Can Essential Oils / perfumes heal certain ailments?

[DawudTalut]

Peace be on you...Can Essential Oils / perfumes heal certain ailments? Any experience?

 

[Susanpalli,JW]

I have had experience with lavender oil which has a calming effect, calendula oil too. Jasmine oil for a feeling of well being.

 

[Drolefille]

Heal? No.

 

[YmirGF]

It depends what active components are in said oils I would suppose. The homeopathic thing simply does not have a lot of credibility. Folks might temporarily feel better due to the placebo effect.

 

[Drolefille]

It depends what active components are in said oils I would suppose. The homeopathic thing simply does not have a lot of credibility. Folks might temporarily feel better due to the placebo effect.

Clarification: Homeopathy is the process of using extremely "diluted" (read so diluted as to be non-existent) ... things to try to cure other things. That's vague but that's because it's really rather crazy.

Homeopathy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Homeopathy Listeni/ˌhoʊmiˈɒpəθi/ (also spelled homoeopathy or homœopathy; from the Greek ὅμοιος hómoios "like-" and πάθος páthos "suffering") is a system of alternative medicine created in 1796 by Samuel Hahnemann, based on his doctrine of like cures like, according to which a substance that causes the symptoms of a disease in healthy people will cure similar symptoms in sick people.[1] Homeopathy is considered a pseudoscience,[2][3][4] and its remedies have been found to be no more effective than placebos.[5][6][7]

At least an essential oil has enough of a concentration of something to hypothetically DO something.

 

[columbus]

Folks might temporarily feel better due to the placebo effect.

Sometimes that's all it takes to cure an ailment.

Tom

 

[Drolefille]

Sometimes that's all it takes to cure an ailment.

Tom

That isn't really a cure.

 

[Quintessence]

Peace be on you...Can Essential Oils / perfumes heal certain ailments? Any experience?

Yes (both physiological and psychological), and yes. Was there something specific you were curious about?

Also, use of EOs isn't homeopathy. I'm not sure why that was brought up.

 

[Drolefille]

Yes (both physiological and psychological), and yes. Was there something specific you were curious about?

Also, use of EOs isn't homeopathy. I'm not sure why that was brought up.

Frequently people assume homeopathy = alternative medicine.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Sometimes that's all it takes to cure an ailment.

Tom

And sometimes delaying real treatment by wasting time with fake panaceas like essential oils is all it takes to make an ailment much worse.

Or sometimes, the ingredients in alternative therapies that you don't bother to tell your doctor about are all it takes to render the real therapy ineffective.

 

[Penumbra]

Essential oils don't have a lot of scientific evidence supporting them. There's a rather low-volume collection of studies showing inconclusive effects, or slightly positive effects, or in some cases slightly negative effects. But at least unlike homeopathy where things are diluted to the point of uselessness, essential oils are actually strong compounds; many of them are poisonous to ingest even, because they are plant defenses against bugs and other things. Some of them do have measurably useful properties.

Tea tree oil is well evidenced to be a decent natural anti-septic, although not as good as some chemical ones. I have some soaps with tea tree oil, and I've put drops of tea tree oil on individual blemishes.

There are claims that aromatherapy is useful, but convincing scientific evidence is lacking or weak. Mostly I just use essential oils in the air for the way they smell, because they smell nice. Lavender, cinnamon, rose, etc.

 

[Drolefille]

Essential oils don't have a lot of scientific evidence supporting them. There's a rather low-volume collection of studies showing inconclusive effects, or slightly positive effects, or in some cases slightly negative effects. But at least unlike homeopathy where things are diluted to the point of uselessness, essential oils are actually strong compounds; many of them are poisonous to ingest even, because they are plant defenses against bugs and other things. Some of them do have measurably useful properties.

Tea tree oil is well evidenced to be a decent natural anti-septic, although not as good as some chemical ones. I have some soaps with tea tree oil, and I've put drops of tea tree oil on individual blemishes.

There are claims that aromatherapy is useful, but convincing scientific evidence is lacking or weak. Mostly I just use essential oils in the air for the way they smell, because they smell nice. Lavender, cinnamon, rose, etc.

Bravo for actual answer. Better than I could do.

Felt like publicly fruballing

 

[Quintessence]

And sometimes delaying real treatment by wasting time with fake panaceas like essential oils is all it takes to make an ailment much worse.

Who claims essential oils are panaceas?! I have never, ever seen anyone claim that. Nor have I ever heard anybody claim they are a total substitute for talking to your doctor or using contemporary medicine. Nor have I ever I heard people who are actually knowledgable on essential oils make outlandish claims about what they can do for you.

 

[Drolefille]

Who claims essential oils are panaceas?! I have never, ever seen anyone claim that. Nor have I ever heard anybody claim they are a total substitute for talking to your doctor or using contemporary medicine. Nor have I ever I heard people who are actually knowledgable on essential oils make outlandish claims about what they can do for you.

I think it's the one's who claim to be knowledgable but aren't that are the problem.

Healthy Living and Essential Oils
Healthy Living and Essential Oils: ADHD and Autism -

This is just one "miracle oil" company.

Outlandish claims are totally out there.

Essential oils: A perfect example of alternative medicine exaggeration | Skeptoid examines some.

 

[Quintessence]

Eh, I guess I haven't run into it. I must be discerning with the company I keep; none of the workshops I've taken on EOs were conducted by fraudulent scam artists, nor have any of the books I've consulted on the subject been full of such BS.

What I notice more often is fraudulent essential oils themselves. I notice them so often it's nauseating. Whenever I see someone selling "lilac" essential oil, I want to slap the retailer and tell them to get a new supplier.

 

[NoraSariah]

My mom believes so. She uses them for herself and my dad who has extreme anxiety. I personally don't like them because the smells give me a headache and she puts them in diffusers all around the house, so it annoys me a lot. To each their own.

 

[samosasauce]

Mint can help an upset stomach

 

[DawudTalut]

1-Lavender might slow down the central nervous system. If used in combination with anesthesia and other medications given during and after surgery, it might slow down the central nervous system too much. Stop using lavender at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery.

2-Lavender oil seems to have hormone effects that could disrupt the normal hormones in a boy's body.

Lavender: MedlinePlus Supplements [Last reviewed - 11/09/2012]