Recently I received frantic emails from a mom at 3 a.m. and I didn’t see her emails for hours. She had followed the advice of a MLM sales rep to put undiluted essential oils on her toddler. Her child was screaming in pain for hours. I wasn’t awake at 3 a.m. so she searched the internet for answers. She found advice from sales reps saying that any rash was simply a sign of detoxifying. In the morning she took her child to the doctor and he had a chemical burn. She felt terrible. I am writing this blog post in hopes of making it possible for a frantic mom to find answers on the internet at any hour.
When an injury occurs from the use of essential oils:
- If an essential oil causes dermal irritation, apply a carrier oil (such as vegetable, coconut, olive oil, etc.) to the area affected to dilute it. Repeat as needed. If you do not feel relief seek medical attention.
- If a child appears to consumed an essential oil, contact the nearest poison control unit, and seek immediate medical attention. Keep the bottle for identification for emergency workers. If an adult is experiencing any systems (pain, dizziness, burning, vomiting, irregular heartbeat, elevated blood pressure, severe headache or migraine, reddening/swelling/pain/blistering of the mouth, throat or esophagus, respiratory distress, or other alarming adverse reaction) seek medical attention.
- If an essential oil gets into your eye, according to Robert Tisserand, the standard treatment is copious irrigation with saline solution for 1-2 hours. Contact lenses should not be removed initially (Peate 2007). With essential oils, fatty oil has been suggested as an appropriate first aid treatment though the advantage of saline is that the eyes can be continually flushed, and this is less easy with fatty oil. I would add that you should seek medical attention if you do not have significant relief as an ocular chemical burn is serious.
After the crisis is over report the injury:
- Report any essential oil injury to the Atlantic Institute of Aromatherapy.
- Report the injury to the FDA you can use several resources: Your Guide To Reporting Problems To The FDA or Report Unlawful Sales of Medical Products On The Internet or Consumer Complaint Coordinators – Report A Problem or Medwatch Online Voluntary Reporting Form.
- Report the claim to FTC also has a process to FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE FTC
- Report the injury doTERRA has a process to report compliance issues to the company via email at rdoxey@doterra.com. I am not aware of a reporting system for Young Living (please let me know in the comments if you know of a system) at this time.
The new article Essential Oil Safety: New Report Shows Marketing Companies, Sales Reps Leading Cause of EO Injuries by investigative journalist Lee Tea should be an eye opener. The point I was trying to make in my article Warnings dōTERRA & Young Living Won’t Tell You is that you should follow basic safety precautions when using essential oils, no matter what someone selling essential oils in a MLM tells you to do. Lee Tea’s article could have been titled dōTERRA and Young Living Sales Reps Leading Cause of EO Injuries, because as it shows in her report 85% of reported cases are from the use of Young Living or doTerra essential oils.
I’d like to add the point that the majority of injuries are not reported AT ALL so this is only a tiny tip of the iceberg. I have received countless of emails from people telling me about their injuries from essential oils. NONE of them had reported their injuries. Many of them had called their upline and were told that they were simply detoxifying. You are not detoxifying! That burning sensation, rash, or blisters are either a chemical burn, allergic reaction or your skin screaming stop to you. More about that myth can be read here.
If you are a dōTERRA or Young Living representative please take a deep breath, read all the links, read the comments already asked and answered in the blog Warnings dōTERRA & Young Living Won’t Tell You and take a moment to consider why you are so against using safety measures when using essential oils before you attack me in comments here.
If anyone has further questions for me please read Aromatherapy FAQ.
In the original blog post Warnings dōTERRA & Young Living Won’t Tell You I shared My Top 12 Aromatherapy Safety Rules from my books The Art, Science & Business of Aromatherapy and the abridged edition The Art & Science of Aromatherapy.
The bare basics of aromatherapy safety are the first three safety rules. I am re-sharing them here:
Rule #1
Never consume essential oils. Even if you read a book by an aromatherapist from a country that uses essential oils internally, they should never be consumed. The practice of consuming essential oils is dangerous and was designed to be done under the care of an aromatherapist trained in that form of therapy.
Rule #2
Always dilute your essential oils before applying them to the skin. There are a very small handful of exceptions to this rule including lavender and tea tree which can be occasionally applied neat, or directly, to the skin. In different aromatherapy books there may be recommendations of essential oils over 3% in massage oils but it simply isn’t necessary. Less is more in the world of essential oils. There is no need to overdose and it is always better to be safe than sorry.
Essential oils are incredibly potent and need to be dispersed into a carrier before applying them to the skin. You wouldn’t wrap your body in 30 lbs. of plant material so don’t apply that much or more directly onto your skin.
Typically, essential oils are diluted into products at 1 to 3% – sometimes less and sometimes more, but that is the general rule of thumb. Some essential oils have an intense aroma and price tag combination that allows for their use as low as 0.1% Take jasmine, blue chamomile and neroli for example.
Rule #3
Keep all essential oils out of the reach of children; they are notorious for putting everything in their mouths. Compared to adults, essential oils should be used in half the dosage rate for children for topical application. They are not miniature adults, and their bodies were not designed to process the same ratio of essential oils on their skin. I have safely used aromatherapy on all three of my children since 1998.
© 2011, Kayla Fioravanti, The Art, Science & Business of Aromatherapy
EXCELLENT POST, Kayla!! Thank You!!!
Tricia
Thanks! I keep getting the emails from injured people so I am hoping this starts coming up when they Google what to do.
I am a doTERRA WA and I appreciate all the safety advise I can get and pass on. Thank you for the information!
Thank you!
Any reputable, educated MLM essential oil person would have told the mother to dilute when using. Especially on a child. The problem is that all some people care about is signing up more reps or getting customers without educating them or being educated themselves. It is also the responsibility of the person using the oils to investigate. Unfortunately they believe what their friend might tell them about whether it is correct or not. I am a doTERRA Wellness Advocate that gets irritated at those in the organization that are irresponsible and only care about the money instead of educating themselves and their customers.
I totally agree.
I agree! I am also a Welness Advocate with DoTERRA! I understand the dangers and complications that can arise from using EO’s improperly and I make sure I research, thoroughly, through multiple sources before I make any recommendation for use! It is really frustrating to hear that people are making recommendations without being properly educated themselves! However, as a consumer of EO’s , I am responsible for the choices that I make, regardless of what my doctor, my mother, the internet, an aromatherapist or a lover of oils tells me!
PLEASE! Wellness Advocates Everywhere… share your love of oils!, but tell people the truth! You are not experts, you are not medically trained professionals and the people you advise need to be encouraged to research the proper use of all oils! We do so much research on other topics! What kind of educational programs do we want for our children, where to take our next family vacation, how to make healthy snacks for lunches, how to throw a “Pinterest” birthday! But you don’t research something you are going to put in or on your body! It’s very sad that people have been injured! And I’m grateful for this article because I am even more aware now and it will help me be an advocate with integrity! PLEASE Fellow Advocates! Do your homework and don’t tell people things that you can’t back up with research and safety precautions!
Thanks Kayla!
Excellent thank you well written and honest.
Thank you.
As always, you are the voice of educated reason, Kayla. Thanks again for another article that everyone needs to read. Hopefully some day, the irresponsible practices will stop. Let’s hope it’s because the light bulb goes off in a lot of heads, and not because someone gets seriously hurt or worse.
Thank you. That is my hope too — that the irresponsible practices would stop!
My daughter got Peppermint oil near her eyes. I used the protocol here for skin and eyes and, I’m proud to say, it worked. This was a very minor exposure with an empty bottle I negligently left where a curious five-year-old could reach it. I’ve taught her about oil safety since, and do not use “hot” oils on her skin ever, even if heavily diluted,
So glad to hear it worked for your daughter. I am sure she will never forget her safety training now.
Wow, I had no idea! This is brilliant and essential information. Thanks for posting!
Thanks for reading and sharing.
Great post with incredibly valuable information. I personally don’t use essential oils but know lots of people who do, and will share this info.
Thanks for sharing.
Awesome! What a great article!
Thank you!
Thank you for educating. I have used oils for a few years and am just starting to learn the dangers. My problem is not knowing who to believe. There is so much differing information out there and it rarely comes with studies to back it up. Any recommendations?
Robert Tisserand has an excellent book on essential oil safety. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0443062412/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=kaylafi-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0443062412&linkId=aed525839ce204ac424e7cf5c48d0e64
Thank you so much for posting this information! I too experienced some reactions to the doTERRA oils. I followed what the bottle said, then learned my lesson. So it really made me more aware of how to properly and honestly share these beautiful oils and earths gifts. I believe my body too sensitive to ingest them. I know they can be helpful for those needing certain specific attention with using the oils internally, including an infection, or sickness, in France they are well known to do this. However even then to be careful and to act with precaution. I do not see the need to be using the oils on a regular basis internally at all. I believe externally and always diluted I am finding is the better way to go. I know everyone has an opinion on this, as they say to me well ingesting medication can be dangerous too. I see that as a very weak answer, everything should be taken properly no matter what it is. (I don’t personally take, nor need to take any medications, I am healthy and feel good everyday just being on a plant based, whole food diet and with my Juice Plus+, for me that is what healed my own body, and all I really find I need.) Too much water intake can also make you sick. I believe doTERRA should provide more information, and warning signs along with sheets given out with your shipment that inform you of what to do if you have any type of reaction. Then no one will have to find out the hard way. Just as if you go to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and they give you paperwork on everything you need to know. It’s not that hard to do. It is better to let people know then to worry about the next sale. Then you will be a more credible company anyway. I will now warn my clients and let them know the proper information. I was taught in college not to ingest the oils, then when I started with doTERRA I saw many ingesting them freely. No one warned me. I have a lot of knowledge about oils, however I believed what I heard too. I think now its used more as a sales tactic, which is wrong to do. Now I know to really let everyone know to act with caution if they decide to ingest, and what my personal decision is to for my body. I am not saying no one should ever ingest oils, but we all need to know the proper information and make our own sound and medical choice. Just reading a label that says 1 drop in water, doesn’t give enough information to the consumer. Some people may not have the time to look up everything. Nor should they have to. (They also will get many different answers on the internet of what is best to do.) The company selling the oil also has the job of informing them too of all they need to know, which include not just some warnings, but all possible reactions / side effects. Also what to do if they have a reaction. doTERRA and Young Living must have some heafty insurance. I love the oils very much, and will continue to share them, but I will be extremely honest about letting people know about using them internally. I believe only a very few oils should be used internally anyway and only when or if needed. ~ Thank You. ~ Sanura Moon ~ of Urban Eco Beauty & Healthy Entrepreneur ~ @Sanura_Moon @UrbanEcoBeauty
This is an excellent point!
” I believe doTERRA should provide more information, and warning signs along with sheets given out with your shipment that inform you of what to do if you have any type of reaction. Then no one will have to find out the hard way. Just as if you go to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and they give you paperwork on everything you need to know. It’s not that hard to do.”
I wholeheartedly agree.
How do I report oil reps who are diagnosing and prescribing oils to treat illness and diseases by ingesting certain oils on their social media account? Anyone know? This must stop.
At the FDA you can use several resources: Your Guide To Reporting Problems To The FDA or Report Unlawful Sales of Medical Products On The Internet or Consumer Complaint Coordinators – Report A Problem or Medwatch Online Voluntary Reporting Form. The FTC also has a process to FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE FTC and doTERRA has a process to report compliance issues to the company via email.
You can find links to those resources in this blog post: http://kaylafioravanti.com/aromatherapy-faq/
Curious, I can’t seem to find this on the blog. Are you an aromatherapist?
Yes. I am a certified and registered aromatherapist.
Hi, I see in your first comment about an injury, you said to use vegetable oil. I would NEVER use vegetable oil, ONLY USE 100% pure coconut oil, olive oil, grape seed oil etc.
Oh, and NOT ALL MLM reps give bad information. Many of us (at least in our group) do tell people to dilute, especially for children (if it is a safe oil for them). Thank You.
This blog post was written to give any consumer directions at any hour of the day or night to deal with an injury. Not everyone has pure coconut oil, olive oil, or grape seed oil in their kitchen. I didn’t use the term carrier oil originally because that is more of an industry term than an every day consumer term. I have clarified in the post by adding “apply a carrier oil (such as vegetable, coconut, olive oil, etc.)” I am leaving the everyday English term “vegetable” oil in there because that may be the oil that an injured person has on hand at 3 a.m. when they find themselves in a crisis.
And I totally agree that not all MLM people give bad information. It only takes a few to injure people. Unfortunately I hear about the injuries on a regular bases from people who were given dangerous information.
Hi Kayla, I am newer to EO, and have felt that some if the info given to me by reps didn’t seem safe. Thank you for your honesty, and now I know. How about using EO’s while pregnant?
Thank you for this article!
I was having tooth pain (needed a root canal) and someone suggested applying wintergreen oil to help with the pain. I put some on cotton swab and left it there maybe an hour. It was hurting already and the tingling burning sensation must’ve meant it was working, right? WRONG. The oil burned the inside of my lip and guns severely! I have painful blisters, also on my lips where the oil touched only a little. I’m convinced I have an allergy to this oil (I’ve used it in a blend for headaches with itching rashes as a result). Thank you or posting the links to report essential oil injury. Now I find out how to treat tho painful situation I’ve created for myself!
Kendra – YIKES! That sounds painful. Sounds like a chemical burn and you have probably developed an allergy or sensitivity to it. Wintergreen is a very powerful essential oil. The methyl salicylate in Wintergreen can be toxic. Very scary.
My daughter and I are new to essential oils and we had both been putting drops in our water. She is currently experiencing symptoms of a cystitis, feeling like her bladder is extremely irritated. She also is pregnant, though she has not done this since becoming pregnant. I understand now that oils need to be treated very carefully and are not highly nutritious flavorings, but is it possible the oils hurt her bladder? She was using grapefruit and lemon. She is very uncomfortable.
She should see her doctor. If she doesn’t have infection than that could possibly be it. But going to the doctor is the best option. You can see other injuries on Atlantic Institute and see if you find similar reports. http://www.atlanticinstitute.com/
Kayla, thank you for this. I am severely allergic to salicylates – I have gone into anaphylaxis before thanks to a coworker using essential oils. They’re like ether for me, as they make me crash and pretty much paralyze me. I was so groggy when I left work in the afternoons that I was driving like a drunk person and would have to pull over to nap just to make it home. I also lived with rashes that my doctors were never able to clear up until I left the job where the coworker used them, and her desk was pretty far from mine. At my current job, we have a new coworker who uses them to relieve anxiety – while she smokes and takes anxiety meds all at the same time. She literally inhales them straight out of the vials and her clothing reeks of them. The air is so thick with her oils that we can taste them and our eyes burn. My allergist has written a note to HR to have one of us moved as my symptoms have started again and I can’t afford another anaphylactic reaction. Thank you for the education you provide here; I have sold a skin care/makeup line in the past and they told us to tell clients that if they broke out then impurities were being pulled out of their skin instead of considering that they could be allergic. One of my clients had a severe reaction in front of me and fortunately I was prepared to help her, so I stress in our meetings regardless of their sales pitch training, which they don’t like I might add, to take precautions in case. Everyone should take care in using these things and not subject others to them unless they agree to it. Thank you again.
I am so glad that people are being educated about using essential oils. I love them but learn’t the hard way some of the dangers about twenty years ago. I knew very little about essential oils when I just put a random mix of oils in my bath and got in. Moments later I had to get out because I had a burning rash all over my body all, could do was stand under the shower for a long time until it felt a bit better. I recently went to a demonstration on essential oils where the rep said you could ingest some oils or apply some neat, some of these were in a blend and she said there was no carrier oil in that blend. I specifically asked that question because I know from experience how irresponsible that can be. I have no doubt that I had an allergic reaction to at least one oil, I think it may have been a citrus oil but can’t be sure. I still use oils but only for diffusing or topically in a carrier oil and do a patch test first. Thankyou again for this wonderful informative blog I wish this was available twenty years ago. Eve.
Thank you. So wish I had read this months ago. My massage therapist using Young Living and gave me facial massages using the oils straight from the bottle. My skin is now blotchy (dark and light patches), rough and irritated — the reaction came after going out in the sun. I did make a report as you suggested.
Is there anything you suggest I do for my skin — I’m using coconut oil, jojoba oil, and olive oil.
Thank you.
i stupidly put sweet birch undiluted on the back of my neck at 11:ooam and at 10:00 pm i feel the cold burning at different points of my body and my throat. should i worry cause i am, it was about 2 drops.
You should be extremely cautious if experiencing any reaction from sweet birch. The high level of methyl salicylate in it can make it dangerous. Two drops undiluted is actually quite a bit. Robert Tisserand warns that “Sweet Birch is contraindicated with anticoagulant medicines, major surgery, hemophelia, other bleeding disorders, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and children. Salicylate sensitivity, including ADD/ADHD, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Inhibits blood clotting, toxicity issues, high doses may be teratogenic. Maximum dermal level 2.5%. Topical application can potentiate the anticoagulant effect of warfarin, leading to possible internal hemorrhage.” There have been deaths caused by methyl salicylate. Please contact either poison control or your doctor, especially if you are in any high risk categories. Tisserand states that maximum dermal contact is 2.5%, but your application was 100%.
It is 8:00 am the next morning and other than a cough all night and scared anxiety i am here, do you think i am still in trouble?
I do not know how long it takes for methyl salicylate to leave the body. I personally would still call poison control and/or my doctor to ask.
My wife took on guard by doterra and now is experiencing welts and swollen lymph nodes on her neck chin and behind her right ear and her scalp. Please help thank you
Unfortunately I fell terribly behind in emails and did not see this until today. It sounds like she had an allergic reaction. My hope is that you contacted a medical professional.
Hi Kayla,
Thanks very much for your informative posts! I happened across your page when I was Googling ‘doterra’, ‘side effects’ and ‘law suits’.
I used Salubelle (Immortelle) diluted with FCO on my forehead and cheekbones for a few weeks and the vision in my right eye went strange; the eyeball felt like it was twitching and jumping around the world looked like it was jitterbugging. It is still not right, even though I stopped use of the oil blend weeks ago.
I reported the issue to doterra and posted about it on essential oil facebook pages. I received a response from doterra asking me to go into detail so their Adverse Effect specialist could investigate and they offered me a refund but I don’t think they are taking the dangers of this oil blend seriously enough. My symptoms are abating, but very slowly – they are still there. Certain things will trigger the issue again like if I’m overtired or if it’s a particularly overcast day – the bright glare of light against the white/grey clouds seems to trigger it for some reason.
This is messing with people’s eyesight. This is incredibly potent/dangerous stuff, even when diluted! I’m just posting about it wherever I come across pages going into the potential dangers of using oils in the hope that it will save at least one person from going through this scary experience.
I’m going to look but maybe you will be quicker in answering your process of diluting essential oils? What tools do u use etc…. one thing i was not taught when I was sold the product was HOW to dilute … thanks!
Hello:)) I would like to know how dT gets away with advising their customers and reps to take the oils internally in a capsule or in water, smoothies, dressings, sauces, baked goods, roasted foods, etc. I hope you will open up the comments again so we can learn more from one another. Thank you!
Hi Kayla, I have just finished the DoTerra 30 day cleanse and renew, and while I felt good most of the way through as I get to the end I have experienced non relenting diarrhea. It’s gone on for close to a week now, have you run into anyone else experiencing this? After reading your blog I have probably overdone it with lemon essential oil in water, will stop that. Any other suggestions? Thanks for a very informative blog.
I would definitely recommend stopping all usage. I recommend joining the Dark Side of Essential Oils group to find others who may have experienced the same: https://www.facebook.com/groups/253055645202750/