The Sinus Plunger: Essential Oils For Congestion

This Blend Will Get That Gunk Out Of Your Sinuses!

"Mom, my nose is so stuffy. I can't breathe!!"

A few nights ago one of my children complained of a stuffy nose. In the past we've tried OTC decongestants and even some prescribed ones. Nothing seemed very effective, or if it was it simply wasn't working for longer than a half hour. When he has congestion he is really chugged up.

For a few minutes I studied my stuffy nosed child as a I contemplated our options. "Maybe you can pick me up Breathe Right strips", he suggested. I was about to shrug and tell him I would add it to the list when it dawned on me...I had a whole basket full of oils. A quick perusal led me to peppermint and eucalyptus. I put a drop of peppermint on one hand, and a drop of eucalyptus on the other. Then I told him to rub them together and cup them over his nose. He took several deep breaths as his nose began to feel clearer.

The next day I decided to put together a blend for the next such occasion, and this is what I came up with:

The Sinus Plunger

Now, you can do as I first did and just use a drop of peppermint and eucalyptus, but this blend is mixed up with some fractionated coconut oil so it is diluted enough to rub a bit on the neck or chest. If you rub the blend on your hands the fco will make the essential oils linger a bit longer and you could just lay them beside your head on the pillow as you go to sleep.

My Blend For Sinus Plunger: Clear That Nose!

This recipe will need a 30 mL bottle, which will give you around 600 drops. It is almost a 50:50 blend with the fco.

80 drops lemon essential oil
80 drops rosemary essential oil
80 drops peppermint essential oil
80 drops eucalyptus essential oil
15 drops frankincense essential oil
25 drops copaiba essential oil

Blend the oils in the 30 mL bottle (using a dark glass such as amber or blue cobalt will help protect the integrity of the oils), then top with the fractionated coconut oil.

If you would prefer to not use a carrier oil because you want to diffuse it or have some other use in mind, the essential oils make up 18 mL or 360 drops of the blend.

Why Add Copaiba?

One of copaibas benefits is that it is an anti-inflammatory. This helps reduce the swelling and irritation in the body, in this case the nose and sinuses. It is also an analgesic which means it helps relieve pain. It can help ease the body aches that you may have if you've been congested and not resting well for a while. It can also help buffer a headache which is many times a side effect of congestion.

Copaiba Plant
(Image Borrowed From Allposters)

Does your family deal with sinus issues and stuffy noses? Congestion is the most common complaint from my kids whether it is an illness or an allergy. Leave me a comment letting me know your families home remedies!

Warts and All...

Until I had children, I had only the vaguest knowledge on warts. I remember some schoolmates having them on their hands and/or fingers. I can recall one girl who said she had hers removed because it was on her right hand and interfered with her pencil grip.

When I was a teen and went to sleep away cheer camp I remember my mother sending cheap flip flops and warning me to wear them in the communal showers lest I end up with athletes foot or plantars warts. I didn't even know what a planters wart was....until I got one. Or, to be precise, I got two. One on the outer ball of each foot. I really didn't know what I had and ignored them until the pain was so bad that every step was torture. I remember holding my feet up and my mother confirming "Yup. You have plantars warts." I was grown and married by then so I knew it all (ha ha!) I bought one of the foot shaver razors, took the razor out and eradicated the warts. Oh, sweet relief!

And that was the end of warts for me. Until it wasn't. One by one, over the years my children turned up with them. First my daughter had one appear on her finger. We trotted to the doctor and had it frozen. Not one to keep her feelings bottled, she had a complete spasm when the doctor began freezing it. I was pretty sure we would be banned from his office, but he is a kind soul with a forgiving heart.

Later, my oldest son announced "Look at this!" His feet were covered in plantars warts. <insert heavy sigh> He announced that he had no interest in freezing them after his sister's procedure. I waxed poetic about cutting holes in the soles of your feet, but he wasn't having that either. So we made a trip to the pharmacy and bought some OTC wart remover. And then another bottle. And another. We weren't making progress here and I could tell because he had more warts, not less. In desperation, I turned to the internet. That is where I read that lemon essential oil can kill warts.  "Oh I have a bottle of that", I thought. I grabbed it from the box in the floor of my closet and chucked it into his room. "Here", I said," put a drop on each wart twice a day." Then, like the good mother I am, I forgot all about it. Months later he brought me the empty bottle. "This works", he announced. What? For real?! Hmmm, maybe I needed to look at my essential oils again.

Lemon Essential Oil Has Been Proven To Cure Plantars Warts

I sifted through things and extracted them from the closet. I hopped online and began reading about essential oils. These were some amazing claims! People treating ADHD, insomnia, thyroid disorders, wrinkles, cuts. There was even a blend of oils that was supposed to help protect you from catching all the nasty germs flying around when you left your hermetically sealed bubble house. SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY! We needed all the things! So I got ready to order and that is when the fun began. Do you know how many different essential oil companies there are? No? Me neither, but it's a bunch. I turned to my Facebook friends where I came to find that many already knew about these fabulous oils. Some were even extremely brand loyal. I went into information overload and decided to just sample some of this and a little of that to see what I liked best. Turns out, I'm not terribly brand loyal. For single oils, I like one company. For blends, another. Sometimes one company didn't have a blend specific to my needs and another did, so I spread my pocketbook around. To be honest, I like them all. I've had good results with them all.

So by the time my youngest son showed me the massive wart growing under his toenail, I was armed and ready. I had already soaked up all the knowledge about the powerful blend of oils purportedly used by robbers during the plague. I had even already used up a bottle. What?! I didn't HAVE that on hand? Nope, but I did have an arsenal of single oils. As it turns out you can find close to a billion (maybe less) recipes for most of the popular blends. A few brave souls have even blended blends to create special new blends! I clicked through almost every link I turned up, and this is the one that I decided to use:

clove essential oil - 75 drops

lemon essential oil - 60 drops

cinnamon bark essential oil - 30 drops

eucalyptus essential oil - 25 drops

rosemary essential oil - 15 drops
orange essential oil - 15 drops

Defend Blend Oil and Epsom Salt/Baking Soda Mix

I poured this into a 15 mL bottle that I had left over from another essential oil, then I typed up a label "Defend" and taped it on the bottle with scotch tape. It actually doesn't look too bad, a little like an old time-y prescription. To my nose, this smells extremely close to if not identical to the original pre-blended oil that I had. To treat my youngest child's recent wart, I mix two or three drops of the Defend blend, two or three drops of lavender oil, and a drop or two of copaiba oil with 2/3 cup of baking soda and 1/3 cup of epsom salt in a small basin. Then I run warm water in the basin, stir it up, and have him soak his foot. Once he has dried off, we apply a single drop of a special blend I made for warts that contains oregano, lemon, and tee tree oil. In less than a week, the wart has started to come off and the nail bed underneath looks healthy. Once the nail regrows, he will be as good as new.
 Hopefully, he sees the same result that my oldest child did and the wart will be a thing of the past.

* All links in above post are affiliate links to Amazon. These were the oils I used in creating my Defend blend for personal use. All photos in the above post are mine, please do not reuse them without contacting me first. *