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Aromatherapy Essential Oils For Children

Essential Oil Safety Information - Is essential oils are harmful for children? Any Precautions?

Essential oils are generally believed to be safe to use in the right dilution, but since they are highly concentrated substances they tend to be very powerful and hence must be used with the utmost care. It is important to adopt safety guidelines before using essential oils in aromatherapy or better still, take the advice of a qualified aroma therapist when using these oils with children. Children especially are extremely delicate and have tender skin and are often susceptible to sensitization. Potent essential oils are therefore dangerous for direct use in children. Apart from taking care in choosing essential oils, the carrier oil that you choose for your child is also very important and only the gentlest of oils such as almond oil and olive oil must be used as carrier oils or base oils.

Most essential oils that are used as a topical application are known to be mildly toxic but do not affect adults, however this may prove to be a problem with children as their immunity system is still in a developing stage and hence only the safest of the essential oils must be used as treatment. Infants and young children are known to develop allergies at a young age to certain foods; it is also possible that some essential oils may bring about adverse effects and hence parents must be mindful of this fact before choosing essential oils in aromatherapy for children. Some of the safest essential oils are lavender and tea tree and yet these too call for extreme caution in its usage. If you notice that the child is not comfortable with the smell of a particular essential oil, discontinue the use of that oil immediately before the child develops an allergy towards it. If the child dislikes the smell of a particular essential oil, it is a good sign that the essential oil is not right for the child and the parent could try using a safer alternative in its place.

Children who suffer from pre- existing conditions or ailments must not be administered certain essential oils either as an application or in a diffuser as some of these highly potent oils are known to be extremely dangerous for both adults and children. There are certain oils that must never be used in aromatherapy and hence it is important to go deeper into the precautions to be taken during aromatherapy. Essential oils that should not be used at any cost with children and adults alike are the essential oils of Amygdalus communis amara or bitter almond, acorus calamus, horseradish root, wormwood, ruta graveolens or rue, sassafras oil, dwarf juniper, scented fern, American wormseed and mugwort.

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