Lavender

Lavender Essential Oil in Chinese Medicine

Common Name: Lavender flower
Botanical Name: Lavendula spp.
Pin Yin Name: Xūnyīcǎo huā

Main Acupressure Channels Activated by Lavender Essential Oil: essential oils for headaches

Fire Element (Heart, Pericardium), Wood Element (Liver), Metal (Lung)

Learn How to Use Self-Acupressure Linked Here!

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Benefits of Lavender Essential Oils in Chinese Medicine

Lavender is best known for its profound calming effect on the nervous system but has a plethora of medicinal applications. Lavender flowers are gentle enough to use with babies, and effective enough to rid a grown man of the common cold. The essential oil of lavender and its ability to heal burns quickly and effectively is often overshadowed by aloe, but the two together work miracles. Lavender essential oil can be applied to fire burns, electrical burns, or sunburns. It seems counter-intuitive that an oil could be placed on a burn, but essential oils are not lipids (such as vegetable oils or animal fats), rather a hydrophobic (repels water) liquid that has been distilled from plant compounds.

In addition to being a great first aid tool for skin burns, lavender essential oil takes the sting out of bee and wasp stings and can soothe bug bites too. Lavender is also very soothing for children suffering with eczema combined with other soothing essential oils. Lavender is very soothing for the skin and can be used with calendula and tea tree for diaper rash, for wounds, and to lighten scars and stretchmarks. It can also be used for any type of skin infection.

Lavender essential oil is a great remedy for colds and viruses; it is considered an effective botanical for "Releasing Exterior Wind-Heat” pathogens for children and adults according to Chinese medicine. A "Wind-Heat" type cold would likely present with a sore throat, thirst, feelings of heat or fever, agitation, and possibly a headache. The essential oil of lavender can also be added headache natural remedyto a spray bottle of water to take on airline trips to use as an antiviral to avoid catching colds and flu's from others..

Lavender is widely known for its effects on reducing stress and tension headaches. It is also useful in recovering from nervous exhaustion and adrenal fatigue. Children who are coping with displacement such as a move or a change of school can benefit from lavender essential oil. Parents utilize lavender essential oil to help get little ones to bed, especially when they are wound up with nervous tension. Lavender essential oil is also applied to tired, sore, tense muscles to help relax them and to ease spasms. It can also be used for leg cramps in kids. Lavender essential oil is a remedy to keep in your natural first-aid kit, as it has many applications.

Lavender essential oils is typically used as part of a more complex essential oil remedy but is effective as a single remedy (used by itself).

Properties: Neutral to cool, pungent
Nature: Soothing, harmonizing, compassionate, restorative, gentle, kind-hearted, maternal, relaxing, meditative, aware, dispersing, regulating, balancing, modifying

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Imbalances Treated with Lavender Essential Oil in Chinese Medicine

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, each energetic organ system is assigned to one of the Five Elements. Each element has both physical and emotional symptoms that would indicate imbalances in one or more of the related organ systems. Learn more here!

Water Element Energetic Organ Systems: Kidney, Urinary Bladder

Wood Element Energetic Organ Systems: Liver, Gallbladder

Fire Element Energetic Organ Systems: Heart, Small Intestine, Pericardium, San Jiao

Earth Element Energetic Organ Systems: Spleen, Stomach

  • Muscle tension
  • Worry
  • Epigastric fullness due to Liver Overacting on Spleen

Metal Element Energetic Organ Systems: Lung, Large Intestine

  • Lung Heat
  • Skin problems
  • Sinusitis
  • Intestinal spasms
  • Spasmodic asthma or bronchitis

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Plant description: A tender to hardy perennial that prefers well-drained soil and direct sunlight; there are many varietals of lavender. It is difficult to grow enough lavender flowers in the garden to produce therapeutic quantities of the herb for all conditions, but a tea of the flowers can be used for an upset stomach due to nervousness in kids, and as a mouthwash for bad breath.

Part used: Flowers
Note: Top to middle requiring blending with heavier essential oils to maintain the floral, herbaceous richness and medical qualities

Safety and Contraindications

  • No known cumulative toxicity used topically
  • The pure essential oil of lavender flowers is one of the few essential oils that can be applied "neat" or directly to the skin; most other essential oils must be diluted, or they will chemically burn the skin. A few drops of essential oil of lavender is gentle enough to add directly in to a baby's bath water.
  • Recommendations for topical use only
  • Pregnant or nursing women and children-infants should only use essential oils under the guidance of their local practitioner

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References

Sasannejad P, Saeedi M, Shoeibi A, Gorji A, Abbasi M, Foroughipour M. Lavender essential oil in the treatment of migraine headache: a placebo-controlled clinical trial. Eur Neurol. 2012;67(5):288-91. doi: 10.1159/000335249. Epub 2012 Apr 17. PMID: 22517298.

Greenberg MJ, Slyer JT. Effectiveness of Silexan oral lavender essential oil compared to inhaled lavender essential oil aromatherapy for sleep in adults: a systematic review. JBI Database System Rev Implement Rep. 2018 Nov;16(11):2109-2117. doi: 10.11124/JBISRIR-2017-003823. PMID: 30439747.

Samuelson R, Lobl M, Higgins S, Clarey D, Wysong A. The Effects of Lavender Essential Oil on Wound Healing: A Review of the Current Evidence. J Altern Complement Med. 2020 Aug;26(8):680-690. doi: 10.1089/acm.2019.0286. Epub 2020 Jun 24. PMID: 32589447.

Kwiatkowski P, Łopusiewicz Ł, Kostek M, Drozłowska E, Pruss A, Wojciuk B, Sienkiewicz M, Zielińska-Bliźniewska H, Dołęgowska B. The Antibacterial Activity of Lavender Essential Oil Alone and In Combination with Octenidine Dihydrochloride against MRSA Strains. Molecules. 2019 Dec 26;25(1):95. doi: 10.3390/molecules25010095. PMID: 31888005; PMCID: PMC6982929.

Karadag E, Samancioglu S, Ozden D, Bakir E. Effects of aromatherapy on sleep quality and anxiety of patients. Nurs Crit Care. 2017 Mar;22(2):105-112. doi: 10.1111/nicc.12198. Epub 2015 Jul 27. PMID: 26211735.

This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.