Please don't be mad.
If you're mad...please hear me out and read the whole thing.
When I first started this blog, I mentioned that I might share my thoughts about essential oils. When I made the statement, I was in the thick of cold and flu season and my house was not being spared the wrath of the winter bugs. I was pretty desperate and I was hopeful that they would work for us. Desperate because I had a 5 month old who had 3 ear infections in a row with NO fever. Oy...
I was also hoping that there was a solution to my upcoming spring allergies because antihistamines have such a profound effect on breastmilk supply and I was nursing my daughter. I figured there was no downside to trying them out. There's lots of claims and success stories out there, so why not enjoy those benefits for my family. I didn't try everything...but I tried some things for about 4-6 weeks. I did not use them everyday because that's a lot to remember. I'm lucky if everyone in the house gets a bath and two teeth-brushing sessions every day.
First of all, I honestly really wanted them to work...I had a lot of hope. I wanted to believe that there was a simple and effective way for me to take control of my (and my family's) health with no side effects or negative consequences. Let me also say that this post is just reflective of my personal experience within the confines of my own home. I have not conducted double blind research studies (not sure that anybody has) nor have I spent hours upon hours researching and figuring out what everyone else out there has said. I'm a mom and I frankly have much more important things to do with my time. Namely, love my family well and teach my children a multitude of life skills, live out the gospel, cook healthy meals and just get enough sleep, for crying outloud!
So here are the reasons that essential oils are not that essential for me. Again...no research studies done here. But I have a medical background in pediatric nursing and I've also been a mom for 3.5 years, which I know isn't accredited...but mom knowledge is pretty powerful, amen?
1. I don't want to need to depend on more things.
We basically have to pack our entire house for a weekend trip to the grandparents house. Literally...I cannot add something else to the list of things that will result in a meltdown (or a shopping trip) if forgotten. One time we forgot diapers! Y'all...we're just keeping our heads above water sometimes.
2. I think that using oils to kill unnecessary bacteria will lead to oil-resistant bacteria...similar to the overuse of antibiotics causing super-bugs that are resistant to first-line antibiotics.
3. I think that if our bodies depend on oils to function properly that our immune systems will be affected, and maybe even go into remission. Our bodies were created immaculately. When functioning properly, our immune systems defend us from all kinds of viruses and infections that we aren't even aware of.
4. I think it's dangerous to delay seeking actual medical care because you're sitting at home trying home remedies. Period.
5. It is impossible to correctly dose oils. Get ready for nurse mode...
There is no specified amount or dilution ratio that an accredited agency has approved. Many resources just say to use a couple of drops...or one drop diluted in some carrier oil. This was the first and maybe the biggest red flag for me. It just doesn't feel right to administer something without a dose...especially on my children. You better believe that if a nurse has ever given you a medication, an injection, or even just IV fluid, that substance has been measured to the exact amount per your weight on that specific day so that you get the right amount, down to the 100th of a ml sometimes. Also, in nursing, you check 6 "rights" before giving ANY medication to a patient...you check to make sure it's the right patient, the right medication, the right dose, the right time of administration and the right route. Number 6 is right documentation, but I don't really see how that applies in this instance. When you use an oil, you don't have any backstop to check any of these things.
Should you dilute your oil? One source says yes, pinterest says no, your friend says sometimes.
Should you re-apply it every hour? every 6 hours? once a day? Once a minute? There's no real answer out there. Anything...ANYTHING...can be toxic if taken too much. Even water.
Children are NOT little adults. Sometimes they cannot and should not have the same things as adults only in smaller doses. Their livers and kidneys don't process things the same way. Their skin is more sensitive. Their bones are still growing and are pliable. You find very little medical data about things being without-a-shadow-of-a-doubt safe for children because nobody wants to volunteer their children for medical studies. I don't! Why would I subject my kids to be unofficial guinea pigs for the essential oil industry?
Besides these very real and possibly serious reasons, I think that the way of thinking within this community is a little bit strange. I read through a facebook thread one night where a person asked about a certain oil and whether or not others had experienced night terrors when using it. Someone responded with something to the effect of..."oh just keep using it. Your body isn't used to getting 'good' sleep. The night terrors will probably subside."
WHAT?
THAT. IS. CRAZY.
Did you also know that the oils that you don't particularly like the scents are the ones that "your body NEEDS the most?" I read that somewhere too...
So basically, if I like the way some of them smell or work, I should buy those. And if I don't like others, I should STILL buy those. #salespitch #comeon
And this final part of my oils testimony is why I finally decided they were not for me. Again...this is just truly what has happened in my house. Those 4-6 weeks after I bought my starter kit when I used the oils in my home daily were the SICKEST two months in the history of my family. The healthiest person in the house was BY FAR my husband, who adamantly refused to even try any of them even once. My two children and I were all sick (off and on) over those 6 weeks with diagnoses including (but not limited to) unspecified viral infection, double ear infection, influenza A, unspecified stomach bug, a second double ear infection and a virus that looked a whole lot but was never tested for RSV. My only conclusion is that these oils either did not help protect us at all OR they made us more susceptible to the pathogens we come in contact with everyday.
I don't think it's out of the question to think that after rubbing an antibacterial oil on my body, the good, helpful bacterial that we count on to protect us was possibly eliminated and the harmFUL bacteria that was on the doorknob at preschool or the crayons at church were able to wreak havoc on our immunocompromised systems. My thought...let's not fix something that isn't broken. Our bodies are INCREDIBLE! Our naturally built in immune systems cannot possibly be replicated by any external source, natural or unnatural. That's an opinion...but I'm pretty sure lots of research would back that up.
Now, for the devil's advocate in you...I don't know if we might possibly have gotten sicker had we not used oils at all this winter. Maybe. But it's impossible to know. It's also very predictable that my husband, who leaves the house each day, was least likely to get sick because he was around us (and our germs) the least. It's also true that we are really lucky in our house and at this time, we don't have any medical conditions in which we have exhausted all current knowledge with no cure for an ailment or condition. Those people have every reason to try almost anything they can...
Do I think we should avoid oils like the plague? Or the flu?
No...I really don't.
I think they're supplemental. I do think they should be used sparingly and probably not on children at all. I don't think you should stop buying your cleaning supplies (or making your own with vineagar, dish soap and baking soda). I don't think they'll replace much of anything in your medicine cabinet. Supplement...yes. So could you add an oil to your current cleaning solution to make it smell lovely? Sure. Could you try some oil instead of ibuprofen for your headache? I guess...but I'm always gonna have that bottle of Advil handy.
What do I like about them? I think they smell lovely and clean. I appreciate that they eliminate the gross smell in my vacuum cleaner and the diaper pail. I absolutely think lemon oil could replace GooGone...hands down. And I like grapefruit oil in my water. I also think the DoTerra blend for mosquitoes works pretty well...And ok, I do think that they help with allergies (if you reapply it every 10 or so minutes). You know what you don't have to reapply every 10 minutes?
Afrin.
That stuff is incredible.
So don't be mad. I just can't get over how sick we all were during the time that we used them. And how we all miraculously started returning to health when I put up the diffuser and the roll-ons.
