essential-oilsI’m hearing so many good things about essential oils and how they can boost immune function, heal infection and help a variety of ailments. Botanical oils have been part of the healer’s toolkit for thousands of years. But once modern medicine began to develop pharmaceuticals, the use of essential oils fell away. Today, as many people suspect that Big Pharma may not always have the patient’s interests at heart, that’s changing. It’s only natural to question a drug when the list of its side effects exceeds the description of the drug’s benefit. Essential oils are back in favor.

Still, how do we dig through so much confusing information? Then I found a post by Ellen Burgan, who has been using oils for about a decade. She’s written an easy-to-understand beginner’s guide to essential oils, which she kindly agreed to allow me to share with you.

Her post lays out many of the most common and most helpful essential oils and how they can be used.  The concentration of phytochemicals used can be potent, so she cautions about using the oils in safe quantities. More is not always better! And as always, we recommend talking to your physician before you begin their use.

Because I’m a believer in alternative remedies, you might wonder why I don’t already know more about this.  The fact is that at menopause I began to get scent-sensitive. I can not tolerate most concentrated scents and that includes essential oils. (Thankfully, most people do not have this at menopause. I suspect I inherited it from my mother, to whom it also happened.) It’s a huge disappointment that I can’t use esssential oils.

A number of my colleagues do use the oils and when they come up to hug me it becomes a problem. So if you’re an extensive user of the oils, please be aware of this when you hug someone you don’t know.

I thank Ellen for sharing this post with my readers.

 

Essential Oils Beginner’s Guide

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