When you try natural options and find they don’t work you may immediately conclude this natural living thing is all a bunch of nonsense. This certainly is an opinion that can transpire. The legitimate way to say something does not work is to have actually tried it so this post is excluding those that have formed an opinion simply on principle and not experience. I do however hope for those that have not tried it themselves they see this as an opportunity to explore and experiment to test out their opinion.
In the few situations I have encountered where people have said essential oils are not working for them it has taken a little sleuthing to get to the bottom of the issue. The majority of the time it is a minor thing like instruction, guidance or maybe a different oil that does the trick. In all the cases I’ve worked when this happens I was able to help the person start to see results though sometimes it did take a couple tries because we had to get to the root of the issue.
Consistency
The number one reason essential oils will not work is because they are not used consistently. While 1 drop of essential oil is highly potent and will “do something” for you, it needs to be a continual application and use for results to be visible and realized. In most cases, the consistent use is daily or perhaps a couple times a day depending on the concern being addressed.
The best example I can give you is when I was using oils and natural options for my adult acne. I applied the oils in the morning for a week and saw nothing happen. It was disappointing and I thought this was not the solution for me but nonetheless I persisted and started applying them morning and night for 3 months. Changes started to be seen. A year later my face is acne free. I also had to experiment with a couple different oils to get what was perfect for my face and it’s needs which added to this time it took for the healing to start and visible progress to be seen.
If you are using oils for prevention of something rather than in reaction like I was with acne, consistency is also key for results. It does not mean you will never get sick or have an issue you are trying to prevent but you have taken steps to put yourself in a better place to reduce the recovery.
Proactive
Along the same lines of prevention is preparing for situations like seasonal changes, known stress periods like major events and holidays well before these events occur. If we wait until flowers are blooming and there is pollen everywhere before we use allergy medicine then we’ve already lost the battle of red, itchy eyes, sneezing and other allergy symptoms. The same is true for essential oils. If you wait until you need it, all you can do is manage the condition at that point forward for these types of situations.
Proactive application and preparation for seasonal needs such as allergies and immunity protection can be done in advance of the season or daily as part of regular routine. Doing so daily ensures you are best protected year-round regardless of the weather. This can be ideal if you have recurring stressors triggering illness or symptoms.
If you prefer a more seasonal approach then I would recommend 2 months prior to the anticipated seasonal change. For instance, start boosting children’s immunity a couple months before school starts up again. This will help them fend off germs of children returning to school followed by the start of the flu season.
TriEase is a softgel capsule containing Lemon, Lavender and Peppermint essential oils. Lemon is great at breaking down the things that irritate our throats or make us congested. It is also a natural detox to help eliminate the irritant. Lavender is a natural antihistamine and works to build up those barriers against allergies and the things that make us sneeze. Peppermint is an excellent natural energy for when we feel wrung out from allergies and helps further detox and protect us from allergens.
OnGuard softgels are a preventative immunity booster. When you’re about to travel or under high stress, taking this about 10-14 days in advance helps your immunity system be prepared. How many times have we taken a trip on a plane, been somewhere new for a few days and then get home only to become sick? Prevention and proactive attention to your immunity will help curtail that type of post trip illness as well as give you the on-the-go protection.
Mixed Messaging
When you continue to eat junk food but also a salad you may not necessarily see changes in your weight when you step on the scale. The same can said of using natural products. If you continue to use products filled with chemicals but apply an essential oil to your neck for a headache you may not see results.
The reason for this is because when we use products that are chemical based our receptors and systems may not respond immediately or at all. Our bodies are confused and in some cases the chemicals in our system do the work our body should be doing for itself. While the oils we use support our body even if we use medicine or chemical products the results may not be seen directly. As an example, I take medication for my thyroid because mine does not work properly. I also apply essential oils to my throat to support my thyroid. The medication I take does the work for my thyroid so I was really frustrated after months of putting oils on my neck to see the readings unchanged. My doctor being open to natural medicine, said we should lower my medication and retest in a couple months while I continued to use the oils on my throat. The retest showed improvements! We retested again a couple months after that and even more improvements!
The oils I use for my thyroid include Basil, Myrrh, Juniper Berry, Ginger, Rosemary and doTERRA DDR Prime.
The point is essential oils support our body doing the work it was built to do for our health. If we use products that prevent, block or do that work for us then the oil will still support us but results won’t be clear. You have to detox your system and be diligent. Also, having a doctor who supports exploring natural options is a great partner when trying to work to come off prescriptions. Today, I still take a prescription for my thyroid but it is a lower dosage than when I started this process.
We will always be exposed toxins and chemicals in our life but finding ways to reduce our exposure and what we intentionally can control is where the progress of natural health options can help. There are also some great natural options to help us chemically detox, like the doTERRA DDR Prime I describe above.
Root Cause
Often when we have a problem we pick the first, most obvious reason for that issue. It’s what is most noticeable to us and surely the reason for our condition or symptom. When we talk about our health though sometimes we have to dig deeper to find out what is going on as we have over time stopped hearing what our body is really saying.
When I meet with my customers initially to talk about what they need or want to focus on in their health I hear the common things of not sleeping well, can’t lose weight and always getting sick. There are a lot of reasons for why these things are happening. There are also a lot of natural solution options for each of these issues but if those are just symptoms of a larger issue then results or effectiveness may not be seen. This results in the conclusion or complaint essential oils don’t work.
Some of this stems from the “want it now” relief and expectation of our society as well as not understanding our own body’s true needs. We just want what is most uncomfortable to us resolved and understandably so. However, when we only work with the symptom without understanding the underlying causes we are only applying a band-aid that will not have long term results.
Our body sends messages all the time of what it needs. We feel when we are hungry or tied and can act on those needs. If however we confuse something like hunger with boredom or distraction we are confusing the message and not delivering what our body is really asking for. If we don’t know how to read our body’s messages or confuse them with other things we are likely to use the wrong natural solution or medication which delays our desired results. It can take time to work through that and find the right answers that do work for you and deliver relief.
Additionally, our responses to essential oils can be very personal and unique. What works for me may not be the same as what works for you. It is probable the oils that work for both of us are in the same “family” or genre but they could also be different. For instance, some people do not find relief sleeping with just using lavender essential oil. It does nothing for them. However, if we use Vetiver, doTERRA Breathe and doTERRA Serenity, Cedarwood or even Grapefruit they are sleeping like babies. This again is the result of what our bodies have in terms of chemicals and how we respond to different aromas naturally. It also has to do with the real underlying reason we are not sleeping including things like stress, how we relax, our physical health, hormones and a host of other factors.
Substituting
When it comes to treating your health, generic and imitation are not the same as a pure, therapeutic of quality graded natural products. This distinction influences the results you are able to achieve. Using a generic prescription is not the same when you speak of natural medicine or essential oils.
The standards of quality, purity, testing, sourcing and processing can vastly differ brand-to-brand. It is up to the consumer to do their research on the product and company to know what is a “good” essential oil and what is not. This is where we also need to be sure of the information and not just take a marketing message as evidence. Over 80% of essential oils available for purchase are impure or adulterated preventing them from actually being essential oils. If you’re going to use natural solutions you need to make sure they are actually real essential oils. Price tag on the essential oils is not an indicator of quality either.
Interested in more?
In my own experience, essential oils work and have contributed to improvements in my own health as well as that of my family. I use only doTERRA oils because it is a company I trust and their products can be demonstrated to be pure and of the highest quality.
If you have questions about the products I mention in this post, please reach out! I’m happy to help.
amyk@dragonspitapothecary.com
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