Sensitization

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

There are might be some folks wondering about sensitization. So please

pay close attention cause this can be stuff!

 

IF we talk about initial sensitizing we're almost always talking about

dermal contact with essential oils or some other chemical .. not the

ingestion or inhalation. Some natural products are known to be potent

sensitizers .. some are occasional sensitizers and some are known as

non-sensitizing. But even non-sensitizing EO can cause some folks to

become sensitized .. its a matter of luck .. bad luck!

 

I have had blond hair (not much, but its blond) all my life .. and now

there is no gray in it .. blonds rarely have gray hair. Howsomeever, my

mustache and beard (I have a goatee now) have been salt and pepper since

I was in my mid-20s .. and for the last few years the salt has increased

while the pepper became less noticeable. I started maybe three years

ago using Just For Men mustache, sideburn and beard dressing .. its real

easy .. just brush it in and in five minutes the pepper is back.

 

Well .. back in September I was using it during my weekly vain attempt

to look younger .. and all of a sudden my face broke out like bees had

attacked me .. burned the crap out of me too. I figured maybe it had

already passed the expiration date cause I had purchased it during my

last trip to the USA .. so I stopped using it as I was about to make

another trip .. which I did two weeks later.

 

I bought some new Just for Men .. and when I used it, the same thing

went down. I had become SENSITIZED to that product. Now, its a matter

of MAYBE learning what exactly I have become sensitized to .. I wrote a

letter to the manufacturers and they have not replied yet. My thoughts

are that they are NOT going to tell me what is in that product .. which

is another reason I'm not in favor of Fragrance Oils .. manufacturers of

Fragrance Oils have successfully lobbied the FDA to have the ingredients

classified as " trade secrets. "

 

Sensitization is not just spice oils either .. though they are in the

top category as potential sensitizers .. its also oils made from leaves,

bark, seeds, roots, blossoms, gum, etc. And sensitization is impossible

to avoid entirely .. like traffic accidents it is .. but we can greatly

reduce the potential by avoiding oils we know are known sensitizers and

by not using the others (the safe ones) undiluted Its a case of dealing

with the immune system and though its hard to fool Mama Nature, its not

impossible to deceive the immune system.

 

What happens in sensitization is the immune system registers a foreign

invader .. it alerts all its soldiers that the immune defense system has

been breached. But it RARELY reacts when this happens .. it registers

the profile of the invader and prepares for defensive action the next

time that invader strikes .. which might be days or weeks or months or

even years later. But attack it will .. at some point in time .. and

attacks will continue forever if the immune systems security officer

detects another invasion by that foreign enemy.

 

Because its not the oil itself that's causing the reaction .. but rather

one or maybe a combination of the chemical components of that oil, this

creates problems that continue even if we don't use the that oil again.

The problems can arise anytime we come into contact with ANY substance

containing that chemical or combination of chemicals that has been duly

registered as an enemy agent by our immune system .. and this time, it

don't gotta be dermal application only .. it can occur when we eat foods

that contain the enemy agents. This is likely to occur for sure cause

don't forget that the aromatherapy industry is a small user of essential

oils .. its the cosmetics, perfumery and FOOD industry that uses the

lion's share.

 

So how do we fool Old Mama Nature? We don't attack with brigades of

3,000 troops .. we slip squads of ten or so troops into the potential

area of operations .. and this is less likely to trigger the panic and

alarm that the immune system goes into when it registers foreign enemy

invaders. We ilute theoil. Also .. try to avoid using any essential

oil .. even well-diluted .. over a wide area of skin. You gonna say ..

what about massage? Well .. there are some risks in life and that is

one of them .. but its more potentially dangerous to the one giving the

massage than to the recipient because of the other danger .. frequency

of use. That requires little discussion but I'll say that the more

often we drive to the corner market, the more likely we are to have a

traffic accident.

 

Proper dilution of essential oils is critical .. and contrary to the old

rumors in this industry about neat use of Lavender and Tea Tree being

safe .. they too must be diluted. There are MANY people around who have

become sensitized to Lavender and Tea Tree .. and sensitization is for

life folks .. it can take you to the emergency room.

 

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