Five Tips To Ensure Safety When You Use Essential Oils

Posted on: 22 February 2017

Essential oils are great for naturally treating certain ailments and improving your overall health and wellbeing. However, you need to use them properly to get the best possible results. 

The following are five important tips to keep in mind to make sure that your essential oil use is as safe as can be:

Be careful not to ingest essential oils unless you have first gotten professional advice

It's a good idea to get the advice of a certified aromatherapist if you're using an essential oil around your mouth or in any place where you might possibly ingest some.

While some essential oils can be taken orally in a diluted form, it's important to make sure that any essential oils you could get in your mouth are absolutely pure and very high in quality. It's also important to make sure that any product you could potentially ingest is adequately diluted.

Take special care if you have a chronic illness or are pregnant or breastfeeding

You should be discussing any products you're using with your doctor if you have a chronic health condition or if you are pregnant or nursing.

Even if you are only using an essential oil topically, it's important to discuss the product with your doctor and get the opinion of an experienced health care professional.

Check up on expiration dates before you use essential oils

Over time, essential oils will begin to oxidize. When they have oxidized, they will not be effective and could cause irritation on the skin when used topically. 

Pay attention to the shelf life and any expiration dates on containers of essential oils. You may want to refrigerate essential oils so that they last as long as possible. 

Know which essential oils you should stay away from

There are certain essential oils that are considered to be toxic and should always be avoided. For example, almond essential oil in its unrectified state should be avoided. Also, camphor, fig leaf, horseradish, black tea tree, and wormseed are essential oils that should always be avoided. 

Familiarize yourself with which essential oils you should stay away from. Some essential oils are ok for the general population but may be potentially harmful to you because of a certain health condition you suffer from. 

Be sure that you're properly diluting essential oils

It's almost always recommended that essential oils be diluted before they are used. It's not only costly to use pure essential oils, but it's also potentially harmful because an undiluted essential oil can be too potent. 

Fortunately, rollerballs of essential oils generally come pre-diluted for your convenience. 

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