Effects of Lemon, Geranium, Peppermint and Ravintsara on Varicose Veins and Edema.

Date: June 16, 2020

Client Introduction and History: The client is an 81-year-old woman who experienced colon cancer over 10 years ago. She lives alone and works 3 days a week at a job that involves standing, kneeling and squatting. She is proactive with her health and enjoys walking every day, maintains a healthy weight, and drinks approximately 80-90 ounces of water a day. Her daily supplements include a multi vitamin, probiotic, vitamin D3, and a calcium/magnesium supplement. She takes no medications. On occasion she suffers from low blood pressure, dizziness, as well as accumulations of wax in her right ear, which she has removed by her doctor. She recently complained of edema in her legs and the unsightliness of her varicose veins. In the past, her right leg had been very hard to the touch and was significantly larger in size than her left leg. Her doctor was unable to give her any reason, solution or insight for the edema in her leg. The client then used biofeedback to address edema in her right leg and she experienced dramatic improvement with two biofeedback sessions done within one month. This modality quickly scanned the client’s morphogenetic energy field, determined where the stressors were and created a 100% natural solution that communicates with the immune system to detect and address the imbalances. However, the cost of biofeedback is prohibitive for her to continue. She was thrilled with the idea of using an essential oil blend rather than taking a tablet or capsule to address the varicose veins and little bit of remaining edema.

Initially, we used the oils as listed in Table A, which includes the blend and rationale for selection. However, this blend made the client dizzy. She discontinued the use of it and a new blend was chosen.

Botanical name of essential oils: Juniperus communis L.; Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck; Cupressus sempervirens L; Helichrysum italic (Roth) G. Don;

New Essential Oils Selected: Lemon, Geranium, Peppermint, Ravintsara

Botanical Names: Citrus limon (L.) Osbeck; Pelargonium graveolens L’Her sun. Pelargonium x asperum Ehrhart ex Willdenow; Mentha peperita L. car. piperita; Cinnamomum camphora L.

Details of Blend: A 3% dilution was chosen, consisting of four essential oils that the client found pleasing and for which she had no adverse reaction with a patch skin test. x drops of Lemon, x drops of Geranium, x drops of Peppermint and x drops of Ravintsara were combined with 1 oz of carrier oil blend from Nature’s Sunshine, consisting of Prunus armeniaca L. (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Prunus dulcis (Mill) D.A.Webb (Sweet Almond) Oil, and Corylus avellana. L. (Hazelnut) Seed Oil, with Tocopherol. The carrier blend was chosen for its light, non-greasy formulation which hydrates, and is calming, and nourishing for the skin, (Hargis, 2015).

Treatment: The blend was put into a rollerball for gentle application. The client was instructed to roll the bottle between her hands to incorporate the oils before use and then apply it around the ankles and up the calf and legs, and over the varicose veins, morning and night. Since Lemon essential oil is photo toxic, she was instructed to avoid exposing the oiled skin to direct sunlight. Due to the sensitivity that the client experienced with the first blend, we initially began using the new blend at half strength. Once we knew that she was able to tolerate that without dizziness, I made the blend at full strength. Treatment lasted about 4 months and no dizziness was experienced.

Rationale:

I chose to use a blend from Lorrie Hargis, RA that appears in her book (Hargis, 2015). Table B: lists each oil and the benefits it presents. In aromatherapy, there are three major routes of intake and application: the olfactory system through inhalation, the skin, and the gut and intestines (Koyama and Heinbockel 2020). Topical application to the site of the varicose veins was chosen using a rollerball to provide a delicate application.

Client Response to Treatment: The client is not in the habit of wearing dresses or at looking at herself in a full-length mirror. She had not noticed the visual improvement in her legs until we looked at before and after pictures. Needless to say, she was thrilled and is excited to see what will happen with continued use. She did notice that there was a definite lessening of the edema that has not returned. In the future, I hope to add Cypress to this blend to continue to address the varicose veins while maintaining the reduction in edema. It has been noted that one of the main effects of Cypress is the decongesting of veins (Schnaubelt, 1998). I am also hoping to use the original blend with another client as a way to ascertain if there is something about the blend that would induce dizziness in others or if this reaction was unique to just this particular client. As is so often the case, the more I learn, the more questions I have. This case is no exception.

References:

Gonazales, Maria (2004) Clinical Aromatherapy II, Aromatherapy Institute, Inc. 3530 Forest Lane, Suite 190 Dallas, Texas 75234

Hargis, L. (2015) Common Scents, A Practical Guide to Aromatherapy. French Kitchen Table Publishing.

Koyama, S. and Heinbockel, T. (2020) The Effects of Essential Oils and Terpenes in Relation to Their Routes of Intake and Application. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2020, Mar; 21(5): 1558 Published online 2020 Feb 25. doi: 10.3390/ijms21051558

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7084246/

[Accessed April 22, 2020)

Levy, J. (2016) How to Get Rid of Varicose Veins the 5 Natural Remedies. Dr. Axe. February 20, 2016.

https://draxe.com/health/varicose-veins/

[Accessed June 16, 2020]

National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Database. Geraniol, CID=637566, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Geraniol

(Accessed on May 31, 2020)

Pressimone, Jennifer (2005) Introduction to Holistic Aromatherapy. JennScents, Inc.

Tisserand, Robert and Young, Rodney (2014) Essential Oil Safety. 2nd ed. Poland: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier

Essential Oil Case Study on Varicose Veins and Edema