Top Ten Worst Injuries from Essential Oils of 2014—Part Two

Top Ten Worst Injuries from Essential Oils of 2014—Part Two


We are continuing to present our “Top 10 Worst Injuries from Essential Oils” from the past year of collecting injury reports. The list featured below contains the top five worst cases from our upcoming report, due out in February 2015. This is Part Two of a two-part series.

Here are five examples with direct quotes (excuse grammar) from our new Injury Report, scheduled to come out in February 2015.

Read more about this ongoing project, and help spread information on safety and the costs of misuse.

Stop the unsafe use of essential oils! Save yourself, your friends and family, babies, and animals. Stop the insanity.

See Part 1 for cases 6-10.

Here are summaries with direct quotes from the testimonials we’ve received. We are not identifying any companies in this blog. You will be able to see the details of each entry we’ve received when the report comes out. Most if not all of these were due to bad advice and misinformation.

Top 10 Worst Injuries from Essential Oils (Part Two):

5. Diluted blend on baby’s feet slows breathing. “blends X & XX were used on separate occasions on my son at 13mo. The blend was very diluted (topical on his feet), he was 13mo, and I was informed it was ‘safe’. His throat started closing on him and his breathing slowed to a very dangerous level. After further research, I found out they both contained eucalyptus & Rosemary, both unsafe for kids under six. We had applied it & diffused it around him before his reaction, so it wasn’t his first exposure to it. Very scary holding your child while they are helpless.”

4. Undiluted topical and oral use causes rashes.  “It took months to accumulate in my system, but once the rashes started, I could no longer use any oils without the rash coming back. I was told by XX Reps that I was detoxing and that I should use more oils. I was told to try different oils for the rash. I was told to take sulfur. I was told that it’s impossible to be allergic to the oils. I was told that I must have a defective gene which is causing the rash.”

Please don’t buy this and other myths. The essential oil chemistry expert Dr. Robert Pappas recently addressed this myth last January on his Facebook page for Essential Oil University. He’s got a lot of great things on this page, so check it out.

3. Vaginal yeast infection leads to permanent scarring. “Was advised by a consultant to soak a tampon in tea tree oil, insert it before bed, wear it overnight and by the morning my yeast infection would be cleared up. Before bed that evening I put 5 drops of Tea Tree Oil on the tip of a tampon (I was worried about soaking the tampon as she instructed & using too much), I inserted the tampon and soon noticed a warm sensation. I called the representative as she told me it was normal and how I knew it was working. I went to bed and woke up about 6-7 hours later feeling like napalm had been poured into my vagina. I could not remove the tampon myself the pain was so bad. A neighbor drove me to the nearest hospital; They removed the tampon immediately and treated me for chemical burns with a prescription of burn jelly to continue using for the next 10 days, and more antibiotics to prevent the burn from becoming infected. At the 30 days check the tissue had scabbed over & partially healed. The 60 day exam the scabs were all gone but he noted I may have scars remaining and at the 90 day exam he told me scarring was present and would likely not completely heal.

OUCH is all we can say!

2. Undiluted blend to six-month-old’s chest resulted in two febrile seizures. “…Fever was only 99 and stopped breathing, foamed at the mouth; after 10 min violent seizing, turned purple and stopped breathing. Companies need to start warning about the seizure effects with wintergreen, eucalyptus, fennel, etc! My son doesn’t have epilepsy or any medical conditions. Once I removed his shirt and washed his skin at the hospital 45 min later he stopped seizing and returned to normal.”

1. Ingested “Morphine Bomb.” “protocol was to use 4 drops each of  frankincense, copaiba, and balsam fir. They advertised it could be used via inhalation, on skin or ingested. I trusted this combination would [alleviate] my pain due to their claims. Within a few hours of ingesting the oils, I began having racing heart, shortness of breath, pressure in my chest that radiated to my back, up my left jaw, and down my left arm. The symptoms continued and I eventually experienced cold sweats and nausea. The symptoms did not go away. I went to Hospital, they gave me an EKG, blood work and a CAT Scan. They determined I was having a heart attack. I remained hospitalized for 3 days and underwent a heart catheterization.”

We were downright shocked by some of these cases. They’re getting worse, and the saddest part is, they’re totally avoidable.


We have to stop this from happening. You can help.

Share essential oil safety information with your friends! You never know who has been fed incorrect or incomplete information. There are a lot of voices of reason in this situation. Make sure you’re listening to them!

Top 10 Worst Injuries from Essential Oils of 2014—Part One

Top 10 Worst Injuries from Essential Oils of 2014—Part One


This is Part One of a two-part series. Here are five examples with direct quotes (excuse grammar) from our new Injury Report, scheduled to come out in February 2015. These are short quotes from the report. This is not the report nor are these quotes our words. You will be able to see the details of each entry we’ve received when the report comes out. Most if not all of these cases are due to bad advice and misinformation. This is why we believe that education is the key to safety.

We love our essential oils and our fellow humans. We want to help put an end to dangerous and unsafe practices. Most if not all of these cases improved once those affected discontinued use of the oil(s).

Here is a list of the 10 Worst Adverse Effects we’ve received this past year. We’ve included a summary with direct quotes from the testimonials.

10. Undiluted oils applied to a small sore. “Blend/frankincense” was used and the next day, her skin turned red, bubbled up, and peeled. When she voiced her concerns, she was told it was “detox, that there’s no way to be allergic or have a bad reaction to the oil since they are natural.”

Most qualified aromatherapists will not acknowledge the “detox” claim to be true. Dr. Robert Pappas has busted this myth on this page. Read it here.

9. Undiluted oils on wrist. Someone used two drops of Clary Sage and Ylang Ylang on their wrists several times a day for about 10 days. Their wrists started itching, broke out in red blotches that turned into blisters, which spread to an area of approximately 3 cm x 4 cm. After a month with no oils and jojoba, it cleared up. “Lesson learned: Always dilute your oils and never use neat oil application to the skin.”

8. Undiluted oil on mouth sores. “Between 25-35 drops of essential oil on canker sores in mouth on tongue after being told it was safe. This resulted in a trip to ER because of racing heart, panicking, gagging, dry heaving, extremely hot, fever, dizzy and sick and high blood pressure … I thought I was going to die.” 

It is so heartbreaking to read these sometimes. But it is our mission to spread this information so that we don’t have any deaths due to misuse.

7. Undiluted long-term use leads to sensitization. One person had been using essential oils since 1997. By 2005, she started having small reactions. Finally, by 2014, this person found help in understanding sensitization and the safe use of essential oils. Now she can only use oils in low dilutions (if at all) and has turned to hydrosols & flower essences. “Now have A LOT of sensitivities and allergies to a wide range of fragrances and EOs.”

Though we can become sensitized to a single oil, we can also become sensitized to many single oils and blends. By overusing oils now, we deprive ourselves of being able to use them in the future. Remember the saying, “Less IS more.”

Read more about sensitization.

6. Oral use: Due to ingesting a “lot of” oils—multiple drops multiple times a day—of Lemon and Grapefruit in water, one person now has been diagnosed with stomach problems, chronic digestive upset, and is looking at possible gallbladder removal. 

How sad it is to read these stories. People are looking for alternative health care, possibly to save money or avoid surgery. Then they make things worse themselves or their families, simply because they didn’t know better.

Knowledge is power. Never forget that it is in your hands. 

Read Part Two here.

Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Sensitized

Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Sensitized

Remember that song by Waylon Jennings: “Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys. Don’t let ’em pick guitars or drive them old trucks. Let ’em be doctors and lawyers and such.”

Well, right now, the problem isn’t that your children will grow up to be cowboys. The real issue is that they’ll be doctors and lawyers with severe sensitization to essential oils. The doctors can treat others from the same generation, while the lawyers can start a class action lawsuit suing the sales reps and companies promoting dangerous use. Sounds scary, doesn’t it? And why haven’t you heard about this issue before? It is well documented in the industry that certain oils cannot be used on the skin without risk. Additionally, one can develop an allergy from the overuse of any essential oil. It is an allergic reaction created by overuse. See these references on sensitization here and here; see here for more safe use info, including an Injury Report.

Unfortunately, so many well-meaning moms go onto the Internet and find blogs that instruct them to apply all sorts of undiluted aromatic formulas to their kids. This can be for everything from the sniffles to ADD, ADHD, and more. The scary part is, these blog writers and groups often have no training or safety data information, yet they’re giving harmful advice about essential oils to anyone who reads their posts.

Do Your Research

I know now what drives moms to take advice on medicating their children without seeing if it’s safe. It is possible that they were looking for alternative ways to help children, and oils can help in some cases. But essential oils are potent. Just because they’re “pure and natural” doesn’t mean they can’t be harmful. It is dose-dependent, as the links above state. If you were to put undiluted essential oils on your children’s feet (like many mommy blogs instruct), besides lifelong sensitization, your children can develop an aversion to smells like Peppermint and Clove. One mom reported her child said, “No more feet, mommy!” This made her stop. Please listen, and stop hurting your own child on a sale rep’s advice. Before doing something recommended, ask is it safe, look at the sites above, or send me an email! Here is a condensed page for a quick reference on safety.

What will this do to the next generation? Besides hurting the children instead of helping them, this practice also strips aromatherapy of its healing properties. By repeatedly applying undiluted essential oils to your children, or allowing medical professionals like chiropractors to do so, will you create a generation of children who are overly sensitized to essential oils as gentle as Lavender? As an aromatherapy expert who has repeatedly seen the healing power of these oils, it’s tragic to me that so many will not be able to benefit from their effects.

Why is this happening?

So, where does the push to use undiluted oils for every type of ailment come from? You might be dismayed to know that it comes from essential oil companies who hope to sell their products by making every kind of claim possible. In reality, diluted oils are more efficacious and way more cost-effective, which is the point of using natural products. By saying the oils are “natural and pure” and can be used undiluted daily, these companies are selling tons of oils while actually increasing sensitization in their customers.

As someone who has put so much time and effort into practicing safe, healing aromatherapy, this makes me very sad.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree?

Read the 2014 Injury Report

Read the 2014 Injury Report

In an effort to continue offering aromatherapy education centered around safety, we’ve been collecting data on cases of adverse effects of essential oils for a little less than a year. We’ve had over 30 cases submitted. We are now releasing our first report!

This is only representative of 34 cases, but it serves as a learning tool help us all create safer practices.

Please review and share!

Are Essential Oils Harmful?

Are Essential Oils Harmful?

Unfortunately, yes, they can be when used inappropriately. Just because something is “natural” and “pure” doesn’t mean it isn’t a potent substance. Undiluted, long-term use of essential oils has been known to cause adverse effects. Most importantly, adults, children, and animals are all at risk.

Here are some of the stories we’ve heard recently: a baby was treated with undiluted Peppermint and had a seizure; a woman is still experiencing ringing in her ear from an undiluted treatment; another woman ingested Lemon oil daily and her tongue went numb. Sadly, there are many more instances like these.

Possible adverse effects from the overuse of undiluted essential oils include:

  • Redness, rashes, blistering
  • Itching, general irritation
  • Chemical burning
  • Pigmentation changes
  • Headaches
  • Nausea
  • Diarrhea
  • Interference with medication
  • Alters blood pressure
  • Bleeding
  • Sores
  • Numbness, tingling
  • Nerve deadening

If you or someone you know has experienced an adverse reaction from essential oil use, please take a moment to fill out an Injury Report Form.

Additionally, you can read our first injury report here.