Ongoing Challenges with Essential Oils

One of the most common questions that I get is related to whether or not I can tolerate essential oils. The answer is no, I am not able to tolerate essential oils since my chemical injury. My brain is unable to tell the difference between a synthetic fragrance and an essential oil. The vast majority of essential oils on the poorly regulated market are riddled with solvents and pesticides. Even when I am exposed to high quality, therapeutic grade, organic essential oils, I still have reactions and become very ill.

After having a really positive experience at a lavender farm, I decided to experiment with some controlled exposure to Lavender EO, as well as Peppermint EO in my home this Spring. One of my dearest friends and chosen family is an aromatherapist and she mailed me very high quality oils from her apothecary for me to experiment with. I chose peppermint and lavender because they are plants that have close contact with and because they are known to be helpful in treatment of migraines (which I suffer endlessly with).

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to tolerate the essential oils and my experiments have not been successful. I will continue to work at this in my recovery, but I think that EO medicine is too potent, too concentrated and impacts my system with too much immediacy.

I just can’t tolerate it, but that doesn’t mean that I never will…

Before I got sick with ES/MCS I used essential oils all the time. I have learned that I also likely misused them a lot and likely sensitized myself to oils because of the many ways that I misused them. I was never clear about about how much you are supposed to dilute them. I also used the same oils year after year after year, without switching things up. I didn’t use oils as medicine, I used them as perfume. Essential oils are too potent to be used in this way. They are powerful medicine and need to be used with great care and under the guidance of a certified aromatherapist.

Personally, I think that essential oils should never be worn as perfume or diffused on the body in shampoos, lotions or creams. They are medicine that are meant for individuals. Like other medicines, they shouldn’t be shared with everyone around you. Your medicine is between you and your essential oil. There is no need for it to be spread around to people who may not need the medicine. 

I guess you might be asking yourself, "why bother experimenting?" The truth is that I experiment because one of my dearest friends and chosen family is an aromatherapist. It has been very challenging to share space with her over the last two years, but it is a major priority in my life. It is important for me to recover enough to be able to not have reactions when in her presence. She has also made a lot of changes to be able to spend time with me and so I am just trying to also do my part, in as much as I am able.

When people respect your access needs, it is an act of love and a form of collective care that has transformative power!

I can’t recover alone.

I am endlessly grateful for the people in my life who really work hard to accommodate me.

MCS & Essential Oils

A question that I am frequently asked is whether or not people with Environmental Sensitivities (ES) can tolerate essential oils. I am certainly not an expert on essential oils, but this is my take on it based on my knowledge of my own experience and the limited research I have done on the experiences of others living with ES. People with ES vary greatly. Some folks have mild sensitivities while others have more a disabling form of ES that is manifested as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). Even those with more disabling forms of MCS can vary too so it is always best to ask the person about their specific challenges.

The quality and grade of essential oils varies tremendously and a lot of the essential oils on the market are not pure. Plants are grown as monocrops which are often sprayed with pesticides unless they are certified organic. Oils are extracted using solvents and are suspended in petroleum based oils. Real essential oil is actually very expensive and hard(er) to source.

As people have started to learn about the health concerns of “fragrance”, they are turning to essential oils as a safer alternative. Unfortunately, as the demand for essential oils goes UP, the quality of the oils goes DOWN and the market is not well regulated from what I can tell. Also, essential oils have similar molecular structures as synthetic oils and unfortunately, for those who have experienced chemical injury – the brain can’t always tell the difference!

Personally, *I* can tolerate trace amounts of some very high quality, certified organic, therapeutic grade essential oils on people around me for very short periods of time, but not on myself. Other people cannot tolerate it at all, while others are sensitive (or even allergic) to certain resins or natural occurring terpenes in some oils.

For some people, essential oils are medicines that are used for therapeutic purposes. Medicines should not be administered to anyone other than the person requiring the intervention. Like other medicines, essential oil can be carried in a small medicine bottle and opened to inhale when necessary.

The most important thing to note is that essential oils do NOT contribute to a scent-free space. If you use them in your home or on your skin and body, the scent will be in your clothing, bags, books, shoes, coats and hair making you scented when you come into spaces that are meant to be scent/fragrance free.

When in doubt, leave it out!