Absorption of EO ** Was: AT question

[Guest guest]

Howdy Fiona,

 

Hi all,

>

> I have a question - and need lots of peoples input please.

>

 

Why? You gonna take the average and call it a conclusion? ;-)

 

This subject of absorption has come up over and over for all the years I've

been in this business .. I think it will never die because there is too much

misinformation and hype out and about that is used as a basis for selling EO

... take away the false info and the sellers might have to learn the truth

about EO .. rather than depend on the Aromatherapy " novels " that regurgitate

information that has no basis in fact. Of course .. Young Living and other

con outfits use Absorption as a marketing gimmick also.

 

 

> My teacher has said: " there's not a lot of evidence that skin absorption

> of oils has much medical use.

>

 

I'll agree with the teacher on that point .. except with a very few

exceptions. Its not a matter of whether or not an Essential Oil can absorb

deep enough to get into the blood stream .. as it is which of the chemicals

in an Essential Oil will absorb .. and to what depth. Most chemicals that

can absorb readily are harmful in any case. Of course, if we have broken

skin then there is a route for absorption .. but we all know that EO

shouldn't be used on broken or damaged skin.

 

Any oil that is absorbed via the hair follicle and sebaceous gland is

> very quickly detoxified in the liver. "

>

 

Three problems with that one .. (1) the hair follicles and the sebaceous

gland are not very effective at allowing absorption .. it is not their job.

Sebaceous glands are connected to hair follicles for the purpose of

depositing sebum onto the hairs .. they do this by bringing it up the hair

shaft until it gets to the surface of the skin .. the hair follicles and the

sebaceous glands .. as well as the (sweat) pores are not there to absorb but

rather to deposit/secrete .. we could say that they don't inhale .. they

exhale. ;-) .. (2) to say that " any oil " is quickly processed (not

detoxified) by the liver is too broad a statement cause (1) we're not

talking about EO .. but rather particular chemicals in an EO .. all

chemicals don't absorb at all beyond the out layer of skin .. and if we are

to believe that we must use the whole EO in order to gain therapeutic

benefit .. then we can't accept that just certain chemicals in an EO will

provide therapeutic benefit .. and (3) The liver doesn't necessarily process

any chemical rapidly .. depends on how healthy or ill the liver is and on

which chemical we are talking about. For example .. it does a TERRIBLE job

processing Methyl salicyclate .. which is the chemical making up

approximately 99% of the total volume of the oils of Sweet Birch and

Wintergreen. Folks can die from long term use of those oils .. a teen age

athlete died a few months ago from slathering herself with a commercial

preparation containing Methyl salicyclate .. it was one of the typical Ben

Gay type preparations designed to provide relief from muscle pain.

 

 

> What are your thoughts on this comment?? As aromatherapists (both

> professional and non-professional), why are we using them, and if they are

> " quickly detoxified in the liver " , then why bother using them in say,

> massage oils?

>

 

Massage with Essential Oils is not for the pupose of absorption .. its for

the purpose of relaxation and tuning up the mind and body muscles .. one can

use olive oil or butter and get the same results .. unless they don't like

the odor of olive oil or butter. Plus there is the element of human touch

... its quite healing. When using an EO during a massage .. the major gain

to the recipient (other than manipulation of the body/muscles) is through

inhalation of the volatile vapors of the EO .. that's what AromaTherapy is

all about in the first place .. inhalation of the volatile molecules of an

EO. In fact, the person giving the massage will gain more benefit from

inhalation than will the recipient because they are standing up and the

volatile molecules rise.

 

 

> I want to email back to my teacher (who is obviously a skeptic of

> aromatherapy), but I'm stuck at where to begin.

>

 

What kinda teacher is this? Certainly not an Aromatherapy or Massage

teacher. They are skeptical perhaps because they don't know anything about

AT .. or absorption.

 

Here is also some input from Martin Watt's site ...

http://www.aromamedical.com/articles/skinabso.html

 

Folks might oughta consider reading a lot of the articles on his site ..

http://www.aromamedical.com/ especially his articles archive

http://www.aromamedical.com/articlesarchive.html

 

All input greatly appreciated.

> Fiona

> Australia

>

 

Welcome you are fer'shur .. you have some of myinput .. I'll send another

one I have written over the years and sent to many lists .. including this

one .. but its not in the list archive now because they are gone .. but it

was here once .. so I'll pull it up from the Oils & Herbs group and send it

on.

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com