Working as a natural health practitioner for almost ten years, I’ve filtered through thousands of messages about reactions to everything including supplements, skin care productions, essential oils, medications, and vaccines. What I find with natural products is that reactions are possible, while not nearly as likely, and often do not indicate anything bad. But they can give us better clues to what our body needs!
But most of the time, the natural options are the scapegoat for negative health effects. Supplements and essential oils are the first things to get blamed when someone is experiencing an undesirable health symptom. Because it’s scary, it’s new, and many people use them with skepticism especially at first.
Years before I was a part of Young Living, I was selling and recommending nutritional supplements. Fielding through the many reaction messages, I discovered that as soon as someone would experience a health issue, they would automatically blame the natural product they were using. In digging further, there was almost always a much more obvious cause that they just didn’t realize was the case. Some of these that can cause immediate negative effects include:
Stress
Emotionally-difficult life situations
Chlorine exposure
Increase in sugar intake
OTC or prescription medications
Antibiotics
Vaccines
Exposure to synthetic fragrances and other toxins
It’s important to analyze if there are any other factors that need to be addressed in these situations. Most people never read the long list of side effects on prescription medications and will be quick to blame their essential oil or nutritional supplement first before seeing the clearly detailed list of side effects of any applicable medications.
First and foremost
Founder Gary Young says that the top two reasons for skin reactions to oils are lack of dietary sulfur and consumption of gluten/bread. (Check out this amazing video: https://youtu.be/Ycy_6MUt8CA ) So taking Sulfurzyme and eliminating gluten will do wonders for your health, including reducing rashes and risk of reaction to oils!
Detoxification
You may have heard that some reactions to natural things are a result of detoxification. This is very true.
Some supplements can be detoxifying, especially those targeted at supporting the liver and gut.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
Those with insufficient stomach acid are more likely to handle supplements uncomfortably. Symptoms of low stomach acid include heartburn, reflux, indigestion, bloating, food reactions, rashes, etc. Some essential oil supplements like Inner Defense and Mineral Essence work powerfully to address negative gut bacteria. This can cause discomfort, especially in those with insufficient stomach acid as they tend to have more pathogenic bacteria and not enough stomach acid to handle the powerful oils. Taking them with a probiotic like Life 9, digestive enzyme like Essentialzyme and/or fermented food/beverage can really help.
Most detox reactions are because the body is overloaded from years of toxins and the liver is not working optimally in order to eliminate those toxins that oils and supplements can release. Always keep ComforTone on hand to clean bowels for these situations. Also, taking Mineral Essence daily will help with this dramatically as the high-quality magnesium and other minerals are gentle but powerful for helping the body move things out, including not just toxins but also excess hormones.
Did you know that it used to be required for Young Living members to first do the Cleansing Trio? This is because so many of the reactions to essential oils are caused by this buildup of toxins in the body. A good cleanse will go very far in helping minimize the potential for these reactions!
There is research showing that a lot of detox reactions to essential oils are caused by a deficiency of various B vitamins. It is especially great to start your YL essential oil journey with Super B daily!
Start low and go slow. When starting out with oils as well as supplements, start out with just a small amount and increase as you feel comfortable.
Incorporate more and more Young Living home and body products as much as possible each month to reduce exposure to toxins. As long as the body is being exposed to toxins continuously, there will be constant detoxification happening that can be uncomfortable for a long period of time.
Always drink more water! Make sure the drinking water is not chlorinated or fluoridated.
Essential oils can be very detoxifying emotionally too. Our olfactory (scent) system is connected DIRECTLY to the emotional region of our brain. It is the only one of the five senses to do that. We all have stored memories and emotions, some that are not good for us. Just like essential oils detox physically, they are incredibly powerful to detox negative memories and emotions as well.
See Dr. Jim Bob’s video of how he couldn’t handle the smell of lavender for a long time as he was detoxifying emotional issues: https://www.facebook.com/doctorjimbob/videos/765651286917186/
Skin Reactions
Need help figuring out a skin rash and deciphering if it’s a reaction to something? Here’s some of the most important info to know about skin and EO’s:
Skin rashes are extremely common among the population and it is most often due to toxicity in the body (being overloaded with toxins). This is something that can happen at any stage in life at any time and may come or go no matter what a person is using for their health. Unfortunately when people start using YL essential oils, this toxicity is often blamed despite the fact that it would have happened anyway. Check out the book Inner Transformations Using Essential Oils by Dr’s Deardeuff (https://www.discoverlsp.com/inner-transformations-using-essential-oils-2nd-edition.html ) and/or the sections in the desk reference on bowel and liver cleansing to clean out that body! (For eczema, psoriasis, etc., please check out our File on Gut Healing: https://www.facebook.com/notes/oily-friends-essential-oils-group/gut-healing-yl-oilssupplements/2027270210847931/
There are technically no allergies possible to steam-distilled essential oils. There are other common reasons for reacting to essential oils though. The following article from Dr. David Stewart explains those other reasons in very good detail: http://www.raindroptraining.com/messenger/v4n1.html (This is a VERY good read! Please take a few minutes to check it out!)
Did you know that one of the leading causes of skin reactions from pure essential oils like Young Living's is a reaction with the toxins in everyday body care products??
Occasionally, individuals beginning to use YLEO's will suffer rashes or allergic reactions. This is often due to an interaction of the oil with residues of synthetic, petroleum-based personal care products that have caused toxins to be stored in the fatty subdermal layers of skin.
These chemicals can remain trapped in fatty tissues underneath the skin for several months or years, where they harbor the potential of reacting with essential oils that may be topically applied later. The user may mistakenly assume that the oil is the cause of the problem.
When using essential oils on a daily basis, it is imperative to avoid personal care products containing toxic chemicals. Some of those that can react include:
--"Fragrance" or "parfum" --Propylene glycol --Sodium lauryl sulfate --Aluminum/aluminum salts --Benzalkonium chloride --Parabens
Methylene chloride, methyl isobutyl ketone, and methyl ethyl ketone ingredients are not only toxic but they can react with some compounds in natural essential oils and potentially result in a severe case of dermatitis.
Don't hesitate to switch over your personal care products asap and start detoxing what's being stored under your skin!
Of course it's also crucial to note that many other brands of essential oils contain these or other toxins which can instantly cause a rash by themselves. Purity in both our essential oils and our everyday body care products is so important! Young Living for the win!
Citrus juice and oils contain larger molecules than steam-distilled oils which can react on the skin if applied before strong sun exposure, so avoid using these oils topically on open areas of skin before heading to the beach or a day out in the sun! (Ingesting citrus oils will NOT cause a photosensitive reaction.)
If you ARE having a DETOX reaction from essential oils, don’t just stop everything! Heal your body! Use this info from Dr. Minke: https://youtu.be/ZP8TONpUaj4
Per Cherie Ross, here’s what to do when experiencing a topical detox reaction:
Stop topically application of EO’s
Go internally with EO’s and supplements to cleanse the liver and bowels
Use the Seedlings diaper rash cream topically on the area affected
For more information, check out Dr. Jim Bob’s video on “Can you be allergic to essential oils?” https://www.facebook.com/groups/1811597562478067/permalink/1822062101431613/
(This video is in the E.O.C. group so if you can’t see it, request to be added to the group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1811597562478067/ )
FINAL TIP: Favor topical application sites that are less sensitive and very beneficial--feet, spine, etc. over the more sensitive areas such as the neck and chest.
Overall, listen to your body but don’t take every negative reaction as a bad thing. Recognize that a reaction to a natural product is often your body’s way of telling you something needs healing. Healing is a process and can be uncomfortable sometimes.
Please keep in mind that this information pertains to YOUNG LIVING oils and supplements only. When quality is compromised, side effects/reactions mean something totally different!