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Essential Oils

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  • Posts: 8,736 Member

    Playing with DMSO is probably not a good idea. Might get him a Darwin Award.
    Totally this. Stay away from DSMO. It can kill you.

  • Posts: 2,577 Member
    I will say this. Since that time I used a lot of oil (which was months ago) I don't recall feeling that way since then, and hadn't felt like that months before then either. A coincidence? I guess anything is possible, but odds of the two being unrelated are very, very low.
  • Posts: 24,208 Member
    I took this out of the book I have on essential oils. Not sure if the rest of you believe it, but I think it could easily explain what happened the particular instance when I rubbed an excessive amount of oil on my skin. Notice the first section at the top and what it says about putting more. xigwhzeipjyr.jpg

    But nothing there says it goes to your colon.
    Do you really think 1-3 drops of something rubbed on your feet detoxes your body?

  • Posts: 8,736 Member
    Detoxes your body of what exactly?
  • Posts: 24,208 Member
    Totally this. Stay away from DSMO. It can kill you.

    Yeah, used it in the 90s for cell permeabilisation in cell culture work.
    Under a full isolation biohazard hood. Can be nasty stuff.
  • Posts: 13,049 Member
    Detoxes your body of what exactly?

    Toxins of course. :smile:
  • Posts: 1,787 Member
    _Waffle_ wrote: »
    Rubbing it on your belly isn't the same as shooting it up your rectum.

    This line made visiting this forum worthwhile today. Well played.
  • Posts: 8,736 Member

    Yeah, used it in the 90s for cell permeabilisation in cell culture work.
    Under a full isolation biohazard hood. Can be nasty stuff.

    Well everyone who gets cancer has been exposed to DSMO so be very careful. I fear for your future.
  • Posts: 2,577 Member

    But nothing there says it goes to your colon.
    Do you really think 1-3 drops of something rubbed on your feet detoxes your body?
    While not the colon itself, the article I posted mentioned the oil relaxing the smooth muscle surrounding the colon. That has implications for IBS (although as you mentioned they were referring to injesting the oil instead of using it topically).

    Do I think that simply rubbing a few drops of a random oil on the feet can have any kind of detoxification properties? No. While I don't think essential oils are necessarily a magic cure for health issues, I can tell you that they are extremely potent and can be dangerous if not used properly. Ingesting a teaspoon of any normal oil used in food (olive, coconut, canola, etc.) is not going to harm the body. Ingesting the same amount of an essential oil could have serious consequences. When used in the process of making cosmetics such as soaps, only a small amount of oil is needed for scent.

    Other anecdotal accounts from the first page suggest that essential oils can indeed have beneficial effects on the body.

  • Posts: 34,415 Member
    Ingesting? Dermal? Enema?

    Why do you keep conflating the delivery method? They're not synonymous.
  • Posts: 24,208 Member
    edited May 2016
    While not the colon itself, the article I posted mentioned the oil relaxing the smooth muscle surrounding the colon. That has implications for IBS (although as you mentioned they were referring to injesting the oil instead of using it topically).

    Do I think that simply rubbing a few drops of a random oil on the feet can have any kind of detoxification properties? No. While I don't think essential oils are necessarily a magic cure for health issues, I can tell you that they are extremely potent and can be dangerous if not used properly. Ingesting a teaspoon of any normal oil used in food (olive, coconut, canola, etc.) is not going to harm the body. Ingesting the same amount of an essential oil could have serious consequences. When used in the process of making cosmetics such as soaps, only a small amount of oil is needed for scent.

    Other anecdotal accounts from the first page suggest that essential oils can indeed have beneficial effects on the body.

    Good luck.

    Managing a difficult disease will have people reaching out for seemingly borderline treatments that may or may not work - just make sure that the energy you use to work out this type of treatment isn't lost to more effective clinical treatments - if you suffer from IBS, work with a doctor to see if some of the traditional elimination diets don't help first.

    Also, if you want to follow the treatment that seemed effective - it's the oral treatment of the enteric coated pills you want to look into.
  • Posts: 24,208 Member
    edited May 2016
    double post.
  • Posts: 30,886 Member
    Detoxes your body of what exactly?

    Foot odor, maybe?
  • Posts: 902 Member
    emdeesea wrote: »
    I'm very skeptical and think it runs more along the lines of placebo effect - if you think it's going to work, then it will.

    That said, occasionally when I visit the massage therapist she uses a mint oil on the scalp which is very soothing. But I don't believe that it's actually doing anything other than what it's meant for, which is to just be a refreshing scrub. I don't get into magical thinking myself.

    That's interesting that you think that because massage therapy is also an alternative treatment.

    OP, if EO works for you, use it.
  • Posts: 1,794 Member
    I am new to the E.O. world, and came into not really having no opinion about them either way. I do use oils, but I do not believe that modern medicine should be tossed out the window. I just took a trip to the doctor a couple of weeks ago, in fact, for a nasty cough I had going on. However, the more I learn, the more I realize there is a lot of opinions that tend to either fall under full out belief in using them to support your body OR total skeptics believing them to be just another craze. I am curious about what others think about taking a more holistic approach to their health.

    What do you think? Are they just another craze, or do believe their is real science behind them and why? Are they something you have ever incorporated into your life, or do you have no use for them?

    I like some EO's for the smell, lavender, orange, etc. Tea tree oil is pretty amazing for minor skin irritations. However, when a friend suggested I use some Doterra oils on my husband's abdominal incision to prevent infection after he had just spent 12 days in ICU for a ruptured colon I was dumbfounded. Parts of his incision were left open to allow drainage and such and to suggest I put a questionable substance on it was just irresponsible on her part. I know she was just trying to make a buck promoting the products, but a little common sense in this case would have been nice.
  • Posts: 2,577 Member

    Good luck.

    Managing a difficult disease will have people reaching out for seemingly borderline treatments that may or may not work - just make sure that the energy you use to work out this type of treatment isn't lost to more effective clinical treatments - if you suffer from IBS, work with a doctor to see if some of the traditional elimination diets don't help first.

    Also, if you want to follow the treatment that seemed effective - it's the oral treatment of the enteric coated pills you want to look into.
    Right, and there are other things (such as moderating intake of certain foods or ingredients) that I think do work better for me.

  • Posts: 8,736 Member
    @EvgeniZyntx so peppermint oil on the belly as a cure for Crohn's is probably a no go? I shouldn't go off my biologic and other meds and get oil instead? ;)
  • Posts: 24,208 Member
    @EvgeniZyntx so peppermint oil on the belly as a cure for Crohn's is probably a no go? I shouldn't go off my biologic and other meds and get oil instead? ;)

    Well... a nice massage is a nice massage. Nothing wrong with that. ;)

    Full disclosure - the company I worked for prior makes one of the current primary treatments for Crohn's. So take what I say with that in mind. diet and meds. diet and meds.
  • Posts: 2,577 Member
    I also think it's worth noting that as far as I can tell, no one in this thread is suggesting that essential oils can serve as a magical cure for serious diseases. Helping a disease by reducing the severity of symptoms is one thing, getting rid of the disease altogether is completely different. I don't believe anyone here is claiming that essential oils can do the latter. I tend to think the reasoning behind which some people/sources suggest using essential oils for is being taken out of context.
  • Posts: 971 Member
    I used eucalyptus with my asthmatic child with much success. We also used tea tree oil for cleaning cloth diapers and treating rashes, and gentian violet (not exactly an EO, but a plant extract) for yeast and thrush. I still keep eucalyptus around! I've also got some raspberry oil being shipped for use as sunblock after some rather nasty sunblock reactions.
  • Posts: 24,208 Member
    I also think it's worth noting that as far as I can tell, no one in this thread is suggesting that essential oils can serve as a magical cure for serious diseases. Helping a disease by reducing the severity of symptoms is one thing, getting rid of the disease altogether is completely different. I don't believe anyone here is claiming that essential oils can do the latter. I tend to think the reasoning behind which some people/sources suggest using essential oils for is being taken out of context.

    However claiming that essential oils through a topical treatment are effective for the colon is a reach. You misread an article on enteric oral treatment of minor relief of peppermint and are trying to justify your use by posting the instructions of a topical application.

    It's spacious reasoning - while I understand that you want to experiment on yourself (and I'm all for it), I do have to point out the inconsistencies and holes and lack of evidence for the general reader.
  • Posts: 15,357 Member
    I used eucalyptus with my asthmatic child with much success. We also used tea tree oil for cleaning cloth diapers and treating rashes, and gentian violet (not exactly an EO, but a plant extract) for yeast and thrush. I still keep eucalyptus around! I've also got some raspberry oil being shipped for use as sunblock after some rather nasty sunblock reactions.

    I've been having lots of problems with putting lotions and whatnot on my face. Sunscreen has started to burn, so I switched to a physical block that uses zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, and I've had much better luck.
  • Posts: 8,736 Member

    Well... a nice massage is a nice massage. Nothing wrong with that. ;)

    Full disclosure - the company I worked for prior makes one of the current primary treatments for Crohn's. So take what I say with that in mind. diet and meds. diet and meds.

    I was only joking. My Remicade has been a miracle drug and I am not going off it until I develop antibodies/have a reaction. I'm getting the magical mighty mouse juice tomorrow :)
  • Posts: 24,208 Member

    I was only joking. My Remicade has been a miracle drug and I am not going off it until I develop antibodies/have a reaction. I'm getting the magical mighty mouse juice tomorrow :)

    I know. Still, a nice massage, don't turn that down! :sunglasses:
  • Posts: 8,736 Member
    I wish they'd give us a massage at the infusion clinic. Would make the 3 hours go by faster :)
  • Posts: 2,577 Member
    edited May 2016

    However claiming that essential oils through a topical treatment are effective for the colon is a reach. You misread an article on enteric oral treatment of minor relief of peppermint and are trying to justify your use by posting the instructions of a topical application.

    It's spacious reasoning - while I understand that you want to experiment on yourself (and I'm all for it), I do have to point out the inconsistencies and holes and lack of evidence for the general reader.
    Understood, but I was more so I was going by the book I mentioned and its recommended use of the oil for topical use as well. I used the article (arguably a credible resource) to show that peppermint oil itself has been shown to benefit IBS (when they mentioned abdominal pain, in the context of IBS I was thinking the colon).

  • Posts: 24,208 Member
    Understood, but I was more so I was going by the book I mentioned and its recommended use of the oil for topical use as well. I used the article (arguably a credible resource) to show that peppermint oil itself has been shown to benefit IBS (when they mentioned abdominal pain, in the context of IBS I was thinking the colon).

    And yet, as you stated, it wasn't effective.
    Months ago I tried using peppermint oil to help with my digestion, but the effects I noticed were minimal. However, I know others who have used essential oils for other conditions and have had success. I don't think they necessarily have magical properties, but I do think they can be useful for certain things if used properly.
  • Posts: 2,577 Member
    100df wrote: »
    Peppermint up the you know what? No thank you. Is it just me or would that burn like the dickens?
    I don't know if the skin is much more sensitive there as compared to other parts of the body, but generally directions for applying essential oils topically say to dilute them.

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