Not getting better? Eastern medicine may help

Below is a great little video with Dr. Sanjay Gupta talking about the new Chinese herbal clinic at the Cleveland Clinic. A patient with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia) is featured. The herbal clinic at the Cleveland Clinic is an exciting development because, although acupuncture is increasingly accepted and utilized at progressive medical centers around the country, Chinese herbal medicine has not been embraced to nearly the same extent. This is too bad because, in China, herbal medicine is considered the preferred modality for... [Read more...]

Three reasons to consider diluting essential oils

Many essential oil users apply oils without dilution and never experience any problems. Personally (knock on wood) I have not experienced any adverse consequences from neat (undiluted) application of essential oils, nor have members of my family. But I am always one to err on the side of caution and am aware that many of my patients fall into the category of “sensitive”. Therefore I wanted to provide guidance in this article and the previous one about who might want to consider diluting essential oils for topical use and how... [Read more...]

Is it possible to be allergic to essential oils?

The short answer to this question is yes, it is possible to be allergic to even very pure and high quality essential oils. Anyone who tells you that you cannot be allergic to essential oils or that when skin irritation arises in response to the use of essential oils (for example hives, rashes, itching, etc.) it means that your body is “detoxing” and that you need to continue to use oils is misinformed (please see postscript below about the emotional origin of allergies). Top quality essential oils do not contain synthetic... [Read more...]

Parrots and essential oils

  Me and my citron crested cockatoo Maggie (left) and a Goffin cockatoo that we fostered (right) Please note that I am not a veterinarian. I do, however, share my home with eight parrots. I have spent a great deal of time researching the use of essential oils on and around parrots in an effort to insure that my birds are safe. Resources I recommend on this topic include The Animal Desk Reference: Essential Oils for Animals by Melissa Shelton, DVM and Aromatherapy for Parrots by Angela Nelson (with the caveats mentioned in my review... [Read more...]

Acupuncture and the placebo response

A recent study comparing real acupuncture, laser acupuncture, and sham laser acupuncture with no treatment for knee arthritis showed that real acupuncture, laser acupuncture, and sham laser acupuncture all resulted in decrease in pain. In the media this study has been presented as evidence that acupuncture does not work and that any decrease in pain associated with acupuncture is the result of the placebo effect. In reality the story is more complicated than that. First of all, the study was small, with fewer than 20 patients in each treatment... [Read more...]

Arbor Vitae — a new essential oil

We are very excited about one of the new oils launched at the recent dōTERRA Global Convention — Arborvitae, which translates to “tree of life”. Benefits This oil has benefits for the skin and immune systems, as well as emotional wellbeing. One of the chemical constituents in Arborvitae is tropolones. This constituent is unique and is not found in any other essential oil. Tropolones have a seven carbon ring structure, which is important because pathogens have never been exposed to seven carbon rings before. This makes... [Read more...]