When to NOT use essential oils (Essential oils can cause seizures in kids)

September 8, 2014

1/3/2015. Update from Dr. Erika: DON’T THROW OUT YOUR ESSENTIAL OILS! I’ve been getting a lot of comments from folks who read this article and are terrified to use essential oils now. Please, read the article carefully – topical or diffused essential oils can be very safe and effective in kids when used correctly! Remember to adjust dose to your child’s weight – if 1-2 drops is effective for an adult, then 1/2, 1/5, or 1/10 of a drop may be effective (and safe) for your child.

When to NOT use essential oils

Are you an essential oil user? Chances are the answer is yes!

Recently there has been a huge rise in the use of essential oils from some popular MLM companies like Young Living and Doterra. BUT – with every new craze comes some good news and bad news…

The good news:

I love the fact that so many families have thrown out their Glade Plug-in air fresheners, or other synthetic spray air fresheners. Synthetic air fresheners are notoriously horrible products, in my opinion. The Environmental Working Group (ewg.org) rated 150 products with a grade D for safety, and 78 products with a grade F. (Only 11 got a grade A, and one of those was baking soda!) They even have a warning on their website saying “Avoid air fresheners: they can cause allergies and only cover up bad odors.” I really, really, really, really, really don’t like synthetic air fresheners. They are known to have phthalates and other substances which interfere with our hormones and are known to cause cancer. Using a vaporizer for essential oils is a much better way to diffuse fragrance and naturally reduce odor-causing bacteria.

The second piece of good news: I love it when patients have essential oils on hand. I do actually use essential oils a lot in my practice, usually topically or in steam inhalations. Lavender, tea tree, and thyme are my favorite three to have on hand. These are what I usually recommend families to keep in their herbal first aid kit. (Frankincense would be next.)

Okay, on to the bad news.

As a physician, I am very concerned about the rise in inappropriate use of essential oils.

Did you know that essential oils can cause seizures in children?

Essential oils are the distilled volatile aromatic constituents of the plant that are highly concentrated. Remember that one drop of essential oil is equivalent to 15-40 cups of medicinal tea, or up to 10 teaspoons of tincture. Would you ever give a child 40 cups of tea, or 10 teaspoons of tincture? My goodness, I hope not.

There have been several documented cases of seizures in children (and a few in adults) who have taken essential oils inappropriately. (You can check out case reports here, here, here, and here).

The bottom line is: essential oils can be neurotoxic to children. I never recommend internal use of essential oils in kids. Even in adults I save internal use of essential oils for serious infections or other conditions that are unresponsive to normal doses of herbs (in tincture or tea form). Topical or vaporized essential oils can be safe and very effective in children when used correctly!

So here are some guidelines for using essential oils in kids:

1) Always use a carrier oil when applying essential oils to the skin. A “carrier oil” is a type of base oil, to slightly dilute the essential oil and protect the skin against direct contact with the essential oil. Essential oils should never be applied “neat” (undiluted) to the skin. I cannot tell you the number of times I have seen allergic contact dermatitis (big ugly skin rash) with undiluted oils! Mix 1-2 drops of essential oil in 1-3 teaspoons of a carrier oil like olive oil, coconut oil, almond oil, avocado oil, or other mild, gentle, skin-friendly oil. Mix essential oils with carrier oils immediately before applying them. This prevents rancidity.

2) Keep oils away from airways (nose and mouth). One thing I really like about DoTerra’s recommendations is that they usually tell parents to apply essential oils to the feet of children and babies. This is a great idea, because it provides space between the airways and the source of the essential oil. Just make sure your baby doesn’t then put his feet in his mouth! Also make sure the essential oils are mixed with a carrier oil first.

3) Do not use vaporizers in a house where a child or adult lives with a respiratory disease. I have seen a number of asthma patients who were constantly having their airways aggravated from aerosolized essential oils. Use extreme caution when using essential oils in kids with asthma. Most essential oils will inflame a sensitive respiratory tract. I have heard from some of my naturopathic colleagues who have seen frightening cases of children completely unable to breathe because of essential oil-induced asthma attacks.

4) Do not use essential oils in teething recipes. No, no no. This is not safe! Stick with chamomile or lemon-balm tea popsicles. (Super yummy and babies love them!) Clove oil can be used topically (cloves infused in olive oil, not clove essential oil), but use with caution, because if a baby swallows clove oil or any numbing agent it has the potential to numb the gag reflex, and babies can end up aspirating their own saliva.

5) Do not give children essential oils internally. I highly recommend limiting internal use of essential oils to use under physician supervision only, for kids OR for adults. Once again, I have heard from colleagues who have seen everything from ulcers, to chronic gastroenteritis, to asthma, flaring of skin lesions (eczema, acne, psoriasis, you name it), migraines, chronic heartburn, and many more, from taking internal essential oils. Again – remember that one drop of essential oil is equivalent to 15-40 cups of medicinal tea, or up to 10 teaspoons of tincture. Products that have mixtures of essential oils and herbs tend to be safer. The exception to this rule: essential oils that are used for flavoring only tend to be safe (e.g., orange essential oil to flavor ice cream) – in this case the total amount of essential oil is very, very low.

6) Never ever take essential oils internally if you are pregnant. I recommend using extreme caution with topical essential oils and vaporized essential oils. Remember, essential oils very easily end up in the blood stream from topical or vaporized (and inhaled) use. (Topical by fat absorption through the skin, vaporized by diffusion in the alveoli of the lung.) Essential oils do cross the placenta and a fetus is extremely susceptible to the neurotoxic components. Most of the time this ends up being a non-issue though – pregnancy makes women so sensitive to smells that I know very few women who would use too much essential oil – our bodies do a great job of telling us when to stop!

At this point I am sure I will get hundreds of hate e-mails from avid essential oil users telling me how great they are and how much they helped their own personal health. I am in no way denying the fabulous benefits of essential oils! And they can be used internally – with caution!! But for every great success story of how much essential oils have helped, I get to see the other story, of how essential oils have worsened. So please, coming from Dr. Erika here, please use essential oils wisely, and save yourself a trip to my office – or worse, the Emergency Department.

Another note from Dr. Erika: Regarding the comments section – I’m trying, but I just can’t get to every comment anymore. If you are asking a specific treatment question (like “What EO can I use for _______ symptom) – I cannot answer those, you will need to ask your physician for guidance. Remember that symptoms are just symptoms of a bigger problem! If you need to find a naturopathic physician near you who has experience with essential oils, I recommend checking out the Pediatric Association of Naturopathic Physicians, or the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians.

Comments:

tia
May 12, 2015 at 5:15 am

Dr. Erika,

I have developed sensitization towards some of essential oils. I used to ingest and applied topically some eoS on my skin. after i got rashes from top to toe and headache for 2 weeks, i stop using all eos together and all the symptoms disappeared… well slowly. like very slooww… after 2 weeks i still have some itchiness and all my skin looks disgusting full of dark spots from the rashes.

Is it safe for me to diffuse essential oil, or this the end of it?

I really like essential oils sadly now I cannot use them anymore on my skin

Melliemoo
May 12, 2015 at 1:29 am

Hi Dr. Erika,
My 3yo daughter suffers from severe spring allergies. She is on 6 different pharmaceutical medications (between oral and inhalers) to fight the symptoms. I have heard from various sources that EO may be a good idea to help my daughter, however, I am leery to jump on the bandwagon and start applying EOs on top of what her little body is already processing. I don’t feel I know enough about them and how they work in the body, which brings me to my question- where can I go/what resources can I look into to educate myself on these oils and what can you recommend that I especially look into about this? Is there some kind of training? I am not comfortable trying this out until I feel I have a good grasp of the do’s/don’ts of EO… Thanks for your help!

- Dr. Erika Krumbeck
  May 12, 2015 at 2:02 am
  
  Yikes! That’s a lot of medications to manage allergies. Essential oils may help, but there are a lot of other options for natural treatment too – you may want to check out a naturopathic physician near you (www.naturopathic.org).
  
  I highly recommend learning about the whole plant for herbal medicine – I believe I have already linked a few resources here in the comments section. Many herbs that have mast-cell stabilizing properties, anti-inflammatory properties, etc, etc, only work when they are in the whole-plant form. (Freeze dried nettles, for example.) Otherwise I like http://essentialoil.university/ for a great database on essential oils, and how to spot the fake products out there. Here is also a great list of herbalism programs from Mountain Rose Herbs: https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/resources/herbal-education
  
Samantha
May 11, 2015 at 8:29 pm

My son has had horrible pains in his stomach. We had an x-ray done and it showed that he was not fully clearing out his system when going to the bathroom. My son was prescribed, by his pediatrician, to take Miralax at night for 30 nights. Once we finished the 30 nights he was fine. When he gets stomach pains we start the Miralax again and his pains go away. I was told, by a EO rep, one drop of lemon oil in water for him. He is 6 years old. I just want a more natural way to keep his system working pain free and not use Miralax. I was also planning to use the lemon oil in water for myself (and I am nursing).

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May 10, 2015 at 3:56 pm
Emily
April 22, 2015 at 11:17 pm

Such a helpful article thanks so much!! I know there isn’t solid info about pregnancy, but would like to know, is diffusing generally a safer way to use EOs if I only use 1-2 drops for say, 100 ml of water in diffuser? For about 15-30 min once or twice a day? Of course it would be a gentle oil like orange.

- Dr. Erika Krumbeck
  April 24, 2015 at 2:02 am
  
  I don’t think we really know! I highly doubt it would be a problem, but there just isn’t anything to say that it is (or isn’t!) safe.
  
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April 21, 2015 at 4:50 pm
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April 6, 2015 at 2:55 pm
Kristin
April 4, 2015 at 5:57 am

Okay I am new to using oils and I use Young Living, I found this article very informative! Thank you! But I had a question my son is 12 months old and got a hold of one of the blended oils “deep relief” it has peppermint and a bunch of others I wouldn’t ever give him. I had just nursed him and sat him down and before I knew it he got the bottle and when I took it away I noticed a little bit of oil on the bottle, I’m not sure if any really got in his mouth. I am really worried! He went to sleep and seems to be fine it has been a few hours since it happened, do you think he could have a seizure or anything else happen?

Stacy
April 3, 2015 at 2:43 pm

Nice article! One question. Wouldn’t the carrier oil be premiered from rancidity if they have EO such as lavender?

- Dr. Erika Krumbeck
  April 8, 2015 at 7:53 pm
  
  Stacy,
  
  You know, that’s a really good point. I’m not sure! It probably makes the carrier oil much, much less susceptible to rancidity when there is an EO mixed in. Though it probably depends on the concentration. I know from my mother-in-law making lotions that mixing in EO’s doesn’t necessarily prevent rancidity – though it probably delays it. We’ve had a few batches of lotion that go moldy or rancid if they sit in their container for too many months. Good point, though!
  
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April 1, 2015 at 9:44 pm
Carolyn Drake Reisman
March 29, 2015 at 10:07 pm

Five years ago, I became extremely sensitive to the chemicals in all fragrance. Essential oils never bothered me until about one year ago, when I developed severe reactions to exposure. Some might say I was exposed to “impure” essential oils, but it was DoTerra oils that I reacted to. This was not just a random exposure wielded by some unknowledgeable person in a public place. It was in my fragrance free home, and the woman who brought them was a DoTerra representative. She brought the oils to my home to use on my client who was in labor. I am a midwife and am not unfamiliar with the use of essential oils during the labor process.

I had to step outside for a good 30 minutes before I started feeling better. I had to ask my laboring client to take a shower and wash every bit of oil off her body. Her clothes that came into contact with the oils had to be removed from my home. The bag of essential oils had to be removed, and the DoTerra representative had to wash herself completely. Of course, she was surprised that I reacted to these “pure” oils. Quite frankly, I was rather surprised myself.

I agree with Dr. Krumbec,. “I don’t know if I truly consider essential oil natural. This is a bit of a philosophical question, really, but essential oils are not found concentrated in nature – they are found in very, very low doses in plants.”

When I react to a volatile essential oil or a chemical fragrance, my body does not differentiate between the two. I instantly become dizzy and disoriented. I get a severe headache. My throat becomes sore and swollen. I have passed out. My pulse races out of control. My pupils become extremely constricted, like pin points.

And, please, if anyone feels they need to impart words of wisdom, I left home at the age of 17 and started growing gardens, did not allow refined food in my home as I raised my children, did not have a television, used “natural” personal care products from health food stores, primarily used unscented laundry detergent, never used dryer sheets, and did not wear perfume. Raised in a household of five, we were not allowed to use perfume or any fragrance in our home because my mother reacted to fragrance.

I do, however, use some essential oils. It is a precious commodity to me. I use a botanical disinfectant, as I must. If I need to use it heavily, I spray and leave the room, treating it like a dangerous chemical. I can tolerate peppermint, but not lavender. I can tolerate citrus and tea tree and thyme – all in tiny, its bits amounts, all used with a specific purpose, and never used in a carrier oil on skin. I have an entire collection of essential oils that I keep hidden in a cupboard and will probably never use. Most of them have been left unopened. It truly is precious, and I respect how powerful these volatile oils are. I must. And, all of my clients must. And, all of my colleagues must. My family must. My husband must. No one is allowed in my home or my midwifery practice wearing any fragrance or essential oil. It is dangerous to me.

We do not know the long term consequences of essential oils. Please, I implore you to use these oils sparingly, to treat them as precious. Life, certainly is precious.

Tammy
March 28, 2015 at 3:42 am

If my entire family, including all my children, have been using some oils neat and at times ingesting them for almost a year, could there be a problem in the future, if there have been no bad reactions? I sometimes apply quite a bit directly on the skin. And sometimes we take a drop or two undiluted internally. We have had great success with the oils.

Debbie
March 26, 2015 at 11:22 pm

Is a drop or two of peppermint oil in hot water okay for a pregnant woman for nausea?

- Dr. Erika Krumbeck
  March 27, 2015 at 6:59 pm
  
  Debbie,
  
  There is no research saying that it is safe (or unsafe). Sorry that isn’t much of an answer! But peppermint tea is considered by most herbalists to be safe – I would usually recommend drinking the whole herb anyways (in tea form) because peppermint is quite high in minerals that most Moms need in pregnancy.
  
  - Debbie
    March 30, 2015 at 8:32 pm
    
    Thank you!
    
Agnes
March 21, 2015 at 4:09 am

Hi, I would like to ask, about using essential oil for young kids especially for boy. I read some articles that lavender oil have some estrogen effect. Is it safe to inhale (from diffuser) lavender essential oil?? Because I dont want my son become ‘girly’, you know what I mean. Im interestes to use thieves essential oil, but it also contain lavender oil. I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you. (I hope you understand my language, my English not so good )

Kimberly Schultz
March 14, 2015 at 8:52 pm

Hello-
I am new to essential oils. I am trying them out for different uses, including cleaning products, would care, and hair/skin care. Trying to get my household more natural. I will say i am not against western medicine at all. I am epileptic. I have had epilepsy since i was 6. I am fully controlled, but i started reading about seizures and some of these oils. I was wondering what oils i can deal with and what ones i should stay away from, particularly tea tree oil since i use them with my horses for wound care i wanted to try for me. Also i get chronic ear infections and i was looking into oils to help with that so i do not have to go on antibiotics. Any advice? Or any place you can recommend me to where i can get some answers and advice.

- LT
  August 5, 2015 at 9:43 pm
  
  Kimberly i am no expert but with my love of essential oils and my dad with epilepsy i was worried about it when i read the warning in the book about Epilepsy and Oils High in Ketones… That was all it warned about not which oils specificly. I hope this might be somthing you could use to help with your search.
  Good Luck
  
Jodi Riggs
March 8, 2015 at 9:45 pm

so, are you saying, even if it has been said that an essential oil is ok to apply neat, to NEVER apply any essential oil, whether a single or blend, neat. To always use a carrier no matter what? Thank you

- Dr. Erika Krumbeck
  March 8, 2015 at 11:19 pm
  
  Hi Jodi,
  
  I don’t recommend applying oils neat, even if they are safe to do so. At the minimum I put a little barrier down – like a smear of coconut oil, olive oil (or other edible oil) and then put the essential oil on top. It just keeps the skin from getting irritated.
  
Roger P
March 2, 2015 at 1:56 pm

This article is very vague. It fails to inform the reader WHICH essential oils are GOOD for seizures and which are BAD. If you are going to educate people, please give us details. Be specific, not vague. Vague doctors are an epidemic we don’t need this in a natural doctor, too.

Sarah Beth
February 27, 2015 at 11:19 pm

I’m curious about the use of internal essential oils for pregnancy and nursing. DoTerra’s Live Long Vitality was recommended to me during pregnancy, since it tends to help people with inflammatory issues (I have RA) and many oil users take it as their prenatal. However when I checked out the ingredients some oils in it were listed as not safe for pregnancy. I opted to not use it during pregnancy. Fast forward to post pardum, I have a beautifully nursing one month old and here comes the awful post pardum arthritis flare up. I’m back to researching and trying to find an answer as to whether it’s safe to use. Is it diluted enough to be safe for breastfeeding mother and baby? It’s so tempting when I know so many like me who barely have an RA symptom while taking it. And, most RA meds are not safe.

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February 25, 2015 at 7:36 pm
Kristen
February 22, 2015 at 7:38 am

My 4-month-old son is about to undergo surgery for a cleft lip. I’ve received many recommendations (from other moms) to use doTerra Immortelle Essential oil for scar massage. The scar will be on his lip, so I imagine the chances are high that he might ingest some. Will I be endangering his health if I proceed? I want his scar to fade, but not at the cost of causing other health risks!

I appreciate any feedback you’re able to offer!

- LT
  August 5, 2015 at 9:36 pm
  
  If its on the lip i think maybe if you put somthing like olive oil or coconut oil on top of it to “seal” it in it could possibly help prevent the scarring. Also be sure to look into using vitamins topically I think it was vitamin B in an oil that helps. Alaskan wild salmon fish oil on top can’t hurt and may also help stop the baby from trying to even lick the area because of the taste.
  I don’t know anything about the safety of the oils… I don’t know what is in the oils in the first place. But i hope this might help. I honestly don’t know if using the coconut or other oils on top will actually help seal it in but it can’t hurt to try. Lookup Scarring and Vitamins and you will find a plethora of info on which one to use. And the salmon oil well from everything i can find this is the type to look for if you care about possible contamination. Good luck to you and i hope the surgery goes really well. Get those oils out for yourselves to help reduce your stress and anxiety! Positive thoughts have a positive effect on you and everyone around you!
  
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February 9, 2015 at 12:13 pm
Robert S. Baines
February 4, 2015 at 1:52 am

Here are other stats:
According to http://www.cdc.gov/homeandrecreationalsafety/overdose/facts.html

“Between 2004 and 2005, an estimated 71,000 children (18 or younger) were seen in EDs each year because of medication overdose (excluding self-harm, abuse and recreational drug use).4
Among children under age 6, pharmaceuticals account for about 40% of all exposures reported to poison centers.”

I suspect prescription drugs cause way more harm than essentials ever will.

Rachel
January 31, 2015 at 3:05 am

I have a question my daughter is 5 with CP and 22q.11 deletion. I’m just starting out research on benefits of oils and read a lot of great things. I have recently just tried lavender and calming. I’m afraid I haven’t been diluting them. I have just put a small rub on her feet just a couple times a wk to start out with. She has no seizures or anything like that but she is non-verbal. No rashes or reaction to them either.

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January 27, 2015 at 6:09 pm
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January 27, 2015 at 8:32 am