness, thus aiding any possible allergy symptoms that could occur in the future.
Sources:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-are-essential-oils#types
https://www.avera.org/balance/integrative-medicine/can-essential-oils-help-with-seasonal-allergies/
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