How To Use Essential Oils For Allergies

The best essential oils for allergies depend on your specific allergy and your individual response. Two of the most commonly recommended oils are German chamomile and lavender. Here are three ways to use either oil for nasal allergy relief:

• Rub one drop (diluted as desired) onto your forehead, cheeks, and sinuses, as needed.

• Diffuse the oil for 15 minutes every two hours.

• Put one to two drops on one palm, rub your hands together, and place them near or over your nose. Inhale deeply a few times. Use as needed.

Blends of Essential Oils For Allergies

Allergy-Proof Your Life recommends the following essential oils for allergies:

• Blue tansy (Tanacetum annuum)
• Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus radiata and Eucalyptus globulus)
• Khella (Ammi visnaga)
• Peppermint (Mentha piperita)
• Tarragon (Artemesia dracunculus)
• Thyme (Thymus satureioides and Thymus vulgarus)
  

You can diffuse a few drops of the following blend for 10 to 20 minutes three times a day:

• 20 drops blue tansy
• 20 drops khella (if you don't have this hard-to-find oil, leave it out or substitute eucalyptus)
• 20 drops peppermint
• 20 drops tarragon
• 20 drops thyme

The Healing Intelligence of Essential Oils suggests the following aromatherapy blend for relief of allergy symptoms:

• 90 drops niaouli essential oil
  
• 10 drops blue tansy essential oil
• 3 to 4 drops peppermint essential oil

Dilute 1 to 2 drops of the blend in a carrier oil. Apply to your face. (If possible, rinse your face with cold water first and apply blend to moist skin.)

Other Aromatherapy For Allergies

You can also make a personal aromatherapy inhaler using one of the following blends. Drop the essential oils onto the cotton wick in the inhaler. Keep the inhaler capped. Remove the cap and inhale as needed.

• 5 drops frankincense essential oil
• 4 drops balsam fir essential oil
• 3 drops eucalyptus essential oil
• 3 drops peppermint essential oil

or

• 5 drops ravintsara essential oil
• 5 drops tea tree essential oil
• 6 drops lavender essential oil

Source: Aromahead

For information specific to kids, see Aromatherapy for Seasonal Allergies in Children.

Other Allergy Help

Many sources recommend a neti pot to help clean pollen, dust, dander, and other pollutants out of your nasal passages. A neti pot resembles a small teapot-shaped kettle. You fill the neti pot with warm distilled water and a little salt that doesn't contain iodine to create a saline solution. 

To use, stand over a sink and tilt your head to one side. Pour the salt water into the nostril that's tilted up and let the water drain out of the other nostril.

Important: Use only distilled or purified water. Some news reports a few years ago indicated several people contracted parasites using tap water in a neti pot. This cannot happen if you use distilled water.

Can you add essential oil to the water in the neti pot? It's generally not recommended because essential oils can irritate the mucous membranes of your nasal passages. Instead, some sources recommend using hydrosols, with one part hydrosol to two parts warm distilled water.

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Photo Credit: mcfarlandmo [CC-BY-2.0]