Smells play a huge role in lifemodern man. Moreover, a person begins to appreciate smells in childhood, although not always consciously. Do you remember the smell of buns baked by your mother, the smell of the sea, where you were taken on vacation? Moreover, these smells remain so firmly in the subconscious of a person that even in adulthood they instantly cause corresponding associations - you just have to close your eyes and it seems as if you were back in childhood. This feature of the human body interested doctors. They conducted a huge number of studies, during which it was reliably found out that smells have the ability to directly affect the work of certain internal organs. And doctors did not fail to take advantage of this feature - such a concept as aromatherapy appeared. Moreover, aromatherapy for children is no less popular than for adults. However, aromatherapy for the treatment of children is not very popular today. Therefore, parents have a lot of questions. For example, for the treatment of what diseases is aromatherapy used, are there any contraindications, and so on. This is what we will talk about in this article.

A little about aromatherapy

In fairness, it should be noted that allNew is a well-forgotten old. And our ancestors have long successfully used the healing properties of various smells. With the help of smells, you can relieve stress and psychological instability, get rid of chronic fatigue syndrome, normalize the work of internal organs and systems. The very concept of "essential oils" appeared in the 10th century - it was then that people learned to isolate aroma carriers from substances. As you understand, essential oils in their chemical composition are fundamentally different from fatty oils, such as olive, sunflower, sesame and others. Essential oils include components that have strong antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, bactericidal properties. In addition, a number of essential oils have the most positive effect on the immune system - they restore and strengthen it. Doctors have noticed an amazing feature of the child's body - it is able to accurately identify the smell it needs at the moment. And child psychologists unanimously claim that various smells are simply necessary for the normal and harmonious development of a child. Smells are no less necessary than vivid visual images, tactile sensations and sounds.

The choice of aromatic oils

Unfortunately, todayApproximately 80% of all essential oils available on the open market are chemically synthesized. And for children's aromatherapy, it is allowed to use only natural essential oils. Therefore, when choosing essential oils for a child, you must be careful and attentive. And it does not matter for what purpose the essential oil will be used - for massage, inhalation or creating a suitable atmosphere in the child's room. It must be exclusively natural. Of course, natural oils are much more expensive than chemically synthesized ones, and they are much more difficult to find. But you should not save on your child's health, don't you think? Artificially synthesized essential oils very often lead to such negative consequences as allergic reactions, severe irritation of the mucous membrane of the nose and larynx, sleep disturbances, and in the smallest children, excessively restless behavior may be observed. Therefore, when buying oil, be sure to ask for quality certificates - this will help reduce the risk of buying counterfeit oils.

The rules of aromatherapy

There are several rules that must be followed to ensure the safety of aromatherapy. There simply cannot be any exceptions to these rules if you do not want to face complications:

• Preliminary consultation with a child's doctor

No matter how safe aromatherapy is,предварительно проконсультируйтесь с лечащим врачом вашего малыша. Как правило, ароматерапия абсолютно безопасна, но, тем не менее, помните, что речь идет о ребенке. А детский организм достаточно непредсказуем и при наличии каких-либо хронических заболеваний ароматерапия может быть противопоказана.

• Dosage of the drug

Ароматические масла для детей можно использовать only in very small doses. It does not matter whether aroma lamps, applications or baths - the dosage indicated on the package must be reduced by 3 - 4 times, depending on the age of the child. It is much better to take a smaller dosage than necessary than a larger one. Essential aromatic oils have one interesting feature - their effect on the body directly depends on the concentration. A low dosage has a pronounced positive effect. In the same case, if the dosage of oil is too large, you will not wait for any effect. Moreover, an overdose often causes emotional overexcitement, nausea, tearfulness.

• Water procedures

If you are preparing a bath for a baby, do not addessential oils directly into water. Experts advise dissolving the oil either in half a glass of kefir, milk or low-fat yogurt, or in a tablespoon of honey. And only then dissolve it directly in the bath. Such a measure ensures uniform distribution of essential oil in water. Thus, the effectiveness of the procedure will increase several times.

• Systematicity

Don't expect immediate results - likeAs a rule, a noticeable effect occurs only after two or three weeks, not earlier. And only on condition that you perform all procedures systematically, and not once in a while.

• Allergic reactions

Essential oils are very powerful substancespeculiar. Sometimes they can cause an allergic reaction even in a healthy child, and sometimes they can be successfully used to treat children prone to allergic reactions. Therefore, first conduct a kind of test for an allergic reaction - apply essential oil to the child's wrist, having previously dissolved it in water, in a ratio of 1 to 1. Carefully observe the reaction of the child's body for two hours. If the child's behavior does not change, breathing does not become difficult, and there is no redness or rash on the skin, the child does not have allergic reactions. And you can safely experiment with aromatherapy.

• Shelf life of essential oils

Always strictly monitor the expiration date of essential oilsoils - as a rule, this information is on the packaging. The maximum time an essential oil can be stored is two years. With the exception of citrus oils - grapefruit, lemon, tangerine and orange. These oils should not be stored longer than one year. The use of expired essential oils very often causes the development of allergic reactions. So, let's still consider what types of aromatherapy exist. Of course, ideally, you should contact the appropriate specialist who will select an individual aromatherapy program. But, unfortunately, such an opportunity does not always exist and not for everyone. But you should not despair, we will tell you about the main types of treatment.

Colds

Aromatherapy is very effective in treatmentvarious infectious and colds - acute respiratory infections, acute respiratory viral infections, runny nose, sore throats and others. In addition, essential oils can be an excellent preventive measure during seasonal flu epidemics. Moreover, such treatment can be carried out on children of absolutely any age, including infants - there will be no harm to their body. To treat colds, it is necessary to use essential oils of lavender, eucalyptus and tea tree - they are the most effective in this case. Citrus oils should be avoided - they are absolutely useless in this case. Essential oil is used as follows:

• Baths

Prepare a bath for your baby as usual.Dissolve one of the above oils in half a glass of milk or yogurt, then pour it into the bath and stir the water thoroughly. The duration of such a bath is exactly 15 minutes, no more, no less. Baths should be carried out until the disease subsides. And in the case that baths are carried out as a preventive measure, they should be carried out until the epidemic has passed.

• Inhalation

Inhalations can be performed on children over three years of age.years old, who are already able to understand your explanations. Inhalation is carried out as follows - pour a glass of warm water into a container, in which you have previously dissolved one drop of any of the above essential oils. Ask the child to lean over the container, cover his head with a towel. The duration of inhalation is no more than 5 minutes. Such inhalations are especially good for treating an existing cold, but are also good for prevention. The duration of the course of treatment is no more than five days.

• Other methods

As a preventative measure, you can do with moresimple ways. For example, put a drop of oil on a mattress or pillow, or on the collar of clothing if the child is older. This way, the child will constantly inhale the vapors of essential oils.

Indigestion

Digestive problems are very commonmany children of all ages. And these problems begin almost from the very birth of the baby. It is probably very difficult to find a baby who has not encountered such an unpleasant phenomenon as intestinal colic. Doctors say that this misfortune affects about 95% of all babies. Over many centuries, parents have invented hundreds of ways to ease the suffering of their babies - dill water, tummy massage, a warm diaper. And modern moms and dads have another very effective remedy in their arsenal - aromatherapy. And in this case, chamomile oil will come to the aid of parents. Chamomile oil can be used to treat intestinal colic in two ways:

• Warm nappy

Dissolve three drops in three glasses of warm water.chamomile essential oil, moisten a small diaper. Fold the diaper several times, if necessary - if it is not warm enough - iron it. Strictly monitor the temperature - you cannot allow the baby's delicate skin to burn. Place the diaper on the baby's tummy and leave it for about 15 minutes. As a rule, intestinal colic goes away almost instantly. But you should not get too carried away with this method - no more than once a day.

• Warm bath

A warm bath with the addition ofchamomile essential oil. The duration of such a bath is no more than 10 minutes. Do not feed the baby immediately after the bath, otherwise the intestinal colic will resume very soon and with double force. By the way, chamomile oil also helps perfectly during the period when the baby is teething - it relieves pain and normalizes the baby's sleep. Those mothers who have tried chamomile oil during the teething period unanimously note its positive effect.

Stabilization of the nervous system

Essential oils are very good at stabilizing work.nervous system. Does your baby have trouble falling asleep or sleeps very restlessly? Try mint and sandalwood essential oils. They can be added to baths, or you can simply dissolve a couple of drops in a glass of clean water. Put a glass of water at the head of the bed - and your baby will surely sleep soundly and peacefully. If your child has found himself in some kind of stressful situation - for example, recently went to kindergarten, or a new member appeared in the family, or the family changed their place of residence, or he has some problems at school - he will probably experience emotional instability. But this problem can also be solved with the help of aromatherapy. The best oil to use for this. Make your child a warm bath before bedtime, in which you dissolve a few drops of lavender oil. Just a week of such treatment and the child's condition will noticeably improve. In addition to the bath, you can use special aroma lamps - but do not overuse them too much. Do not leave such a lamp in the child's room for more than an hour. Remember, we have already mentioned above that too long exposure of the child's body to essential oils can lead to the opposite effect. If you do not have a special lamp, you can make do with improvised means. Prepare a small glass container - a shot glass will do just fine. Place several cotton pads in it, fill them with water so that almost all of it is absorbed into the cotton pads. After that, drop two or three drops of lavender essential oil. That's it, a kind of aroma lamp is ready.

Conclusion

So, let's sum it up.Firstly, before any use of essential aromatic oils, be sure to consult a doctor - pediatrician. Secondly, always strictly check the expiration date of essential oils. Thirdly, always focus on your child - if you see that he shows anxiety, signs of discontent or discomfort, immediately stop aromatherapy. Although, in fairness, it should be noted that such cases are observed extremely sharply. We advise you to read:

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