Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Lavender Essential Oil to the Rescue

Whenever I travel I always take an "emergency kit" of essential oils with me. One of the essential oils I find most useful to have on hand is lavender. Thinking back to the times away from home when I've had to use it, many incidents come to mind. The most dramatic was the time in Florida when my husband was checking under the hood of the car and the radiator cap exploded into his face, hitting him on the forehead. The water bubbled up and his entire upper body was scorched.

I immediately doused him with undiluted lavender oil, then applied aloe vera gel, which I also had with me. I kept reapplying the lavender until the soreness subsided and also gave him a couple of Aspirins for the shock. Luckily, we had access to a swimming pool close by, and got there as soon as we could.

My husband stayed neck deep in the pool for about twenty minutes. When he came out, there wasn't a mark on his body except for where the radiator cap had struck his forehead. Our friends who witnessed this said it was a miracle - they had never seen burns heal like this.

One time when I was telling this story, a lady told me that this same type of accident had happened to her husband and he had to spend time in the hospital with third degree burns. Thank goodness for lavender!

Another time lavender came to my rescue was when my son picked me up at the Vancouver airport, saying we'd have to hurry to get to an emergency clinic, as he had just been stung by a bee. He has a history of violent allergic reactions to bee stings; each one getting a little worse. His hand was already swollen to twice its normal size and the swelling was rapidly moving up his arm. Fortunately I was wearing a pendant that contained lavender and I immediately applied it to his bite, stopping the swelling and eliminating the rush. We didn't go to the clinic.

Over the years I have used lavender on numerous people who have had bad reactions to insect bites. It nearly always helps. It is also great for taking the itch out of mosquito bites.

Lavender is also one of my standbys for treating headaches. Just a drop rubbed into the temples and another under the hairline at the back of the neck will usually do the trick.

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