Essential oils get a lot of criticism and a lot of praise. How much of it is justified and how much is just hyperbole or unjust criticism? We’re going to talk about the pros and cons of essential oils so that you can make an informed decision for yourself.
Knowing both sides of the issue can help you as you try to determine if essential oils might be right for you and for treating what ails you.
The Pros of Essential Oils
Let’s look at some of the benefits of using essential oils and diffusers in your home and for self-treatment.
They Can Be Therapeutic – We can’t talk about the pros and cons of Young Living essential oils without talking about the therapy benefits. Essential oils are known for helping people relax, sleep better, feel better, and experience pain relief.
Some people use essential oils directly on their skin, while diluting it with water, since they are very potent. They can be used to treat muscle aches and pains as well as headaches. Some people will use oil diffusers or place essential oils close to the bed to help them sleep better or to clear their sinuses.
They Smell Great – A lot of what makes essential oils therapeutic is their scent. They have a very pleasant aroma to them, and that can be spread around the room using an oil diffuser. Your home can feel more inviting and pleasanter if it smells great.
Some essential oil diffusers allow you to place a few oils into the diffuser at once so they can cycle throughout the day. This can give your home fresh new scents constantly and make it smell so enticing and lovely. The aroma of essential oils is one of the main reasons people will have them in their homes.
They Can Keep Pests Away – Using certain essential oils can help to repel flies, mosquitoes, ants, and other pests. Many people use essential oils when they have outside events like barbecues or picnics.
Essential oils can keep insects from biting them or interfering with their fun. Some people will place essential oils in the kitchen or by their windows to keep pests from getting into food areas or entering the house.
Some of the scents that we find lovely and appealing can be repulsive to insects, and essential oils can be a safe and humane way to keep insects away from you.
They Can Be an Affordable Alternative – When talking about the pros and cons of Dotara central oils in various diffusers, it’s important to look at the cost savings benefits.
Some people may balk at the price of essential oils shelves, but they might not be considering how they can save them money over time. Many people use essential oils as an alternative to expensive medical treatments, medications, bug repellents, and devices that require electricity, batteries, and regular upkeep.
If you use essential oils in place of bug zappers, electronic bug repellents, and expensive medications, you can save money over the long run.
They Can Be Very Safe – Another benefit to using essential oils is that they can be a lot cleaner and safer for your skin. They can be safer to breathe in than the aerosols and other chemicals that bug repellents contain.
They may be less irritating to your skin than certain medications, and some people use them as an alternative to irritating treatments for the same conditions.
The Cons of Essential Oils
We have to talk about the negative aspects of these products as well. While they can be very beneficial and help people in a lot of ways, there are some things that consumers need to be aware of.
They Can Have Severe Side Effects – One of the most important things to know about using essential oils is that they can be dangerous. While in many ways they can be safer than various medications, that doesn’t mean they’re always safe.
Consumers need to know about the side effects and the pros and cons of internal use of essential oils. Many of them are not safe to digest, and just because they are made of natural components doesn’t mean that they will be free from side effects.
In many instances, medications are safer than essential oils. It’s a good idea to talk to your doctor before self-diagnosing or self-treating. You want to make sure that you’re getting professional medical advice before you try to treat a medical condition.
A lot of people have been hurt by essential oils who didn’t use them properly or got bad advice about their use.
They Can Be Expensive – We said earlier that essential oils can help save you money, but that’s not always true. Yes, there are medications, devices, and chemicals that may be more expensive than essential oils, but some essential oils are incredibly expensive.
You may have been recommended an essential oil that will help with a problem you have only to check out the shelf price and feel your eyes go wide. Some essential oils are prohibitively expensive and are far from the cheapest way to treat a condition or fix a problem.
This is one of the pros and cons of using essential oils for asthma. Young Living and other brands can be costly when it comes to specific essential oils.
Quality Is Not Always Regulated – Here’s a little tidbit you might find helpful: not all essential oils are the same. Every brand of peppermint oil or lemongrass oil is not equally as pure.
Some are not as high quality as others, with some brands being watered down and diluted or made from lower quality ingredients than what you might expect.
What this means is that some essential oils will not be as potent as they should be and may not provide the effects they are supposed to.
You have to be careful about which ones you get, and it can be very difficult to tell which ones are high quality or not. You may have to do some serious research and get recommendations from trusted, reliable sources.
They May Cause Allergic Reactions – One of the pros and cons of using essential oils for asthma is that you could irritate your skin or your lungs with the essential oil you are using.
You have to be very careful about which oil to use for which treatments. Some people are sensitive to certain essential oils. In fact, there are a lot of essential oils that people will have a strong sensitivity to if they come into contact with them in their undiluted form.
This is why most essential oils need to be diluted before being used. They can be very strong. If you spill a little on your skin, you can have a mild or even a severe reaction to the oil.
You may not know which essential oils you are allergic to or sensitive to until you start using them. This is one of the risks that you have to consider, and when speaking about pros and cons of essential oils, this is something that consumers need to be made aware of.
Closing Thoughts
There are both good things and bad aspects about using essential oils. They can be very helpful for many people, but they also have their risks and can be dangerous. You ought to be aware of this and not use them without taking proper precautions.
Used properly, essential oils can save you money and help provide safe and natural treatment for many conditions. They can keep bugs away and make your home smell incredible.
