Ah Spring... it's a time you can love and dread in equal measures - especially if you're an allergy or hayfever suffered. Gorgeous colour fills gardens when new things start to bloom, and it is so pretty. But there's a reason it is also known as ‘allergy season.’ Don’t stress! Just as nature provides flowers that blossom, it equally provides essential oils for allergies and hay fever symptoms alike. Essential oils are also derived from plants and can be used in a variety of ways such as:

Diffusing them into the air
Adding them into a hot bath or spa
Diluting and applying them to the skin
Spraying them into the air
Inhaling them indirectly
Mixing them into your cleaning products

So how do essential oils help with hay fever and allergies?

Essential oils stimulate our sensory organs. For example, breathing in essential oils through the nose, also known as aromatherapy, stimulates and has an effect on other parts of the body through the sense of smell.

Similarly, applying essential oils onto the skin mixed in with a body (or carrier) oil results in them entering your bloodstream through the skin and targeting specific areas of the body.

Adding oils like eucalyptus to your washing load can help too. Along with air drying bed sheets and towels on the line (where the sun can help to kill dust mites), eucalyptus will also freshen up linen and remove musty smells.

Which essential oils for allergies?

When it comes to allergies, there are specific blends that are known to help. We recommend the following:

Eucalyptus

The oil pulled from the Eucalyptus plant is wonderful for any respiratory symptoms such as allergies, infection and congestion due to its anti-bacterial properties. The cooling sensation you experience while breathing it in may also help you feel relief as you deal with and treat seasonal allergies. Try adding a few drops into some boiling hot water and inhaling it in through the nose. Or add to your washing load, like suggested above.

Tea tree oil

Tea Tree oil is recognised as an anti-inflammatory, therefore, may also help you with allergy symptoms. Similarly to Eucalyptus oil, Tea Tree oil is great for steam inhalation or applying a small diluted amount to the skin. Always do a skin patch test before using to ensure you don’t have a reaction.

Lavender

Lavender is renowned for its calming and soothing effect on the body and mind which in turn may assist your symptoms during allergy season. One study found that this essential oil prevents allergic inflammation as well as the enlargement of mucous cells. Diffuse the oil in your bedroom before going to bed or add a few drops together with Epsom salts into a warm bath to not only pull toxins out of the body but relax you in the process.

Remember to ask in studio about our doTerra Oils and essential oils for allergies.