Aromatherapy and COVID 19
As restrictions ease and the world opens up again, COVID hasn’t completely gone away and it seems likely most of us will pick it up at some point, if we haven’t already. COVID affects people in different ways, and conventional medicine is ready to step in where there’s serious illness but most of us will most likely have to sit it out at home, in which case essential oils can be wonderful allies. We’ve recently had COVID in our household, and I turned to my essential oils to support me.
How essential oils can help
Essential oils can help to ease symptoms and to support the body while it fights off the infection. They can also play an important role by lifting the spirits. Symptoms will vary from person to person but here are some suggestions for different phases of the illness. Essential oils when blended together often create a synergistic whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
When you first feel under the weather
Before I tested positive for COVID I definitely felt under the weather, I was exceptionally tired and just didn’t feel like my normal self. This is a great time to have a prophylactic bath with immune supporting essential oils that can boost the body’s defences. My favourite way to have an aromatic bath is by mixing a total of 6 -7 drops of the selected oils into natural salts. I used 3 tablespoons of large flaked sea salt, which is very detoxifying in itself.
Suggested oils for a prophylactic bath (for adults):
Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a strong prophylactic. It can irritate if your skin is sensitive, in which case don’t use it in the bath but add to a diffuser instead or inhale from a tissue.
Bergamot (Citrus bergamia) another prophylactic oil which also helps to lift the spirits with its uplifting citrusy aroma. Check if yours is CFC free – if not, don’t use it on the skin within 12 hours of exposure to sunlight as this chemical component is phototoxic, though it’s removed from some oils.
Tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) another immune stimulant, with an anti-microbial action as well.
Helping to ease respiratory symptoms
According to the ZOE database of COVID 19 symptoms, some of the most common symptoms of the Omicron variant are a runny nose, headache, sneezing and a sore throat 1. I certainly had a lot of congestion around my throat area, leading to a sore throat and earache that lasted several days. For this I turned to mucolytic oils, which help to ease congestion by thinning the composition of respiratory mucous. I used the oils in my diffuser which really made a difference, and at night having the oils on a tissue near my head really helped. I also had a daily bath, blending a total of 7 drops into sea salt.
Suggested oils for respiratory symptoms:
Eucalyptus globulus – a strong decongestant and expectorant – helping to thin mucous so that it can be expelled. For children, the elderly or asthmatics, this may be a little too pungent.
Eucalyptus radiata – this has a gentler action, which makes it more suitable for children and the elderly. In addition, it has an antiviral action.
Ravintsara (Cinnamonum camphora) – another expectorant with antiviral and immune tonic properties.
Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) – I added a drop of this strong antimicrobial and immune stimulating oil into my bath blend. It can irritate the skin so don’t use it if yours is sensitive, and avoid with children.
When the symptoms are receding but you still feel bleugh – and post-viral fatigue
Around day 6 my respiratory symptoms had pretty much gone, but I was still feeling weak and weary. I changed my blend at this point to cleansing and refreshing oils. Unfortunately I’d lost my sense of smell by now, but luckily the oils still work with the body even when we can’t smell them.
I used:
Lemon (Citrus limonum) which is a great oil for clearing stagnation and is also an immune-stimulant
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) which is a wonderful stimulating tonic for all the systems in the body. It may not be suitable for those with epilepsy.
Black Spruce (Picea mariana) for its uplifting, invigorating and strengthening properties
Even after the acute infection has passed, we can sometimes feel fatigued for weeks afterwards, and the above oils would all play a supportive role in this case.
What happens when an aromatherapist loses their sense of smell?
Not just for aromatherapists, but for everyone, the loss or distortion of the sense of smell and taste can have a really devastating impact. The loss of smell in COVID is different from that we experience with a common cold, where the main cause is congestion and inflammation. With COVID, we can have an absent or distorted sense of smell and taste even when there is no congestion present, and this is thought to be because the virus damages the tissue lining the nasal cavity, which is responsible for nourishing the olfactory nerves and allowing them to regenerate. 2
In a recent survey, one participant described how it feels to have a long term loss of smell and taste:
The world is very blank. Or if not blank, shades of decay. I feel alien from myself. It’s also kind of a loneliness in the world. Like part of me is missing as I can no longer smell and experience the emotions of everyday basic living. Detached from normality. Lonely in my body. It’s so hard to explain. 3
Luckily the sense of smell and taste does regenerate for the vast majority of people. A recent study found that for around 28% of people, their smell and taste returned after 4 months, and for the remaining 72% of people, around 71% of them had regained their sense of smell and taste by 12 months. 4 In cases like these, smell training can be effective.
What is smell training and how does it work?
Smell training involves using four different aromas, from different aroma groups. You smell each aroma in turn for 20 seconds, twice a day – morning and evening, and this needs to be continued for at least 3 months. It’s thought that this works by encouraging the olfactory tissue to regenerate, and by encouraging the brain to use its powers of neuroplasticity to reorganise itself. Some studies have suggested that any strong odours will work. However, a recent study indicated an additional benefit of using essential oils because they have biochemical properties of their own that can support the tissue to regenerate and reduce inflammation. 5 If you’re suffering with long term loss or distortion of your sense of smell and taste, it’s definitely worth giving smell training a try.
Suggested essential oils:
A strong floral such as rose or ylang ylang
A lemony aroma such as lemon, lemongrass, citronella
A medicinal type aroma such as eucalyptus, tea tree or rosemary
A spicy aroma such as clove or cinnamon
The oils can be inhaled direct from the bottle, on a tissue, or on a piece of cotton wool, perhaps kept in a jar and refreshed with oil each time.
Long COVID
Long COVID is still poorly understood and research is ongoing, but for some people, symptoms of fatigue, brain fog, muscle aches and so on can be ongoing even after 12 weeks. In such cases, aromatherapy can certainly play a supportive role, both in managing symptoms and strengthening the underlying constitution. In such cases I’d recommend working with an aromatherapist.
- Huart C et al. Comparison of COVID-19 and common cold chemosensory dysfunction. Rhinology. 2020;5(6):623-625. doi:10.4193/Rhin20.251
- Burges Watson DL. Et al. Altered smell and taste: anosmia, parosmia and the impact of long Covid-19. PLoS ONE 2021;16(9):e0256998. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0256998
- Renaud M et al. Clinical outcomes for patients with anosmia 1 year after COVID-19 diagnosis. JAMA Network Open. 2021;4(6):e2115352. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.15352
- Koyama S et al. Possible use of phytochemicals for recovery from COVID-19 induced anosmia and Ageusia. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021;22:8912. doi: 10.3390/ijms22168912
- References 2 – 5 quoted in COVID-19, Aromatherapy and Anosmia – an update (salvatorebattaglia.com.au)