Geez, the things you find out that you would never even think about. Luckily I hate lavender then. Who woulda thought. You can't even smell stuff these days. I hope Chanel or Sandalwood is not on that list.
I am sick to death of all the maybe's, could do , might be, we don't knows but we'll tell you not to just to cover our arse because we actually have no idea. They contradicted themselves by telling you to use lavender for chemo brain. Or is all the oestrogen gone while you have chemo?
Seriously, this stuff scares the crap out of everyone. You end up not even wanting to go outside incase your breathe something or smell something you shouldn't. Or staying inside might be worse...
The only scientific study I could find on it. So you can use these while you have chemo but not after ?????? and it was topical application.
A randomized controlled trial of lavender, tea tree oil, and no treatment control in adult patients who received outpatient chemotherapy with paclitaxel reported that trait anxiety and sleep quality improved with lavender; and that tea tree oil led to the highest change in sleep quality. However, changes in anxiety were observed only on the trait anxiety scores, not on the state anxiety scores, which may reflect short term changes associated with an aromatherapy intervention. In addition, there were no significant differences in sleep scores between the two aromatherapy groups and the controls, which the study was designed to detect.[8]
S
afety testing on essential oils has shown minimal adverse effects. Several essential oils have been approved for use as food additives and are classified as GRAS (generally recognized as safe) by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; however, ingestion of large amounts of essential oils is not recommended. In addition, a few cases of contact dermatitis have been reported, mostly in aromatherapists who have had prolonged skin contact with essential oils in the context of aromatherapy massage.[1] Some essential oils (e.g., camphor oil) can cause local irritation; therefore, care should be taken when applying them. Phototoxicity has occurred when essential oils (particularly citrus oils) are applied directly to the skin before sun exposure. One case report also showed airborne contact dermatitis in the context of inhaled aromatherapy without massage.[2] Often, aromatherapy uses undefined mixtures of essential oils without specifying the plant sources. Allergic reactions are sometimes reported, especially after topical administration. As essential oils age, they are often oxidized so the chemical composition changes. Individual psychological associations with odors may result in adverse responses. Repeated exposure to lavender and tea treeoils by topical administration was shown in one study to be associated with reversible prepubertal gynecomastia.[3] The effects appear to have been caused by the purported weak estrogenic and antiandrogenic activities of lavender and tea tree oils. Therefore, avoiding these two essential oils is recommended in patients with estrogen-dependant tumors. However, this is the first published report of this type of adverse effect when using products containing tea tree or lavender oils.
