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Essential oil

Question
Hello,
I am the mother of 2 children. A 5 year old boy and a 2 year old daughter with cystic fibrosis. I am a supporter of essential oils and use them to treat (and also prevent) my son since he is 2 (because it is too strong to be in contact with the skin earlier) eather in massages (with vegetal oils) or diffusion. Can I also treat my daughter with these oils? On her skin ? By diffusion ?
Thank you for your answer
Answer
Hello,
We do not have any expert in essential oils in the French ecorn-CF panel, and there is no guideline indicating any benefit in treating with essential oils patients with cystic fibrosis. Furthermore therapeutic or preventive effects of essential oils have not been studied, to my knowledge, in cystic fibrosis.

If massages can improve well being and mood, lower anxiety and strengthen the mother-child relation, one should be cautious about skin absorption of products used during massages and potential risks of allergy.

On the other hand I would also incite you to be very cautious in diffusion of essential oils and would formally disadvise you to nebulize essential oil to a patient with cystic fibrosis. Indeed, nebulization of these products in airways presents not ony an inflammatory risk because of the toxicity of the oily materials in bronchi but also an infectious risk, because preparations of essential oil are not aseptic. A case of contamination by a very resistant germ (Burkholderia cepacia) was reported in a congress a few years ago.

I deeply encourage you to discuss this topic with the CF-doctor who follows your child.

Best regards,

Dr Sophie Ravilly
09.12.2010