While there are many essential oil advantages that await anyone who is willing to welcome natural alternatives into their lives, it is important to understand how essential oils can be used safely before starting. Whether you’re just learning how to use essential oils, or you’ve been using them for a while, you’re going to want to make sure you understand all the safety rules so you can maintain yourself and your family safe while still enjoying all the great benefits essential oils have to give.

While many essential oil advantages await anyone willing to welcome natural alternatives into their lives, it is important to understand how essential oils can be used safely before starting. Whether you’re just learning how to use essential oils, or you’ve been using them for a while, you’re going to want to make sure you understand all the safety rules so you can maintain yourself and your family safe while still enjoying all the great benefits essential oils have to give.

Look at this essential oils getting started guide for a closer look at some of the best safety tips for essential oils:

Amount Needed

Like anything else you use to promote health and well-being, essential oils can be used safely when adhering to the appropriate dosage rules. Because essential oils are so powerful and potent, the required impact will require only a small amount of oil.

To guarantee that you protect your body from being overwhelmed with improper amounts of oil, it is essential to be conscious of daily dosage suggestions. Below is a breakdown of essential oils daily dosage suggestions.

As you can see, because aromatic usage is simply the act of breathing in essential oils, the quantity of oil falls you can use is not limited. On the rest of the chart, the application “Internal” relates to the swallowing and ingestion of essential oils, the application “Oral” relates to the placement of essential oils in the mouth (for cleaning and freshening), and the application “Dermal” relates to topical skin use.

Application

There are three basic methods of application when it comes to applying essential oils — aromatic, topical, and internal. The aromatic application relates to inhaling or breathing in the oils or using an essential oil diffuser to experience the aroma of essential oils through the atmosphere. Using essential oils on the skin is a topical application. Internal use of essential oils means ingestion of essential oils by eating a veggie capsule containing essential oils, applying essential oils straight to the mouth, or adding oils to a drink and then swallowing.

Before starting to use essential oils, make sure you have a clear knowledge of how to apply them, the suitable dosages and quantities, and which areas to prevent. For example, it is important to prevent the application in fields such as the eyes, ears, or nose when applying essential oils topically, and to prevent placing essential oils on broken or damaged skin. Before using essential oils internally, as stated in the dosage section above, it is important to know how much essential oil should be used and, more importantly, which essential oils should be approved for inner use (not all essential oils should be used safely).

Dilution

Not only is it important to follow the guidelines listed in the “Dermal” section of the above chart when applying essential oils topically, but it will often be necessary to dilute the essential oil so that it is not too strong for the skin. Because essential oils are so powerful and many essential oils have strong chemistry, you may need to dilute the oil before applying topically to make sure you don’t have any sensitivity.

Something called a carrier oil is the best way to dilute an essential oil. Typically, carrier oils are a pure vegetable oil that literally “carries” the oil to the skin. While some worry that using a carrier oil will reduce the advantages of essential oils, it will assist boost absorption so that the oil will remain on the skin for a long moment.

Consider ordering doTERRA Fractionated Coconut Oil if you are looking for a healthy carrier oil. Typically three drops of carrier oil per one drop of essential oil are the suggested dilution proportion.

Storage

When using essential oils at home, the correct storage of essential oil is key to maintaining your family secure. For apparent reasons, where tiny kids can reach them, essential oils should not be left out, and after use, bottles should always be closed tightly.

Besides maintaining essential oils in a safe place, it is important to maintain the oils out of direct sunlight and away from heat as light and heat can change the oils ‘ chemical composition and decrease their effectiveness. You can maintain the sensitive yet strong characteristics that they possess by storing your oils in a cool, dry place, enabling you to reap as many essential oil advantages as possible.

Children

Yes, essential oils can be used safely around your family and on kids, but there are a few additional precautions to take when using essential oils on your kids. First, as stated above, keeping essential oils out of your children’s reach is important. Because children don’t understand the power of essential oils, they can’t apply them properly and could misuse them.

It is also important to remember that children have skin that is more sensitive and delicate than adults, so it is always necessary to dilute oils before applying them to your children topically. The dosage chart involves suggestions for child’s inner use — just bear in mind that children’s dosages will always be much lower than an adult’s because they have lower, more delicate and evolving organs and require much less oil.

Make sure your kids (and even adolescents) are taught to use only essential oils under your guidance, and always set a good example of the proper use of essential oil so that your family knows how significant safety rules are.

Personal Considerations

It is always a good idea to consult your healthcare professional before use if you have any particular health circumstances or issues. The same applies to your children— if you have any worries about using your children’s essential oils, consider speaking to your pediatrician or main care doctor before you start using essential oil with your children.

In combination with healthy eating and exercise, essential oils can be used safely to encourage a healthy lifestyle, but you must first consider your own private health status and any health issues.