Having Issues with Sleep? Try These Oils

Good night’s sleep provides various health benefits. The benefits of sleep to your health cannot be over-emphasized. Sleep is the body’s way of cooling off after your tedious daily activities. It enhances the condition of your life and keeps you healthy. In fact, the more you interrupt your sleep pattern unnecessarily by skipping sleep, the less productive you will become.

Now, we have emphasized how important sleep is to your health. The question now is how do you ensure that you get quality and enough sleep? Well, the answer to this inquiry is quite simple. If you do not want to use over-the-counter medicines to enhance your sleep life, try out certain essential oils. They are readily available natural sleep aids.

According to research, essential oils have various health benefits, including strengthening the immune system, weakening the certain bacteria and viruses that can cause diseases, reducing the symptoms and effects of psychological issues like anxiety, and also helps you get a better sleep pattern, which would invariable ensure that you get enough sleep for you to be productive in your daily activities.

Although, little researches have been carried out on the health benefits of essential oils, especially in this regard. However, oils like lavender have been discovered by some scientists to help with sleep. Studies over the years showed that lavender essential oil had positive effects on the sleep patterns of 30 young individuals. These studies showed that the 30 young individuals experienced increased levels of deep wave sleep, while they all reported higher strength and vigor the next morning.

More research showed that women with children who use essential oils in their homes reported the effectiveness of essential oils in putting their children to sleep. According to them, they believe that oils can help give this amazing kind of relaxation that causes drowsiness and helps both them and their babies fall asleep quite fast.

Asides from lavender, Calgary oil has also been effective over the years in promoting healthy sleep patterns. In fact, studies found that women who underwent urodynamic examination were able to relax more and sleep effectively during that process because Calgary essential oil was used in their diffusers.

Best Essential Oils for Better Sleep

Some of the best kinds of oils to use to enhance your sleep and improve your sleep pattern include;

• Lavender oil
• Calgary oil
• Eucalyptus oil

How to Use

Before making use of any essential oil, make sure that you have diluted it with other carrier oils, as research says it is quite unsafe to use or apply essential oils on any part of the body. It can cause various symptoms like skin irritation and allergies. Carrier oils that are best for diluting essential oils include coconut oil, extra virgin oils, and jojoba oil. Use one teaspoon of oil carrier oil to dilute the same quantity of essential oil to ensure a balance. Although, lavender oil is quite safe to be applied on the skin directly.

Apply diluted essential oils directly on the palms, wrists, and feet at the beginning and end of the day. This would help you feel relaxed all through the day and help you sleep at night.

For a better scent in the home, you can add 3 to 4 drops of these essential oils to your diffuser. Inhaling scents from essential oils can also contribute to a healthy sleep pattern, and the best way to inhale them is by adding few drops of the oils to your diffusers.

In addition, if you do not like to leave your diffuser running for a long time, try putting few drops of diluted essential oils on your pillowcase before you go to bed. This would help you sleep better as the scent will linger all through your sleep time.

Warnings

Applying essential oils requires extra caution, as applying them directly to the skin undiluted can lead to irritation and allergies. In addition, ingesting them orally can be quite injurious to your health. This is why caution and care have to be taken while using essential oils.

• It is also rather vital to do a patch test before applying any of the essential oils to a large part of your body. How do you carry out a patch test? To begin with;
• Dilute your essential oil with a carrier oil- jojoba oil, extra virgin oil, or coconut oil
• Apply the mixture to a small part of your skin for the patch test
• Ensure that the small part of your skin where the patch test would be done is a part of the inside part of your arm
• Wait for up to 24 hours to check for any symptom, irritation, allergy, or discomfort
• If none is noticed, then you can carry on with using the diluted essential oils on any part of your body
• It is important to keep in a record that, under no circumstance should essential oils be ingested, as ingesting it orally can lead to unpleasant side effects like nausea, vomiting, and stomach upset. In addition, infants, young children, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers should be cautious while using essential oils.

Other Methods for Improving Sleep

Coupled with essential oils, you may want to make slight lifestyle changes to improve or enhance your sleep. Some of these methods include;

• Do not drink or eat anything that is caffeinated before bedtime
• Eat your dinner earlier in the evening, especially if you are battling with any health condition that can tamper with your sleep; like acid reflux or sleep apnea
• Put off every light, including lights from screens, as they all interfere with the body’s production of melatonin, a hormone that ensures sleep. It is a chemical that is produced by the brain that ensures the regulation of sleep
• Adopt a sleep time habit or ritual. This can serve as a reminder or signal to your brain that it’s time to go to bed. Some of these habits include; warm baths and changing into pajamas at night, seeing a movie, or reading a book. These strategies can help do the trick.

If coupled with essential oils in diffusers and pillowcases, as well as all the other methods of improving sleep, then consult your doctor. Your doctor could assist in finding out what the cause of your low-quality sleep is and can recommend the best sleep treatments or regimens that can help your salvage your sleep condition.

Point to Note

Before you start using essential oils, do well to consult your doctor first, especially if you have any underlying health issues. It has been noticed that some of these essential oils can interfere with certain types of medication, which can lead to severe symptoms, allergies, or even complications. Ensure that you get approval from your doctor before adopting any essential oil. In addition, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers are not left out in this. If you are a pregnant woman or a breastfeeding mother, ensure that before you take that step of adopting any essential oil, reach out to your doctor to know which one is best for you and how you should use it.

As soon as you get approval from your doctor, go online and carry out research. Since essential oils are not regulated by Food and Drug Administration bodies in some countries, it is important to do research and find out which brand is best for you and a brand you trust well enough to do the job. Essential oils can be found in health stores, both online and offline.

If you wish to apply essential oils to your skin, do not forget to dilute first with a carrier oil, do a patch test, as this would prevent severe symptoms in case the essential oil does not work for you. If the essential oil brings discomfort after the patch test, ensure that you discontinue its use effective immediately.

In conclusion, essential oils are beneficial to health and have been found to provide numerous health benefits like improving mood and sleep, strengthening of the immune system, and killing of certain viruses and bacteria. While providing these positive side effects, it is essential to take caution while using them, especially if you have health concerns, if you are pregnant, or breastfeeding or if you want to use it for your infant or young child. Adhering to these cautions can prevent the side effects of ingesting essential oils and applying them directly on the skin undiluted.