Are essential oils an essential part of your kit?

It wasn't long ago that I was completely unaware that essential oils existed. I first learned about them from one of the nurse practitioners (we will just call him Doc) that I work with, and to be honest, I thought that it was a bunch of new age, hippie voodoo at first. I mean, what could be better then our well-educated doctors? Some time later, I wound up with an aggressive cold and Doc suggested that I take some Oregano oil. Nothing else was working so I gave it a shot. Within a few days my cold had significantly diminished. I should have been sold then, but I'm a skeptic!

Being slightly interested but still skeptical, I started looking into Young Living, which was the brand of oils that Doc insisted that I get. Gary Young is the founder of this company, so I started with him. At the surface I didn't like what I was reading. There were a lot of articles about him being a fake and even some about legal issues he had been having. Now, I trust Doc and value his opinion, so I dug deeper. I started learning that the legal issues that Mr. Young had never amounted to anything and that there were some universities and hospitals that recently incorporated his brand of oils into some of their treatments.

Looking a bit further I found that there are many other companies out there that make essential oils, so what made Young Living so special and why had Doc insisted that I go with them? Well, with some more digging I found out that these other companies use synthetic products in their "essential oils". This is a problem because, with the exception of smelling good, the oils are useless.


At this point I was less skeptical and more interested, so I bought one of Young Living's starter kits. It came with sample bottles of 9 different oils and some literature. I also bought 2 different books on using these oils, one is from Young Living and the other is written by a private author. I was amazed, to say the least, and I use them for everything.  Some examples of when I use the oils range from insect bites to headaches to having a cold. If there is something bothering me or my family, I refer to the two books and dole out the appropriate oil!

I am not going to get into too much detail in this post, but this is what I keep in my kit. At the minimum I have lavender and Thieves. Lavender is the Swiss army knife of essential oils. It will fix anything from a rash to a burn. It also helps with allergies and can be used to help you relax and have a more peaceful night's rest. Thieves on the other hand is a blend of oils that can be used as an antimicrobial. It kills everything from simple bacteria to MRSA.

I will make this a series and in later posts go over more oils and my experiences with them. In the mean time, do your own research and give them a try. Also, don't get me wrong, I'm not some sort of hippie that thinks the plant's life force is going to heal all of your ailments. There is still a place for other forms of medicine. I do believe in results, and if something can make it so that I don't have to embrace quite as much suck, or maybe even save my life in the field....I'm all about it!