Can you use essential oils during the cold and flu season? Absolutely! Essential oils are a natural and effective way to support your immune system and health. There’s a lot of germs floating around right now. Keep these tips in your back pocket. I hope they empower you during a time when things may feel out of control.
This article highlights:
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How to protect the respiratory system
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Support your health & immune system
How to protect your respiratory system
Essential oils can be a great support for the respiratory system. The essential oils that shine here are often made from the leaves of the plant. The leaves allow the plant to breathe. These essential oils help protect against infection and help us to breathe deeper. Here are 2 to try:
Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia)
Tea tree essential oil is well-researched. It’s most notable for reducing germs and helping to clear infections. This is due to one of the primary components found in the oil – terpinen-4-ol. This component is found in other essential oils but is particularly high in tea tree.
Tea tree does have a more medicinal, herbaceous aroma so you may want to combine it with another essential oil. I like to “tuck” the aroma in with another essential oil.
Black Spruce (Picea Mariana)
Conifer essential oils offer wonderful benefits to the respiratory system, warding off colds and flu. If you do come down with a bug, they can help you recover more quickly, easing congestion and sore muscles. Black Spruce essential oil is definitely a favorite conifer oil of mine, and I think you’ll like it too!
The aroma is fresh, piney, and woody. Black spruce is a wonderful oil to use alone or to blend with another, such as tea tree.
You can make a stock blend of these 2 oils by adding equal parts of each into a dropper bottle. And now you have several ways to use your blend…
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Diffuse – add a few drops to your diffuser and enjoy the aroma!
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Personal inhaler – this is a handy way to take your essential oils with you and keep them, well, personal. You can purchase “blank” personal inhalers from places like Amazon. Or ask your local aromatherapist if she has any =)
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Steam inhalation – this is an effective and underused method for essential oils. Here’s how to do it.
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You’ll need a bowl of hot, steamy water and a box of tissues nearby. (Always use caution with hot water)
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Add 1 drop of essential oil to the bowl. ONE. If more than one comes out (it happens to me a lot) then set that bowl aside, let it diffuse into the air, and start again. More than one drop can be too irritating to the mucous membranes in your nasal passages.
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Close your eyes, lean over your bowl and inhale the warm, nourishing steam. You can drape a towel around you to create a tent and concentrate the steam.
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Breathe for several minutes. The moist air can help soothe your nasal passages and thin out mucous to get it flowing. You may have to pause and blow your nose!
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When you’re done, let the bowl sit so the aroma can diffuse into the room.
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* If you don’t have essential oils on hand you can add 1 TBS of dried thyme, rosemary, or oregano to your bowl.
** Discontinue the steam if this is uncomfortable or it does not feel safe to you.
Support your overall health and immune system
Essential oils can help your whole system stay calmer, stronger, less inflamed, and healthier. There are many ways they can do this, but today let’s focus on easing stress and promoting rest and sleep.
Stress impacts immunity. Chronic stress is particularly concerning. An article in Frontiers in Immunology states that “Chronic stress also inhibits the cross talk of immune cells and signaling networks.”
Sleep supports your immune system by allowing your body time to rest and restore its balance. Let’s support that with essential oils!
Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
Lavender is a go-to anytime we want to calm stress and encourage sleep, and for good reason! This amazing essential oil contains 2 main components, linalyl acetate and linalool, and both have been the subject of many studies. Lavender and these 2 components have a pronounced sedative effect.
Sandalwood (Santalum album)
The aroma of Sandalwood essential oil is soft, slightly sweet, and woody. A component called alpha-santalol gives this oil its distinctive aroma. It has been used for generations as a calming remedy as it can quiet the mind and settle the breath.
* It’s important to make sure the oil comes from a company that uses an ecologically friendly process.
** a good substitution is Cedarwood essential oil (Juniperus virginiana) as it also has a calming effect.
Ylang Ylang (Cananga odorata var genuina)
The aroma of Ylang Ylang essential oil is strong, floral, smooth, and sweet. You definitely don’t need to use much of this one! Ylang ylang has a relaxing effect on the mind and body.
You can either use these essential oils individually or combine them into a stock blend using the recipe below.
5 drops Lavender
3 drops Sandalwood
1 drop Ylang Ylang
To make this stock blend, add the oils to a dropper bottle. To use the blend, add a couple of drops to your favorite unscented lotion or oil. Massage into your feet, chest, or neck, and breathe in. This is great support in the evening to help calm your whole body and promote good rest and sleep.
Don’t underestimate the importance of resting our bodies. It can be hard to do with our busy lives, but hopefully essential oils can assist you.
Sources:
Edwards-Jones, V., Buck, R., Shawcross S.G., Dawson, M.M. and Dunn, K. (2004). The effect of essential oils on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus using a dressing model. Burns 30, 8, 772-777. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15555788/
Lang, G. and Buchbauer, G. (2012). A review on recent research results (2008-2010) on essential oils as antimicrobials and antifungals. A review. Flavour and Fragrance Journal 27, 13-39. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ffj.2082
Bae, Y.S., Shin, E.C., Bae, Y.S., Van Eden, W. (2019) Editorial: Stress and Immunity. Frontiers in Immunology 10 (245). https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fimmu.2019.00245
Buchbauer, G., Dietrich, H., Karamat, E., Jirovetz, L., Jager, W., and Plank, C. (1991) Aromatherapy: evidence for sedative effects of the essential oil of lavender after inhalation. Journal of Biosciences 46, 1067-1072. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1817516/
Hwang, J.H. (2006) The effects of the inhalation method using essential oils on blood pressure and stress responses of clients with essential hypertension. Taehan Kanhoe Hakhoe Chi 36, 7, 1123-1134. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17211115
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