Essential oils

Hi Everyone!

I saw some posts in the comments regarding essential oils, so I thought I would share my experience with EO's thus far:)  I was diagnosed with FFA almost 2 years ago now, but I believe I've had it for 5 years or so.  I haven't done any drug therapies at this point since I was breastfeeding my daughter when I was diagnosed and I wanted to get pregnant. Anyhow, fast forward to now, I am 33 weeks pregnant with my second and I've was noticing more hair loss all around my face and some thinning at my hairline. This was really freaking me out so I started researching alternative treatments that would be safe for pregnancy. 

I started applying 100% emu oil to my hairline about 3-4 months ago.  The emu oil helped some with the inflammation and itchiness on my scalp, but I didn't feel it was doing anything for the hair loss at all.  About 3-4 weeks ago I started adding essential oils to the emu oil and still applying the mixture once per day at night before bed.  I am amazed to report that I have begun growing little baby hairs all around my face and my hairline is thickening up!  I have also noticed less itching at my hairline.

I haven't been doing this long enough to know what the long term results would be, but I am very happy with the short term results!!  Of course the larger scarred area along my bangs is still there, but it is easier to hide with more surrounding hair.  The mixture of oils I am using comes from a Scottish study that was done which showed the essential oils caused hair growth in 44% of the study group.  The study was done on Alopecia Areata but I figured why not try it.  For the study, the mixture they used was:

4 tsp. grapeseed oil + 1/2 tsp jojoba oil

2 drops cedarwood EO

2 drops thyme EO

3 drops lavender EO

3 drops rosemary oil

Here is  a link to the study

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9828867

I am new to essential oils but have learned that they must be diluted considerably in a carrier oil in order to be used safely on the skin.  I am using emu oil as a carrier instead of grapeseed and jojoba. My midwife said this is safe to use topically during pregnancy.  Just wanted to pass this information along!!  Hope everyone is doing well : )

April

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by star on March 1, 2015 at 3:28pm

Thanks April,

definitely can`t hurt, i`ve read lots of good things about emu oil....i`m going to try your concoction, thanks for your feedback and glad to hear it`s working for you.

Many thanks

Gemma

Permalink Reply by Jen on March 1, 2015 at 6:07pm

Thank you for sharing.

Permalink Reply by Maddy, California, U.S. on March 1, 2015 at 9:48pm

Thank you April for sharing this! I have never heard about Emu oil. I will have to check that out!

Permalink Reply by Sas Holland on March 2, 2015 at 5:53am

Thanks for sharing April, I will try your concoction too!

Permalink Reply by Ann Wilson on March 2, 2015 at 9:48am

Thanks April! I've heard of mixing rosemary essential oil and jojoba oil as a treatment., but not the other oils. Thanks for the information! Definitely going to try this!

Permalink Reply by Kat on March 3, 2015 at 5:18pm

Thanks for sharing April! i went out to buy some of the EO's today that i didn't have yet. As the shop didn't stock Emu-Oil (is it made from the bird??), the lady reccomended organic Calendula Oil which I had very good experience with when my kids had inflamed or sore skin or nappy rash before. so I am gonna use that as a carrier oil and try your mix! :) 

Permalink Reply by star on March 3, 2015 at 5:25pm

Emu oil is an excretion from the bird...gross but try not to think about it :)

Permalink Reply by Kat on March 3, 2015 at 5:45pm

;) i don't think its that gross... I just never heard of Emu oil and went to Neil's Yard (UK) and they had never stocked any, but heard about it from other people who had popped in and we started wondering if it is just called the same name as the bird, or is actually made of it....

As Calendula has anti-inflammatory and skin healing&calming functions, they recommended to try this. lets see how my head feels in some weeks.

Thanks again for pointing it out and congratulations to the new baby hairs! :)

Permalink Reply by Luke on November 1, 2017 at 10:09am

It's no different than lard, or tallow, or goose grease.  

Permalink Reply by Kristen P on March 3, 2015 at 6:03pm

Thanks for sharing! Do you mix all of it into one container and then shake it up, or do you have to mix it fresh every night? I have a bottle of emu oil that I used on my hairline when I was first diagnosed...I did find it helped with the itching. I've been on minocycline since October, so I am using more aggressive methods, but am interested in essential oils for when I stop taking the pills.

Permalink Reply by April on March 3, 2015 at 9:14pm
Kristen,
I have a bottle of emu oil that I mixed the essential oils into. I just figured out how many drops I would need for 2oz of carrier oil: )
Permalink Reply by pauliegirl on November 2, 2017 at 9:55am
April, thank you for the info and best to you with your baby-to-be!
I have recently become very interested in essential oils so this is intriguing for sure. So happy for you and the baby hairs! I have baby hairs also since August, though I am not sure if it is due to topical tacro ointment, oral finasteride or would my body have just allowed them anyways?! Who knows! But it is good to see and it sounds like you have a lot!
I have been using essential oils on my body (some combo of jojoba, avocado ad/or coconut for carrier and peppermint, frankincense, tumeric and probably some others at times!). I started when I had the realization back in July that the commercially made lotions have so many ingredients, some of which are truly not great for our bodies. EOs have natural healing qualities and I believe have been forgotten with the rise of commercially prepared items.
Thanks again and please keep us posted on your progress!

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