There are so many current conditions that can benefit from a little lavender oil. Here’s a couple of situations where Lavender Oil can be the champ you need. Word. Most essential oils have to be diluted before use. Not Lavender oil. You can use it topically, straight up, no carrier oil. Some Aromatherpists advise not to ingest Lavender Oil. If that's really the case, someone should tell those peeps who make lavender shortbread and infuse tea leaves with it to cut it out!! Seriously, though, historical anecdotal evidence and Wise Woman Wisdom tells us that it has been safe to ingest, a drop or two when needed, for centuries. And Personally, I've benefitted from ingesting Lavender.

That being said, here's the fine print: I’m not a doctor. But I have tried various home remedies over the years on my family and myself. I’m sharing some instances when Lavender Oil came to the rescue. Use your own discretion and experience to figure out what will work for you. It's best that you test for your self. See how you react to Lavender by spot testing a drop on your skin or ingesting a drop and seeing if you have any reactions. 

​Relieve Tooth Pain
 
A few years ago, I developed a bad toothache that felt like it was on the road to a root canal. Not fun. Dentists. Even less fun, except at parties! I had been using Lavender oil on wounds for many years so I thought, “What the heck! It can’t hurt.” Within a day or two, no more toothache.

Lavender’s antibacterial properties got to work under my gums and essentially neutralized the infection that was causing the pain. I’m not saying that one shouldn’t see a dentist when one has to. But I am saying, to morph a quote from Shakespeare, that, “There are more things in heaven and earth, dental profession, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”  I have passed that piece of anecdotal evidence on to friends and family since then. We’ve saved a ton on dental bills. 
 
How To:

1. Massage a couple of drops of lavender oil into your gum line to relieve pain and infection. It's gonna hurt but press the gum area where the pain is between your thumb and pointer finger. This will help drain out the infected matter. 
2. Brush your teeth with an enamel repairing or sensitive gum toothpaste, depending what you need. Sensodyne is is my go-to. It will basically put light layers of enamel protector on your teeth to prevent cavities or repair tooth chipping. 
3. Cut a strip of dental floss, enough to floss with. Put a couple of drops on your pointer and middle fingers. Rub with your thumb so that you have Lavender oil on all three digits. Take the strip of dental floss and hold it lightly between your lavender oil digits. Pull the floss through so that you coat it with Lavender Oil. Floss your teeth, making sure to get right down to the gum line. Once you're done flossing, swish the lavender Oil around your mouth and pull it through your teeth. .  
4. Repeat the above three times a day during triage time, twice a day for maintenance.

Heal Burns and Wounds
 
At our house, we use Lavender oil for burns and on cuts (2 drops applied to the gauzy part of a plaster bandage). It did a bang up healing job that time I accidentally poured boiling water on my hand. I have even used it on gauze to heal a major surgery wound. The nurse who visited the house daily to change my bandage used only Saline water to disinfect. She was impressed at how efficacious Lavender Oil was in my speeding up my healing process. 

The A to Z of Essential Oils also calls lavender a “first-aid kit in a bottle,” suggesting that it should be kept in the kitchen to treat First and Second degree burns. A first-degree burn, like typical sunburn, is red and hurts mildly, with usually only the first layer of skin affected. A Second-degree burn is worse and may have blistering with more pain, with the first and underlying layers of skin affected. You can use Lavender Oil straight up or blend it with Aloe Gel (10 drops of Lavender Oil to ½ cup of Aloe Gel). This makes a fabulous healing combo. While Lavender is busy desensitizing your nerves, relieving pain, healing and preventing scarring, the aloe is cooling and protecting the skin.
 
In case of first or second degree burn:

1. Start by cooling the skin by holding the burned area under cool, running tap water. Pat dry with a clean towel.
2. Apply 4-7 drops of lavender oil to bandage gauze (or a tablespoon of the Lavender Aloe blend aloe gel) and lightly wrap the burned area. 
3. Change the bandage every 4-6 hours
4. When the pain stops, lose the bandage and let the wound air out. But keep on applying the lavender oil straight up or Lavender Aloe combo to keep bacteria at bay and speed up the healing process. 

 
In case of a cut or scrape:

1. Press wound until the bleeding stops. 
2. Put a couple of drops of Lavender Oil on the gauzy part of a plaster bandage. Dress wound with bandage.
3. Check it the next day. If it seems like the wound is healing, remove the bandage, apply a drop or two of lavender oil to the wound.  If it still looks gamey, apply a drop or two of lavender oil to the gauze of a fresh plaster bandage and redress the wound. 

Get a Good Night’s Sleep
 
Have trouble sleeping? Can’t relax? Those thoughts keep romping round your head? Lavender Oil can help. It’s calming components basically chill you out so that you can more easily fall asleep. It works well for adults and wonderously for children who can’t seem to settle down. I have used a Lavender Spritz on my pillow when I'm super stressed out. Before I know it, I'm off to lala land!

There are a few options on how to use lavender to help you fall into the Big ZZZ:

1. Spray your pillow with a lavender spray or spritz. Or apply a couple of drops of lavender Oil on your pillow, where you can smell it as you drift off. Inhale deeply, filling your lungs to full capacity. Exhale slowly. Do two more of these cleansing breaths. Drift off and Dream the impossible dream!
2. Apply a couple of Lavender drops to your pulse points on your neck and wrists before sleeping. Inhale the oil as above.
3. Make up a Sleeping Sachet by placing Lavender flowers with a few drops of Lavender Oil in an organza bag. Put that into your pillow case. Inhale the lavender scent as in #1.

These are some ways our family uses Lavender Oil. Hope you find them helpful, from our pride to yours. .
Sherazad Jamal, Free Lion Team

What are your favourite ways to use Lavender Oil?
Leave us a comment. 

Lavender flowers have been keeping humans fresh in potpourris and baths for centuries. And its essential oil has been used in perfume and medicinally for just as long. The word Lavender could have come from the Latin lavare, meaning ‘to wash’. Or it could have come from livere, meaning ‘bluish’. 
 
Lavender is a member of the mint family, indigenous to the mountain regions of the Mediterranean and Middle East and valued back in the day for its therapeutic, culinary and beauty benefits. Ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks used it to scent baths, skin, beds, clothes and hair; to help them sleep; to dress battle wounds, in food preparation and for air purification. Bundles of dried lavender were given to women in labour to squeeze during contractions, as the fragrance released was known to relax the pain. It was used extensively for body, mind and spirit health. 

Lavender proved indispensible in combatting The Plague in the 17th Century. It protected against infection. Bundles of lavender, or ‘posies’, were carried or tied at the wrist to help ward off infection. Gloves were infused with Lavender Oil to do the same. The story goes that the entire town of Bucklersbury completely escaped the plague, due to it being the center of the European Lavender Industry, where everyone had access to the healing powers of Lavender Oil. 

In the Victorian Era, English royalty were particularly fond of Lavender. It was used throughout the castles for everything. Floors and furniture were washed with lavender; linens were perfumed with it. wanted a supply of fresh flower bundles brought to her daily. Lavender flowers, strewn over stone castle floor, released its scent under foot. Queen Vic started a trend and soon all fine English ladies followed suit and scented themselves and everything else with Lavender, which was grown in just about every home herb garden. During the First World War, Lavender oil gained widespread use for its antiseptic properties. Lavender washes were used to bathe wounds and it was an essential in every soldier’s burn kit.

What say you, Science?

Fast forward to now. Recent scientific and medical research (Biological activities of Lavender essential oil. 1. H.M.A. Cavanagh and 2. J.M. Wilkinson / Article first published JUN 2002) has proven that the essential oil of lavender has properties that rival—and even surpass—many modern antiseptic chemicals and antibiotic drugs. Lavender oil’s powerful antioxidant, antimicrobial, sedative, calming and anti-depressive properties make it a ‘must have’ in any contemporary medicine cabinet. 

The Infographic below from www.ayurvedicoils.com breaks down Lavender's chemical properties in a simple way. 

In short, Lavender oil has what it takes to calm us down, alleviate pain, kill bacteria and fungus, take down inflammation, help us breathe better, suppress coughing, repell some insects and fight free radicals on the skin. That’s one powerhouse plant! Thank you, Mother Nature. Oh, and Happy Mother's Day!
Sherazad Jamal, Free Lion Team

What are your favourite ways to use Lavender Oil?
Please share in a comment below.