Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Snake Oil & Other After Bite Remedies


by David Stewart, Ph.D., R.A.

Therapeutic grade essential oils are not only good insect repellants, they are also excellent after you have been bitten. Essential oils are great detoxifiers for insect bites because their chemistry can break down the poison and render it harmless.

Because the molecules of essential oils are all lipid soluble and very tiny (less than than 500 amus) they all transdermal. Thus, when applied to a bite, they pass through the skin in seconds, reacting with the toxins injected by the insect and reducing their toxic effects.

I was stung by a wasp recently and, within a few minutes, put Purification oil on it the area that had become red and swollen.
The stinging sensation soon resided and within a few hours I could not tell that I had ever been stung.

Do You Sell Snake Oil?

Those who sell good therapeutic grade essential oils are sometimes accused of "selling snake oil." If you are ever so
accused, your response should be, "Yes, I do. Would you like a bottle?"

There are those in Australia who know what "snake oil" really is because 100-200 years ago the Australians exported "snake oil" to America because it was in great demand from miners, trappers, and families who were moving into the wild and untammed West.

Early pioneers had to contend with many dangers which included not only their exposure to the weather and the threat of hostile Indians, but also the daily peril of rattle snake bites.

But there was a remedy. Traveling salesmen who serviced those early pioneers had an oil that, when applied to a snake bite, would penetrate the skin and detoxify the poison. That oil was Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternafolia). And that is how the traveling merchants of the West came to be known as "Snake Oil Salesmen." In the beginning, it was a good name implying a good and effective product.

Unfortunately, back in the pioneering days, some of the traveling salesmen acquired bad reputations, not because their oils did not work, but because they were dishonest in other ways. But that is no reflection on the efficacy of melaleuca oil as an on-site detoxifyer.

So there you are. Many of you really are snake oil salespeople after all. And you can be proud of it.

~ o ~

I do sell "Snake Oil" and I am extremely proud to be offering it to people who know Snake Oils do work. I personally turn to the Snake Oils whenever I have a cut, bite, wound, ache, pain, and for a nutritional flavoring in my water or in cooking.

NOTE: do NOT use other brands of essential oils in the same ways we use Young Living essential oils as most are not distilled properly and only contain 5% of a poor quality essential oil, the other ingredients that go into filling up the rest of the bottle god only knows.

This link will take you to my product website: The Very Essence

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