Hi Marian,
10 drops of Lavender oil is far too much to use. You only need half that. Most of the sedative or calming essential oils should be used in low dilutions. Low dilutions are effective on the mind and high dilutions are more effective for physical problems eg sprained ankle.
Some essential oils used in too high an amount can have the reverse effect, ie. be stimulating instead of calming.
And to for everyone else who reads this post.................
TI TREE essential oil is the only essential oil that I know of, that is effective for all 3 infections - Viral, Bacterial & Fungal.
Therefore I wonder, just wonder (I'm not an expert) if TI TREE oil could eradicate all viruses in CFS patients? Maybe that's fantasizing too much? Or maybe, TI TREE in a BLEND with other appropriate essential oils for the other symptoms of CFS/FM.
Extract - the last few paragraphs in my Aromatherapy article.......(coming up in the future)
I have neither the knowledge nor the experience to "cure" CFS (or my own FM). But it only takes an interest, reading & research, to use essential oils & herbs in a supporting role to help ease some of our symptoms.
A microbe is not always the cause of an illness; normally it simply bears witness to a deficiency in the organism under attack. The microbe is far less important that the site.
Why are many CFS sufferers found to have multiple viruses, and healthy people living or working with them do not? If we were to give those with clinically diagnosed ME/CFS or FM, the best fresh organic diet, filtered water, fresh un-polluted air, adequate regular rest periods & deep restorative sleep, together with supporting therapies & herbs to restore their immune system & cleanse the toxins which may have accumulated in their bodies, would it be possible for their bodies to heal themselves?
It is perhaps a fanciful imagination to suggest such a simplistic idea? CFS (& FM) have complex combinations of symptoms. Every patient is unique in both their degree of symptoms & genetic or predisposition to disease. There are so many factors which come into play – environment, stress, diet, lifestyle, genetics & so forth.
Are we giving our bodies the best chance of recovery by assaulting them with a plethora of potentially hazardous drugs?
So, the question always lurks in the back of my mind. What if? What if there was a simple answer? Dare we even hope (for a simple answer)?
A simple answer makes no money for the pharmaceutical industry. A simple answer does not make the rich & powerful, more rich & powerful. Nature is in abundance all over this planet.
How many times in history, have the simplest plants from nature been used as a cure?
How was the Black Plague eradicated in the 1600's? Why did the field workers in the Lavender fields in France escape the Plague (when it spread from England over the channel)? These field workers came from surrounding villages which were completely wiped out in the Plague including the families of the Lavender field workers. Why did tanners in London who used essential oils in the tanning process escape the Plague? How did the grave robbers & corpse attendents escape the Plague? By carrying a concoction of herbs & spices, no less.
From Jean Valnet MD in The Practice of Armoatherapy.........(by the way, in France, you have to be a doctor to practice Aromatherpy - or you did, when I originally studied Aromatherapy many years ago. But many people in the country use herbs in healing, in fact, many use herbs & foods as their forefathers did hundreds of years ago).
(Jean Valnet is regarded as the Father of essential oil therapy and one of its foremost authorities. In this classic manual, he provides detailed evidence for the efficacy of plant medicine - nature's most time-honoured method for treatment of illness and relief of pain).
"Some years ago, for instance, a woman had the misfortune to upset a saucepan of boiling water over her left forearm and hand. A nurse dressed the lesions with a mixture of aromatic essences which had long seemed to me the ideal treatment for burns, its chief constituents being lavender, thyme, geranium, rosemary and sage. She completed the dressing with a bandage, simply as a precaution. Now, fifteen hours after the accident, her hand and forearm were no longer a problem at all: the skin was unmarked."
And one of my experiences with lavender oil............................
I was filling my hot water bottle with water just boiled in the kettle. It was late at night & I was tired.
I was not watching what I was doing & poured boilind water (yes, literally boiling) over my hand (instead of IN the hot water bottle).
I believe I screamed (although I can't remember every detail, only how I dealt with the incident).
I dropped the bottle in the sink & held my hand under cold running water for some minutes, and then looked at it. At this stage it was swollen slightly & very, very bright red.
I dashed into the bathroom to get my Lavender oil (which I buy in 50ml large bottles - about $42 Aust as I use it so much).
I poured the Lavender oil over the back of my hand & then soaked a clean cloth in essential oil & held it on the back of my hand. It really hurt and the Lavender oil seemed (initially) to make the pain worse. I did persevere though.
I took some Bach Rescue Remedy (for shock), and then got an ice pack (plastic flexible pack which I keep in my freezer for sore feet more than anything), wrapped it in a clean old tea towel & tied it around my hand.
I was naturally very shocked. I suppose I should have called a taxi & gone to the ER department of my local hospital (about 6 minutes drive away or 20 minutes walk), but it was late, I was in my night clothes & certainly wasn't thinking about getting dressed & calling a taxi.
I lay in bed with my hand on the outside covers wrapped in this cloth with ice pack.
I suppose the sedating/calming effect of both the Lavender oil & the Bach Rescue Remedy eventually sent me to sleep (despite the pain).
Next morning I woke as normal (the pack & cloth having fallen off sometime during the night).
The back of my hand was unmarked except for a very tiny blister about 1/4 inch in size. I kept it clean with a small bandaid with a little lavender oil on the gauze pad section of the bandaid.
Next day, my hand was healed and to this day I have a tiny white mark about an 1/8 of an inch in size.
I KNOW by this (& many other experiences) that lavender oil is a great healer.
So as to the therapeutic effect of Ti Tree essential oil (maybe in combination with some other oils & herbs), why not give it a go?
At least it can't hurt.
Victoria