Aromatherapy and Diffuser Use
Aromatherapy with essential oils has been rapidly gaining in popularity over the past few years. We will discuss other methods of using essential oils at another time, but today we will focus on the diffusion of these substances into the air.
Common uses in children
Aromatherapy is commonly used for calming anxiety, reducing nausea, and as a sleep aid. This is true in children as well as adults, and can certainly have benefits in these areas. The key is to use them appropriately and be aware of the risks involved with improper use.
According to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Integrative Health program, four aromatherapy oils have been shown to be safe and effective in children over age 5: lavender, peppermint, orange, and ginger.
Lavender: perhaps the most commonly used essential oil for diffusion, lavender is used to ease anxiety and promote healthy sleep habits. Available data does show that short-term use of lavender is safe. There are no long-term use studies available as yet.
Peppermint: used for nausea and gastrointestinal discomfort, as well as headaches. Peppermint aromatherapy can be toxic to pets.
Orange: may be beneficial to easing stress and anxiety, though this has not been proven through scientific studies.
Ginger: similar to peppermint, ginger has been used to treat nausea. There is conflicting evidence of effectiveness in post-surgical patients.
Breathing concerns
There is significant concerns about diffusers causing irritation of the lungs in children with asthma. There is no evidence that diffusers or essential oils help asthma symptoms. In face, they may be harmful and provoke asthma attacks. This is due to the release of “volatile organic compounds” or VOCs that are released into the air through diffusing essential oils. These have been shown to stimulate hyperresponsiveness, or over-reactions, in the lung tissue. This leads to breathlessness, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing. It is well known that airborne chemicals trigger asthma attacks – think of pollution, cigarette smoke exposure, wildfire exposure. The VOCs produced by essential oils can produce a similar response in children with sensitive lungs.
Other concerns
- Unfortunately, complementary and alternative medicine therapies do not go through the safety reviews or efficacy studies that traditional medicines do. They are not regulated by the FDA and do not have to meet purity standards. Therefore, it can be difficult to know if they are truly safe to use, or if they actually do what they claim to do.
- Never use open flame to diffuse oils, as they can catch fire.
- Clean water-based diffusers daily to avoid contamination with mold and bacteria.
- Buy from reliable sources and learn to read labels to be certain of what you are buying. If the label is not specific about the plant source, country of origin, and extraction method, you are likely buying an inferior product.
Final thoughts
The process of aromatherapy distills essential oils into a vapor that is inhaled. Depending on the oil that is used, aromatherapy causes the brain to send messages to specific areas of the nervous system to produce a response. There may certainly be some benefits to using particular oils, but as mentioned above, this must be done with caution. Be particularly aware of using diffusers in homes where there are children who have lung diseases such as asthma. More research is required to fully determine the effectiveness of many diffused essential oils.
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