10 Essential Oils for Your Emergency Kit

You are prepared……you have food storage, water, first aid, bedding, 72 hour kits, what about medicine? Are you prepared in the event that you cannot get to a pharmacy during a catastrophe or crises? Well one solution might be to consider having essential oils on your shelf. A pure essential oil will never go rancid so they are perfect for including in your emergency essentials checklist.

You’ve heard about them and the “buzz” about essential oils and how they can help your family with common concerns such as headaches, colds and flu, and allergies, pain, and infection but what exactly are they? Can they really help as well as over the counter drugs? Will they really be able to help in an emergency?

Well, first of all let’s talk about what they are. Essential oils are natural aromatic compounds found in various parts of plants. It is the “immune system” of the plant and without it, plants couldn’t survive or thrive. These same compounds can help with any type of health concern our family has such as illness, allergies, pain, and emotional issues. They are 50-70 times more potent than herbs so you can imagine how powerful they can be.

As with any type of herb or natural medicine, make sure that you are purchasing the best quality essential oil on the market. Lower quality oils may state that they are 100% pure, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are 100% pure essential oils without fillers (in fact the industry standard is only 3%). I like to use oils from companies that use third party testers to ensure the quality. There are a few companies out there that do this type of testing. If you are using oils on newborns and children, elderly and during pregnancy, and internally you will want this type of purity.

So now that you know what they are, and how to choose safe and effective oils, what are the best ones to get started?

1. Lavender: For Calming and Stress Reduction – This universal oil is great for almost everything. It heals burns and cuts, relieves insomnia, reduces stress and anxiety and is a powerful antihistamine. You can also use it for bug bites, bruises, sleep deprivation, allergies, inflammation, sunburns, lice, and more. It is soothing to skin irritations and takes the pain out of bee stings, hives and other allergic skin reactions. It helps with earache and depression. It is the number one oil you must have in your survival kit.

2. Lemon: For Cleansing and Mood Elevation – This oil is known for its cleansing ability. Add a few drops to your water to purify it. It is also great for intestinal parasites, dissolves petrochemicals from your body, effective for colds & flu, helps your digestive system and liver work, helps reduce stress and fatigue, calm upset stomachs, is effective for gout, sore throat, and is a disinfectant and an antiseptic.

3. Peppermint: For Indigestion and Cooling – This essential oil is effective for treating nausea and digestive issues, allergies, menstrual problems, reduces fever, increases alertness and focus, and increases oxygen absorption. It is great for headaches or any muscle aches or pains and is also a catalyst when mixed with other oils. Peppermint is anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, can be used for shock, colds, colic, and heartburn.

4. Oregano: For Natural Immune System Support –This oil is effective in treating bacterial infections and yeast infections, relieves back and joint pain and inflammation, colds & flu, kills warts & skin tags and athlete’s foot, and is an effective cleanse for GI health.

5. Melaleuca: For Soothing and Healing – This oil can be used as a first aid ointment, useful for skin irritations, bug bites, athlete’s foot, eczema and psoriasis. It aids in immune function and supports against throat and respiratory pathogens, and helps with slivers in the skin.

6. Helichrysum: For Bruising and Swelling – This oil is great for bruising, sprains, and swelling. Any injury, that does not have broken skin, can be treated with helichrysum oil. This essential oil can be used to treat shock, heal bruises, help with broken bones, help with allergies, and is beneficial against infections and viruses.

7. Myrrh: For Infections and Pain relief – This oil is good for antiseptic needs, pain relief and swelling of cuts, wounds or bruises. Can be applied on open wounds. It stimulates the immune system and blood circulation and promotes tissue regeneration. It has astringent and analgesic properties and can ease coughing/tonsillitis and other infections.

8. Clove: For Pain and Toxins – This oil helps to relieve toothaches, headaches, and other pain and can be used to draw toxins and infections from the body. It also aids in relieving nausea or constipation.

9. Frankincense: For Inflammation and More –Frankincense oil enhances the effects of other oils, helps reduce inflammation, relieve headaches, and supports skin tissue recovery. It also helps to soothe hyperactivity and restlessness and facilitates clarity and focus of the mind.

10. Lemongrass: For Cramping Muscles – This oil soothes Sore and cramping muscles, is naturally cleansing and helps to warm feet in the winter.

As you can see from this list, essential oils can be used for almost any type of pain or ailment that you might encounter! Of course, I am not a doctor or a health practitioner so this is based on researching and educating me to be a healer in my own home.

While there are certainly a lot to be said about being prepared, how about the fact that you can help your children and family with something completely safe and natural without any side effects? Try them out and see if they make a difference in your health and get versed and educated to utilize them before an emergency occurs.