Essential oils

Essential oils, essential oils, essential oils, essential oils - at first glance it may seem that they are one and the same.

Essential oils are the same as essential oils and essential oils. The Czech Pharmacopoeia, a work of a normative nature, binding on all those who work with medicines, contains the article Etherolea (synonym: olea aetherea), translated as essential oil.

Essential oils are fragrances obtained from defined vegetable raw materials by distillation or by a suitable mechanical process, without heating, the vegetable raw material being fresh, wilted, dried, whole, broken or ground. They are stored at a temperature not exceeding 25 ° C.

They are volatile, insoluble in water, have an oily character. They are products of the so-called secondary metabolism of plants and probably serve as protection against some animals and to attract insects.

In pharmacy, essential oils are used to mask an unpleasant odor or taste, as a so-called correction. Many essential oils have their own healing effects - antiseptic and disinfectant, anti-inflammatory, anesthetic, derivative, antispasmodic (relieve smooth muscle spasms), diuretic (support diuresis, urinary excretion), carminative (act against bloating), promote appetite (stomachica), relax airways, coughing up (expectorants).
They are used, for example, in nasal preparations (drops, ointments, sprays), oral preparations, ointments, creams, etc. Because they are highly concentrated substances, essential oils are used in medicinal products in small amounts.

Apart from raw materials intended for pharmaceutical purposes, no products available on the market in the Czech Republic are approved as medicinal products, do not have a defined dosage and are not used for internal use.

Some components of essential oils are unsuitable for frequent use, or for use in a higher dose for internal use or, for example, for pregnant women. In any case, you will find this information in the pharmacy from the professional staff if you buy a medicinal product or parapharmaceutical (a product that is not classified - registered as a drug, the manufacturer is not obliged to prove the effect) containing essential oil with an ingredient subject to any restrictions. its use.

Essential oils are among the substances that have a greater or lesser risk of a phototoxic reaction. This is a hypersensitive skin reaction to light, which may include redness to browning of the skin, blistering, soreness and inflammatory reactions. It does not matter whether the essential oil is used internally or externally. Many drugs have the same side effects - diuretics, nonsteroidal analgesics, corticosteroids, tars, sulfonamides, salicylic acid and many others. The prevention of side effects with these substances is protection against UV radiation with a product with a high factor against UVA and UVB (50) throughout the treatment and 14 days after its termination.

It might seem that the use of essential oils other than by evaporation through an aroma lamp or aroma diffuser is inappropriate or perhaps dangerous, but this is not true.

As I have already mentioned, many essential oils are intended as a raw material for pharmaceutical use. There are a number of prescriptions that doctors commonly prescribe, such as ointments and nasal drops containing essential oil to improve breathing, solutions for aphthae with essential oil with a mild anesthetic effect, solutions with drugs that promote salivation (salivation during mucous membrane drying), etc. The oil is used in aromatherapy either by inhalation, for massages or in the form of a bath. The use of the plants from which the essential oils are obtained is based on the so-called traditional use based exclusively on long-term experience, at least 30 years.

Paradoxically, the most popular on the Internet are "essential oils". So what's the difference between essential and essential oils? Essential oils are prepared artificially, although the ingredients may also come from natural sources. Essential oils contain fragrances that do not occur in nature or cannot be obtained, for example, by distillation or other processes. Examples are banana scents, wild strawberries, etc., in contrast to the purely natural essential oils of pine, jasmine or rose.

General use: Essential oils are used in aroma lamps (some in aroma diffusers), in the amount of a few drops in the water in the aroma lamp bowl. When heated, substances are released that scent the surrounding air. You will find a wide range of aroma lamps here.

You can choose from essential oils here.

Warning: do not use oils internally or externally (to combat the skin and mucous membranes). These are concentrated substances that can cause variously intense phototoxic reactions on the skin, manifested by blistering, redness, pain.

For www.nefertitis.cz written by Mgr. Radka Brichcínová, Master of Pharmacy.
Feb 8, 2020

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