Best Essential Oils for First Aid

You are probably like most other families and have a first aid kit available to handle life’s little emergencies right? However, do you have any essential oils in that first aid kit? If you don’t, you really should since they can help with everything from headaches to pain to infection.

Lavender– Lavender essential oil is commonly used in first aid kits to take care of skin irritations, bruises and cuts. There was a French scientist named Rene Gattefosse that discovered the soothing and cleansing properties of lavender oil when he was burned in a laboratory explosion. For headaches, apply a drop of essential oil to the temples. Lavender can also be used for minor burns, mosquito bites and sunburns.

Helichrysum– Helichrysum essential oil is well known for its restoring properties. This essential oil has a scent that is sweet and fruity with nectar overtones. It is commonly used for minor aches and pains. You can use Helichrysum as long as there is no broken skin. This essential oil is ideal for treating shock, reducing swelling, reducing broken bone pain and fighting infections and viruses.

Tea Tree Oil– Tea tree oil is a very powerful antiseptic so it is handy to have in your first aid kit. It is often used to clean scratches and minor abrasions to prevent infection. Tea tree oil is also used in treating fungal infections of the nails and skin as well as warts and cold sores. This is an intensely strong oil so you want to be sure that you dilute it prior to applying it to the skin. For cuts and scrapes, clean the infected area first and apply tea tree oil. You can also use it on insect bites and plant stings as well. Tea tree oil can also be used to remove ticks by applying a drop directly to the tick and removing the tick with tweezers.

Geranium– Geranium essential oil has a scent that is sweet yet floral. It is a calming scent that dates back to Egyptian times. While it does have a sweet yet floral scent, it has some intense healing properties. It is for this reason that all first aid kits should have this essential oil. Because it is so powerful, this essential oil can help to stop bleeding since it restricts blood vessels and coagulates them as well. Geranium has antimicrobial properties so it works well on cuts and scrapes.

Frankincense– Frankincense is many times referred to as “liquid pearls from the tree of life”. This oil has been around for thousands of years and is commonly used to treat minor cuts and insect bites. Frankincense has several useful properties including antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antifungal. It can be used for numerous first aid things like rashes, cuts, bug bites and burns.

Here are links to the essential oils mentioned above-