Essential Oils for dryness?

[LouLou1981]

I seem to be having quite a flare up after not having really any symptoms for a while.  Voice going in and out, brain and body fog, eyelashes and hair loss, dry mouth (tongue and throat are now sore), extra watery eyes.

I've recently discovered Young Living essential oils. Are that any essential oils that might help? Has anyone tried anything?

[Joe S.]

I have not found any yet. I like lavender for relaxation and sleep. I use eucalyptus for deep breathing. The two in combination I used to use when giving massage.

[meow]

I have not found any either, other than smells that I really like.
I use coconut oil, inside and out, all over, when I am having a flare. It is anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, bacteriostatic and a dry oil, so it's absorbed quickly.

[mistyrain]

LouLou:  One of my sjogren's mainstays for skin dryness, inflammation, especially in the summer is soothing aloe vera.  The kind of aloe vera spray you can buy is inexpensive OTC - make sure it is 100 percent pure.  This would be the gel that comes from the plant and probably has some essential oil but not much.  Pure essential oils can be very strong and usually come in 1 or 2 oz bottles.  Certainly they should not be used near the eyes.

Hope this helps 
 

[jazzlover]

Haven't found any either, but I love the oils for anxiety and for pain!

[Myshkin]

Essential oils are highly fragranced and not to be used directly on skin. Aromatherapy can have a good effect but in diffusers, never on skin. Especially not dry and sensitive skin.

Use a very emmolient moisturizer or try a non-fragrance oil. Coconut oil and rose hip seed oil are great.

[Scottietottie]

i can no longer go near anything perfumed. Perfume makes me cough and my chest goes tight and heart rate elevates significantly.

used to be fine with perfume but seem to have developed an allergy to it in the last couple of years. Discovered that the antiseptic gel used in hospitals sets me off now. Frustrating.

Means I know for sure that essential oils and aromatherapy would do me no good whatsoever!   

[jazzlover]

Essential oils (the good ones) are NOT fragranced. They are the essences of the plants themselves.

Everyone knows to use them with a carrier oil. That is common sense. (I think)

[Scottietottie]

I am uncomfortably aware that many plants smell.

[mistyrain]

I often sneeze with perfumes 

Here's a fine definition of essential oils:

"An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants"  wikipedia

At the same time, wikipedia has a long list of plants and trees and seeds that produce essential oils and their respective applications including medicinal - enjoy 


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_essential_oils

[Linda196]

The VOC (Volatile organic compounds) in any substance are among the chemicals that can cause allergic reactions. Not sure how aroma compounds are classified within that structure.

[gphx]

For many eye dryness is a result of faulty tear glands. For others the problem is due to fast evaporation of tears because the oil glands aren't producing the oils which normally form a protective, anti-evaporative shield over the surface of the eye.

Products for the two problems tend to be different. Many of the products for Meibomian (oil) gland dysfunction are based upon castor oil. A growing number of people have been using pure castor oil as eye drops. I've done so myself and the results were better than the drops designed for inadequate tears which simply wash away any precious oil I do have.

If used castor oil must be kept sterile and ideally refrigerated so it doesn't spoil.

There's some research and papers out there on the efficacy of castor oil drops in treating MGD (Meibomian Gland Dysfunction). This is one: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12414410

'RESULTS:

Symptom scores, tear interference grade, tear evaporation test results, rose bengal scores, tear BUT, and orifice obstruction scores after the oil eye drop period showed significant improvement compared with the results after the placebo period. No complications attributable to the eye drops were observed. The oil eye drops were stable when stored at 4 degrees C.

CONCLUSIONS:

The results indicate that castor oil eye drops are effective and safe in the treatment of MGD. The possible mechanisms of this treatment are improvement of tear stability as a result of lipid spreading, ease of meibum expression, prevention of tear evaporation, and the lubricating effect of the oil eye drops.'

[jazzlover]

Scottie.. I was just making the point that oils are not perfume. Perfume sends me into orbit. I can get ill just from smelling it on someone.

Most oils don't bother me.

I think it's the synthetic nature of perfume that makes me ill... it's a chemical.

[gphx]

Additionally there is existing favorable research backing up anecdotal reports (including some here) on the use of various oils for oral 'oil pulling' to treat the various oral complications of dry mouth.

[Scottietottie]

Hi Jazzlover

I was not trying to cast aspersions on what you are saying. I think essential oils and aromatherapy are probably very beneficial to a lot of people.

I just can't get away with a lot of things that used to smell good anymore. I loved lavender - now it puts me on the verge of an asthma attack. The flowering bushes outside my front door now require me to cover my mouth with a scarf when standing outside. A walk in the park is not as much fun as it used to be. Some smells are chemical - some are natural - I can't tolerate many of them any more. I can't even blame SjS - but it is something that has happened. It's quite isolating. It's made public transport a nightmare. Too many cabs have 'air fresheners in them'. Hospital washrooms have bad smelling soap dispensers. Hubby has to be avoided for at least an hour after he's washed his hair. (On the plus side if anything requires cleaning products rather than steam cleaning - he now has to do it)

Take care - Scottie