Essential oils are fantastic ways to complement other treatments and boost your wellness. They’re easy to incorporate into daily life and make a great addition to your medicine closet. Eucalyptus oil is one that offers both a soothing scent and a range of health benefits. From fighting off a cold to lowering anxiety, learn how eucalyptus oil can benefit your life.
How to Use Eucalyptus Oil
You can reap the benefits of eucalyptus oil in a variety of ways and for all sorts of reasons. It can be used topically or by breathing in its goodness. Please be sure not to ingest this essential oil. It is poisonous.
Topically
If using eucalyptus oil topically, test it on a small area of your skin to see how your body reacts to it. Never use the full concentration of the oil on your skin. Essential oil is very potent and often causes skin irritation. You must dilute the essential oil, using only 0.5-2% of the oil with carrier oil, like jojoba oil or coconut oil.
It makes a great addition to massage oils, helping soothe and relieve aches and pains. It can also be used topically to relieve pain from sprains, muscle strains, or even arthritis. Eucalyptus oil in a carrier oil can be used like an antibacterial ointment on scrapes, cuts, and incisions. Some use eucalyptus oil in natural toothpastes, putting its antibacterial, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties to fight off common dental issues.
Inhaling
You can also capture the power of eucalyptus through inhaling it in steam or even by taking a whiff of its soothing, potent scent. Use it in a shower bomb in, in a diffuser, or spend 10-15 minutes with a towel draped over your head to capture the steam. This is a great way to relieve congestion, loosen up phlegm, or manage a cough. You can also use inhaling as aromatherapy to help relieve stress and sharpen your mental clarity.
How is Eucalyptus Oil Made?
Eucalyptus is a shrub that originated in Australia. An evergreen with many different varieties grown today, its essential oil is harnessed from the leaves, which are dried, crushed, and distilled to release the essential oil. This oil is usually stored in a dark, glass bottle to help preserve all of its components.
Is Eucalyptus Oil Good for a Cold?
Eucalyptus essential oil can help soothe many of the symptoms of a cold while also helping your body fight off the illness. The primary cineole in eucalyptus essential oil, (eucalyptol) has decongestant properties that work to loosen phlegm, helping you clear it from your system. Eucalyptus is also antibacterial, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory, all of which help with fighting off and recovering from a cold. This means it works against infections and viruses.
One of the best ways to capture the power of eucalyptus when sick is to inhale it through steam. Simply boil a couple cups of water, pour it into a glass bowl, add about 5 drops of eucalyptus essential oi, and lean over the bowl, breathing in the steam through your nose. Drape a towel over your head to help draw the steam directly into your face. Keep your eyes shut and do not spend more than 15 minutes inhaling steam.
Inhaling steam with eucalyptus can help clear your sinuses and airways of congestion, loosening phlegm and soothing inflammation and irritation.
Eucalyptus can also be used in a chest rub to help relieve a cough and ease nighttime congestion. You can either make your own chest rub using a carrier oil, like coconut oil or shea butter. Or you can buy a chest rub with eucalyptus oil in it.
Eucalyptus: Benefits of Aromatherapy
You don’t have to be sick to benefit from the refreshing smell of eucalyptus oil. Research shows that using this essential oil in aromatherapy can relieve stress, support relaxation, and sharpen your mind. Some studies showed the effect of smelling eucalyptus oil on patients about to go into surgery. Spending 5 minutes breathing in the scent of eucalyptus oil calmed their nerves.
As you inhale the scent of eucalyptus, it travels to your brain, directly affecting your brain and central nervous system. This signals your brain to produce feel-good hormones, calm your body, lowering your blood pressure and heart rate.
What is Aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy uses the power of scents of essential oils to ease symptoms and improve health. The scent molecules travel to the brain and release powerful reactions in your amygdala and limbic system. Aromatherapy often triggers the release of either serotonin, endorphins, or dopamine. These effects can benefit your nervous system, regulate emotions, heighten memory, lower blood pressure, and calm heart rate.
Most commonly, aromatherapy involves inhaling the essential oils using the following:
- a diffuser – either a device that emits steam or a small jar with reeds in it
- aromatherapy accessories – like a necklace or bracelet designed to absorb scent, so you can carry the benefits with you throughout your day
- an aromatherapy stick – a stick with an absorbent wick that you can carry with you
Alternatively, you can also access the benefits of aromatherapy by using essential oils in massage oils. Never use undiluted essential oils on your skin. Instead use a carrier oil, such as coconut oil, rosehip oil, grapeseed oil, or sweet almond oil.
Eucalyptus Oil for Pain
This essential oil is an ingredient in many different topical pain relievers. You can also dilute eucalyptus oil with a carrier oil and apply it to stiff joints and sore muscles. It can help ease pain topically in conditions like arthritis, rheumatism, or post-workout aches and pains. Inhaling eucalyptus can also help lower pain.
Eucalyptus is effective for relieving pain for a number of reasons. One simple reason is that it brings a soothing cooling or warming sensation to the inflamed area. Eucalyptol, an important component of the essential oil, relieves pain by desensitizing nerve terminals, lowering the feeling of pain. Lastly, eucalyptus has significant anti-inflammatory properties that effectively reduce inflammation in painful joints and strained muscles.
Eucalyptus for Wounds
Eucalyptus essential oil is a very potent oil that can be used to either treat an infected wound or to help a wound heal. It is effective against MRSA, an infection from a strain of staph bacteria that is resistant to the usual antibiotic treatments. It’s powerful combination of anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antifungal, and antimicrobial properties simultaneously keep wounds clean while also soothing pain and irritation. Add eucalyptus essential oil to a carrier oil and apply it to cuts, scrapes, or incisions, just as you would use an antibacterial ointment.
Eucalyptus essential oil has health benefits for a variety of ailments. Its invigorating scent and powerful compounds can grant relief to mental and physical pain, fight germs and bacteria, and
References:
https://www.healthline.com/health/9-ways-eucalyptus-oil-can-help
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11799053/#Sec9
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/266580#summary
https://www.healthline.com/health/essential-oils-for-sinus-congestion#how-to-use
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/10884
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/aromatherapy
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