Whether you use aromatherapy as a stand alone or as a complementary first aid treatment there are several aromatic oils I’d like to recommend you have in your aromatic first aid kit.

My recommendations include important details for you to consider when purchasing an oil, such as its Latin Name, Country of Origin, Method of Extraction and Part of the Plant Used. I also list the best oils to consider when creating a synergistic blend.

LAVENDER ( Lavendula augustifolia ) - Organic, Steam Distillation Flowers, Italian High Altitude.

Highly scented, sweet, floral, and slightly woody Lavender is a universal healing oil and has a beneficial and healing effect on the body, mind spirit and emotions.

Keywords: UNIVERSAL HEALER Lavender is the most commonly used essential oil and the absolute classic oil for treating burns!

During the early 20th century, French chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse became interested in the use of essential oils for their medicinal properties. While working Gattefosse accidentally burned his arm very badly! On reflex he plunged his burned arm into large a vat of lavender oil. His burn healed rapidly and there was absolutely NO scarring of tissue!

Gattefosse is credited with coining the term “aromatherapy” in his 1928 article supporting the use of essential oils in their whole, pure and unadulterated state.

Lavender has broad application and is especially useful for skin care healing, headaches, bug bites, and sore muscles.

Lavender is the most well known and used essential oil and every home and office should keep a bottle of it handy!

Distilling at high altitude allows lower temperatures and lower pressure for distillation making it possible for the volatile phytochemicals to come through intact in the final product.

Lavender is excellent for skin care and to promote healing. Use it for burns, rashes, acne, eczema and psoriasis.

Apply it immediately to burns to prevent blistering, or scarring, as well as speed healing of wounds as it stimulates cellular regeneration.

Lavender is useful for relieving headaches, premenstrual tension, as well as promoting restful sleep.

It is excellent for balancing hyper emotional states such as shock, anger, impatience and irritability and helps dispel the negative mental states of fear & worry.

Try a synergistic blend of Lavender with any of the following aromatic oils: Clary Sage, Geranium, Neroli, Petitgrain, Sandalwood & Vetiver.

Please join me for Part VII in this series of articles to learn about the next essential oil I recommend you have in your aromatic first aid kit, PEPPERMINT ( Mentha piperita ).

Properly administered essential oils are a natural, safe and effective way to enhance your health and well-being and can produce satisfying results where other methods have failed.

Aromatherapy is a gentle and noninvasive complementary and alternative health care system used for balancing and synchronizing your body, mind, spirit and emotions to enhance your health. Please consult with your physician regarding your health concerns.

KG has utilized essential oils in her energy medicine practice for more than 30 years. During that time she has facilitated healing for thousands of people suffering from personal trauma, illness and injury. Through her unique AromaTest

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Whether you use aromatherapy as a stand alone or as a complementary first aid treatment there are several aromatic oils I’d like to recommend you have in your aromatic first aid kit.

My recommendations include important details for you to consider when purchasing an oil, such as its Latin Name, Country of Origin, Method of Extraction and Part of the Plant Used. I also list the best oils to consider when creating a synergistic blend.

TEA TREE ( Melaleuca alternifolia - Organic, Steam Distilled Leaf, Australia.

Strongly assertive disinfectant Tea Tree has a fresh and spicy, medicinal and antiseptic smell.

Tea Tree has the undisputed popular reputation as a ‘cure all.’ It has powerful anti fungal, anti viral, and antibacterial properties.

Keywords: ANTISEPTIC & ANTIFUNGAL First suggestion for athlete’s foot, nail viruses, and fungal infections. Can be used topically undiluted.

Captain James Cook and his mates when arriving in Australia in the 1700’s wanted a refreshing herbal tea to drink. They chose the fragrant leaves of a tree. The tree has been called Tea Tree ever since.

Use in anti acne remedies, as well as to combat flu and other viral and bacterial infections.

French physician Paul Belaiche in 1985 studied Tree Tree’s healing abilities for Candida albicans, a vaginal yeast infection. In most cases this infection can be treated effectively without the side effects common with conventional treatments.

Research has proven it useful for another vaginal infection, trichomoniasis. In 1962 an American study of 130 women treated using it recovered from this infection.

Helpful for balancing skin conditions like acne, alone or in a blend.

Can be used topically to treat insect, spider and scorpion bites.

Tea Tree is also an immune stimulant, a decongestant and an analgesic or pain reliever.

Try a synergistic blend of Tea Tree with any of the following aromatic oils: Black Pepper, Atlas Cedarwood, Himalayan Cedarwood, Ginger, Lavender, Lemon, Myrrh, Thyme and Rosemary.

Please join me for Part IX in this series of articles to learn about the FINAL essential oil I recommend you have in your aromatic first aid kit, VETIVER ( vetiveria zizanoides )

Properly administered essential oils are a natural, safe and effective way to enhance your health and well-being and can produce satisfying results where other methods have failed.

Aromatherapy is a gentle and noninvasive complementary and alternative health care system used for balancing and synchronizing your body, mind, spirit and emotions to enhance your health. Please consult with your physician regarding your health concerns.

KG has utilized essential oils in her energy medicine practice for more than 30 years. During that time she has facilitated healing for thousands of people suffering from personal trauma, illness and injury. Through her unique AromaTest

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Despite the image of Aromatherapy as lacking in scientific foundation in the United States, the use of pure, therapeutic grade essential oil for medical applications is common throughout much of Europe. The essential oil distilled from the flowers of Helichrysum Italicum is well-known for its broad range of actions, which can support healing of many common sports-related injuries. The essential oil’s compounds are known to prevent and relieve blood clotting (helpful for bruising), stimulate tissue regeneration, act as a powerful anti-oxidant, and can reduce inflammation. This combination of effects many help with injuries such as twists and sprains, bruises, tendonitis and the like. Any dedicated athlete would greatly welcome such a non-toxic, effective alternative healing remedy!

From a scientific standpoint, the alternative medicine aspects of aromatherapy deals with the interaction of a wide array of natural plant chemicals with human physiological systems. Each essential oil is many, sometimes hundreds, of individual chemical constituents. These often work in concert to provide a synergy of effects - a result that is greater than the application of each phytochemical alone. A great example is the combination of chemical compounds in Eucalyptus Radiata essential oil - it has been called an ‘aromatherapists designer oil’ because of it’s mix of anti-viral, expectorant, and anti-inflammatory components, plus a pleasing aroma, make it helpful in treating certain types of cold symptoms. Helichrysum Italicum contains a great synergy in it’s own way - it’s constituent chemicals are known to reduce inflammation, signal tissue regeneration, remove clotted blood, relax tissues and reduce pain.

Before approaching it’s possible effects of Helichrysum essential oil on sprains, strains and other sports injuries, let’s look at the root of these painful conditions. Take, for example, a an ankle twisted in a basketball game - what has happened physiologically? Connective tissues (tendons and ligaments) have been stretched beyond their normal lengths; these tissue have suffered ‘micro tears’, which is damage to the actual structure of the cells of the connective tissue. Some of these cells are so damaged that they die, and need to be re-grown. There is often additional swelling and bruising involved, which is generally the leaking of blood from damaged capillaries into intracellular space. This results in a loss of blood supply to surrounding cells, and blockage of nutrients, oxygen, and waste products moving to and from those cells. This in fact, leads to cellular damage beyond the primary injury of the connective tissue cells. More cell death occurs here, not only directly from the loss of nutrient/waste exchange for these cells, but also due to an increase in oxidative radical activity. The greater the amount of ’secondary’ injury which occurs lengthens the time to recovery - here, one can see why applying ice to an injury soon after it occurs can speed healing - it reduces the amount of blood that clots (bruises) in an area, and lowers the metabolic activity (and oxidative radical production) in cells with a loss of nutrient supply - therefore, less secondary cell damage and death accompanies the primary injury.

The synergistic effects of the compounds found in Helichrysum oil address the physiological processes involved in such injuries directly. First the anti-inflammatory and anti-clotting effects reduce the secondary damage (occurring in acute injuries, or, for example, just after a training bout that has made a chronic injury flare-up). The anti-oxidant properties also prevent further cellular damage from occurring. The analgesic effects are a nice addition, possibly reducing the need for oral pain-relief medications of questionable toxicity. Finally, the tissue regenerating effects help re-grow all damaged tissue, and can even help prevent scarring from cuts and open wounds.

In ‘Medical Aromatherapy’, Dr. Schnaubelt indicates that the effects of many essential oils cannot be explained completely by the actions of their individual components - many oils’ effects are greater than the sum of their parts. The synergy of the components in Helichrysum produces a particularly sensational healing result. A recent user of the oil, who had been a professional triathlete, then cyclist, then ‘casual’ marathon runner, was having chronic pain in an achilles tendon. Overuse - and perhaps a stiff clutch on an old car - lead him to believe that despite excellent fitness, he wound not be able to take part in an upcoming major marathon. The injury hurt every time he ran; he had been a proponent of alternative therapies for many years, with some success using DMSO for tendon-related inflammation. He had not found DMSO (often used on racehorses for similar injuries) to be as effective on chronic injuries as acute ones, and this achilles issue was no different - nothing was helping fast enough where he knew he could make the race. For the first time, he gave Helichrysum essential oil a try, applying undiluted (Helichrysum is very well tolerated this way) to the area twice daily. Within two days, he was running without pain, and ran a personal best at the marathon event.

In this instance, the application of Helichrysum reduced pain (and likely inflammation as well) in the area, and supported regeneration of the damaged tendon tissues. The essential oil should prove just as effective with acute injuries as well - it’s noted ability to reduce the clotting of blood, along with it’s anti-inflammatory and tissue regenerative properties give it a seemingly complete natural arsenal to speed healing in most common sport-related injuries. In fact, this could extend to a very wide variety of trauma injuries, though great care should be taken to use as an adjunct to proper allopathic medical care in such cases.

If you decide to try the oil for yourself, be sure of your source, and that the variety is correct one discussed here. The oil is appropriate for range of injuries - minor to major - though of course it is not a substitute for proper medical attention in any way. Using the oil in conduction with a prescribed therapy should be discussed with your doctor. The literature does state that the oil is very well tolerated, and can be applied directly to the skin undiluted. An application of a thin film a few times a day, as soon as chronic pain is noted, or an acute injury occurs, is best. The oil can be used on broken or damaged skin - in fact, it is included in formulas to reduce scar formation along with Rosehipseed and Hazelnut oils (a 5% dilution of Helichrysum in a 50/50 blend of these two base oils can be used to support wound healing). As with any therapy, be aware of how you’re body is responding to treatment, and consult a medical professional with any questions or concerns about it’s use. In summary, Helichrysum italicum essential oil is a gentle, topical treatment which may speed healing for many common sport-related injuries. It is regarded as a very safe oil and is worth a try if you are in need of such support.

The author is the owner of Ananda Aromatherapy, a source for pure therapeutic grade essential oils, blends, and aromatherapy products. Ananda’s vision is to offer the highest grades of products to ensure their healing properties are available to it’s customers.

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