Lavender

[Darkness]

Iwas giving a talk on well being at a conference today and mentioned the benefits of lavender oil for stress. One of the delegates told the group that she had added lavender oil to a bath and the oil had burnt her skin. I though perhaps she had used something synthetic but she was adamant that it was a good quality pure essential oil from a reputable source

I've not heard of anyone having such a severe reaction to lavender and was wondering if any of you had come across this

 

[waia2000]

never come across anything like it, lavender is one of the only essential oils safe enough to be used neat on the skin, and i slapped it all over my face when i had chicken pox to stop the scarring, and it worked!

 

[awni]

yes i use it neat too, great on my temples for a tension headache. i was a bit shocked when the woman said it but as I was answering her another delegate piped up and said she used neat all the time without problems.
i really think she has used something with lavender in it rather than pure oil as when i asked her she said she couldn't remember and said it might have been some from the body shop and then said no it wasn't it was the proper stuff from a reputable company! i felt like she was blaming me and i've never met her before[sm=wasntmesign.gif]

 

[uncle meat]

I had a nosebleed recently and used it neat to help stop the bleeding. I could feel a burning sensation, but it didn't physically cause a burn.

I think it would be unusual to burn somebody if you're adding a few drops to a bath it's diluted millions of times, so I think there was probably something missing from the story she told you...

 

[Tomas]

azalia, the sensation you felt would be because the mucous membrane up your nose is different to your skin!!!!!most oils are irritant to mucous membranes and thats why oils should only be used on the skin and not internally, normally when you smell an oil, it would be in the bottle or a blend so the aroma and oils properties are weaker

i agree something is definately amiss with her story anyway, are the body shop not a reputable company?!!!

I'd just let it go if i were you!

 

[Selliah]

mmmn? i have a client who reacts that way to tea tree.it tookmemonths torealise that she had actuallly become sensitised to it as she used it regular and neat on her skin.It dioes not happen to everyone but i find that it can happen to long term use of neat singular oils on the skin.The reactions can be as bad as this lady states and means they may never use that particular oil again. JANE

 

[Black Beauty]

I didn't put it up my nose, just around my nostrils. It also made my face feel quite hot when a drop got on my cheek[:-]

 

[Lastornole]

I have never heard of this. What I am guessing is that if there is built up stress, and the lavender is helping release it, then it could result as a rash on the skin, or something of the sort. So not originally caused by the lavender, but as a result of a release of built up stress that may have formed into something harmfull. Stress can accumulate into things we wouldn't normally think of. This is called psychosomatics.

 

[Antz C]

The simple fact is this: all oils, and I mean, ALL oils, have the potential to cause problems, if the person on whom it is being used, is sensitised to it. Tea Tree for instance, is now such a great sensitiser that many regulators are talking about restricting the free sale of it. Lavender, while normally felt to be safe, is another oil where excessive use of it means we are now exposed to it far more than we were say 10 years ago.

The downside then, is that some of us might develop sensitivity to those oils, and will react badly - even to Lavender.

The big difficulty is that we will not know when the sensitising occurs: never the first exposure, but usually on a subsequent exposure.

This just confirms that essential oils are powerful stuff, and should be treated with respect. We the aromatherapists, must also be careful and educate our clients about the dangers. And dangers do exist. In the field of allergies and sensitivites, everything depends on the person:think hayfever - no problem to most people but for those who are sensitive to pollen, woe!

 

[Colbert Nation]

There's always going to be the odd person here and there who will have some adverse reaction to a substance, whether it is an essential oil, something from the chemist, a plant in the garden etc. Most purchased products will say something along the lines of "seek medical advice prior to using and discontinue use if any adverse reaction occurs" and people using essential oils should at least have done a little reading up on the subject before using them, so therefore should know about what can/can't be used directly on the skin. Unfortunately there are a lot of shops just cashing in on the sale of essential oils and the counter staff should really be trained like in the chemists to say "Have you used this before?", and give whatever advice is necessary for that product.

I've used Lavender and Tea Tree direct on my skin without any reaction whatsoever, and distilled witch hazel is a great one on a bit of cotton wool stuffed up the nose if you have a nose bleed (it works for me, but it might not suit everyone!)

On another note, there will always be those people who just attend the talks we give who are there to be awkward and try and heckle you. Something along the lines of "Oh that's interesting, I've never heard of that happening before, Would you like to come and speak to me at the end of the talk and we can investigate what the cause could have been?" will usually thow them off track and they probably won't come to see you afterwards either.

Love and Reiki Hugs

 

[JANE W]

Sounds to me that the problem may not necessarily be the oil but the method of application. Did this person mentioned how she added it to her bath? Oil and water don't mix and oil heated in the bathcould burn the skin. One of my fellow aromatherapy studentsmentioned she was burntby adding EO directly to her bath.

I was taught to always mix EO with an emulsifer (such as milk) before adding to the bath.

 

[eau de cuisson]

It could be possible...I used orange oil in my bath a couple of months ago because I just love the smell, just 6 drops burned the ??? out of me!!!felt mainly on the back of my legs, the part of my body that touched the bottom of the tub. it took about 10 minutes for me to feel the burn and I didn't immediately know what it was.

But the second time it happened I knew it was the orange oil!!

Daphne

 

[SmokeLine]

Citrus oils are particularly known for causing reactions when used in a warm or hot bath.

It would be more unusual for lavender, but not, of course, impossible.

 

[wiguceyk]

Its quite elementary - hot oil burns! Swishing oil around in the water is not enough, oil and water don't mix so it has to have an emulsifer so that large drops of oil don't just heat up and burn your skin!