Aromatherapy for Psoriasis – #1 mistake to avoid

What is psoriasis?

It's a skin condition where the skin cells grow so quickly that the newer cells have reached the surface before the top cells have fallen off. This causes a thickened outer layer (epidermis) of the skin. The skin has a “scaly” appearance, and it can become inflamed and sore, and can even bleed. 

Psoriasis appears to be congenital, and it can be aggravated by stress, and a build-up of toxins. A build-up of toxins can be caused by your diet. a digestive complaint, pollutants in the atmosphere etc.

What not to do when using aromatherapy for psoriasis!

When I see aromatherapy recipes for psoriasis suggesting oils like lavender and chamomile and jasmine, I can fully understand why these oils are included. They're all nourishing for the skin, they’re anti-inflammatory and painkilling.

But I don't use those lovely, gentle, soothing oils recommended for psoriasis. Because the one thing I don't want to have in my psoriasis cream or product is an oil that will speed up the growth of skin cells. The skin cells are growing too quickly. 

When I make aromatherapy blends for psoriasis, I'm looking for a couple of different things in the oils I used:-

• First, an oil that would help to remove dead skin cells, and lemon is absolutely excellent for that.

I had used lemon essential oil in sugar scrubs for dry, hard skin and I found it very effective.  Lime essential oil has similar properties to lemon, so it can be used as well or instead of lemon essential oil.

• Next, I want an essential oil that would help to reduce toxins in the system. Juniper is a fantastic oil for detoxification. A good alternative to juniper essential oil is cypress essential oil, which is also a powerful detoxifying essential oil.
  
  

• Another essential oil I include in a blend for psoriasis is bergamot, which is great for stress. I know there are lots of oils that are good for stress, but bergamot has a very good track record for psoriasis.

As Patricia Davis, in her book "The A To Z of Aromatherapy", says, “Bergamot has a fantastic track record for psoriasis. They don't really know why, but it works. So we'll just keep using it!”

How to create a powerful aromatherapy blend for psoriasis.

I use Coconut oil as the base. Preferably extra virgin, cold pressed, non-fractionated coconut oil as it has the most therapeutic properties. Non fractionated means it’s solid but becomes liquid at room temperature. The fractionated (liquid) form had been produced at a high temperature and, it has few, if any, therapeutic properties. 

The essential oils I use are bergamot, either lemon or lime, and either juniper or cypress.

You also need to have a dark glass jar The container should be dark glass because the essential oils react to light and heat and can go off.

For anyone over 12 who doesn’t have sensitive skin:-

2 teaspoons (10 ml) coconut oil.

1 drop of bergamot,

2 drops of lemon,

1 drop of juniper.

For someone who is under twelve, or who has sensitive skin, double the amount of coconut oil.

Don't use juniper or cypress for pregnant women, you could make the oil using just coconut oil, bergamot and lemon and/or lime.

You would use different proportions of essential oil to coconut oil for babies under one year old. Also, there are some essential oils that should be avoided, you can read more in this post.

Another easy natural tip that gets great results for psoriasis

Another fantastic tip for psoriasis, which has nothing to do with essential oils, but can be used alongside them very effectively. Cleanse and exfoliate with oats. This is great for any skin type, but it's particularly any areas that are affected by psoriasis.

How to cleanse and exfoliate with oats

1. Place some soft oat flakes (pinhead oats are too rough) into the end of a pair of tights or a pop sock (or any material that is soft for the skin).  

2. Dampen the oat filled tights/pop sock and use as a wash cloth.

3. You could also use this in a bath, just tie the pop sock or tights under the tap, and let the water run through it. This will release some lovely natural chemicals into the water, and then you can take the oat filled tights/pop sock in the bath as a wash cloth.

She forgot her oats!

I actually heard of a girl who had bad psoriasis and started using oats to cleanse and exfoliate as I described above. The outbreaks became less frequent and less severe, and eventually the psoriasis seemed to have completely cleared up. She continued using the oats because she liked how soft her skin felt.

She went off on holiday and she forgot her oats. But she wasn’t very concerned.

She was only going to be away for about ten days.

She hadn’t had an outbreak of psoriasis in a couple of years.

Psoriasis did well in heat, and she was in a warm and sunny place.

Stress is a trigger for psoriasis, and she was anything but stressed!

She has an awful outbreak of psoriasis.

As soon as she got home, she started using the oats again, and the psoriasis cleared up.

I get great results with both of these remedies.

I've made the coconut and essential oil blend and recommended the cleansing/exfoliating with oats for lots of people of different ages, and the results have been great.

Psoriasis is a difficult thing to shift, and I can’t guarantee that everyone will get the same results. But these results are typical. And as both of these remedies are safe and nourishing for the skin, I recommend anyone who suffers from psoriasis to try them.