Quick Mastitis Relief

I just got an email from a fellow oiling (YL lingo for an essential oil user) Mama who had a brilliant experience with quick healing of mastitis. If you're not a mom or you've never breastfed, mastitis is painful inflammation of one or more milk duct and is usually caused by an infection from bacteria entering the breasts through a cracked nipple or an improperly latched on baby.

So, Betty said, "Just yesterday i came down with a horrible case of mastitis i took an oz of NingXia Red and 3 drops of oregano and rubed lavender on the lump. i woke up a few hours later and the mass had drained and the soreness had left ! i am quickly becoming obsessed with these oils!"

I concur! I was quickly obsessed with them from my first experience with them. ;)

Sleep Apnea in a 4 Year Old?

I'm going to begin by saying that Lei (my four year old) hasn't been officially diagnosed with sleep apnea. What was happening seemed very reasonably like sleep apnea to me and I'd rather treat and resolve the wrong thing than to be miserable with this child who won't sleep in his own bed and sleeps very poorly in mine. Neither one of us is getting any sleep!!!

So, four nights ago, after four nights of having Lei sleep in my bed, waking constantly and countless other nights of him waking throughout the night to come climb in bed with me, I had a random thought (Always follow those. They're GOLDEN!!!) that he might be experiencing sleep apnea as he would stop breathing, startle himself awake with a snore and then settle in to sleep again. So, I grabbed my Essential Oils Desk Reference and looked up sleep apnea. One of the oils that it recommended came in my everyday oils kit so I did  little dance and then decided to give this a try.

I rubbed 4 drops of Valor into his little feet at bedtime and because he likes to sniff the oils, I rubbed the residue from my hands onto his hands and he happily sniffed away. *giggle*

He LOVES sniffing oils from his palms

The first night, he wouldn't settle down and I allowed him to sleep with me. On the second night, I put him in his bed and he STAYED!!! *happy dance!!!* For the past two nights, he's been sleeping soundly in his bed and he's NOT a cranky monster of a child anymore. Woo hoo!!! I may survive this single parenting thing with some sanity after all.

Next up: snoring. He still snores like a grizzly bear. Drives us all batty. The EODR (Essential Oil Desk Reference) says to use thyme oil for this. Guess what's going in MY next order?

Lavender + Peppermint = No More Steroids for Lei-Bear

So, for the past 3 years, I've gone through HELL with Lei (my four year old) with his allergies. I missed almost 6 weeks of work. We've given him every antihistamine that's available. We've cut out everything from his diet that he's even remotely allergic to. Last spring, he was on Zyrtec, Benadryl and Prednisilone (a steroid) and he STILL broke out in incurable hives around his eyes.

Doesn't he look MISERABLE?

Well, I was recently reading through my friend Cristina Campbell's newsletter and there was a testmonial from a woman who used lavendar and peppermint to relieve her niece and nephew of allergies when they visited her barn. A lightbulb went off! So, we went to our yearly 'get ready for allergy season' appointment with the allergist last Tuesday and she informed me that allergy season is beginning this past weekend. WHAT??? It's still winter!!!

Well, I decided to give the lavendar and peppermint a try before I started giving him the drugs. I'm not a real fan of the drugs but I'm an even smaller fan of an itchy, hived-out baby. On Monday, I tested my theory by taking us to the park. Lots of trees and grass and things to make his nose and eyes water. I put one drop of lavendar on his face (he's a tiny person) and one drop of peppermint in his hands, had him rub his hands together and then sniff a few times before I sent him off to play.



2 HOURS later we left the park and not once did he have a runny nose or itchy eyes or anything resembling either of the two. Ha!!! It's working. The real test will be at the end of March when oak season begins. I'll keep you posted.

Lavender for mosquito bites

My 3 year old came in from riding his bike to play with some blocks. Soon, he put his leg on my lap & said, 'Mommy it hurts. Scratch it!' He had two HUGE mosquito bites on his outer thigh. Oh no! This is the child who has been known for severe allergic reactions and incurable experiences of hives.

I grabbed the lavender oil & put 2 drops on each bite. He went back to his blocks. As soon as he sat down, he scratched his leg & said, 'Ow.' Then, he got up & went to play on the computer with his sister. It's been 10 minutes and he's still itch free. I believe that he'll be without bites all together by tomorrow. I'll report back tomorrow to be sure. ;)

Valor for sore muscles?

The thing that I love most about therapeutic grade essential oils is their versatility. We have a blend called PanAway that is designed specifically for pain and a new roll on blend called Deep Relief that is designed specifically for sore muscles and deep aches. My business partner Cris calls it PanAway on steroids. Well, I do not have PanAway (due to an unfortunate incident involving a lid that was not tightly on the bottle) or Deep Relief on hand currently.

In my other life, I play as the receptionist at a female only fitness studio (www.enticefitness.com) where I am allowed to take the classes for free when they are not full. One such class that I was priviledge to take is belly dance with an amazing performer. Shortly into the class, however, I knew that I would be sore later. Immediately afterward, in an attempt to thwart any soreness, I pulled out my oils pouch to see just what I had on hand that could help with this situation. The best I could come up with is a blend called Valor.

Typically, I use Valor as my coat of armor. I wear Valor every day as my way of grounding and connecting with Spirit. Well, I put a few drops in my hands and proceded to rub my shoulders and upper arms. The next day, my arms felt great. How do I know that I simply hadn't worked as hard as I thought and the Valor really worked the magic? Because my hips, thighs and butt ache like nobody's business. :)

So, remember, when you don't have the blend that your EODR recommends, use your intuition to find a substitute. With Young Living Essential Oils, you can only make a good choice.

Purification for Lucas' scraped knee

Today, while playing in the park, Lucas fell and scraped his knee. Immediately, I pulled out my little pouch of oils and put some on the scrape. "Does that feel better?" I asked him. "Yes," he said through a tear streaked face. He hissed a bit. I am not sure if it stung a bit or not.

Anywho, two hours later (yes, our trips to the park can be quite long) a lady came over and began to chat with me. When she asked what I did, I happily shared with her that I teach people about being healthy using therapeutic grade essential oils. She was familiar with perfume grade oils and was really interested in knowing more about how essential oils can heal.

Again, I pulled out my pouch and allowed them to smell the oils. They fell in love with a few of them. Purification was a favorite of her daughter's. That reminded me and I showed them Lucas' knee. I asked her and her daughter how old they thought the owie on his knee looked. They both guessed a few days. Just about 2 hours, I told them.

I was amazed myself that it had healed so quickly. I have been using these oils for over a year and I am still impressed with how they work.