My friend Amanda mentioned to me yesterday that putting the essential oil of eucalyptus on the soles of your feet will calm a cough. She says you can also use Vic’s Vapor Rub, but of course that is a petroleum product and avoided if possible. Best to stick with essential oils, if you can.
As it happens, my son had been hanging on to a lingering cough. He came home from school early yesterday with an unrelated malady (vomited in the car on the short drive home from school and then had explosive diarreah for the rest of the day. A nasty bug? Bad food? A quick stomach virus? It’s a mystery. I immediately put him on the BRAT (bananas/rice/applesauce/toast) diet to ease his G.I. system and gave him a bottle of electrolyte water, plenty of liquid and probiotics to rebuild his gut. I think this was a good course of action as the diarreah has stopped. He’s better today, though tired and not a lot of energy. ).
Anyway, I happened to have eucalyptus oil so I put it liberally on the soles of his feet once in the afternoon and again after his pre-bed bath. The results: not a single cough all night, nor one this morning, and mornings are when he has been coughing the most. I think it was a successful test and I’m convinced!
Hi Elizabeth — my friend Sarah mentioned your natural remedies post on her blog and I hurried over to find out more about your cough cure since the “nasty cold” has been going around my office. While I’ve been speaking very positively to my body and thanking it for keeping me so healthy, I have to admit I have a touch of a sore throat today and am just hoping it doesn’t progress into anything more.
What I’m wondering, since you mentioned putting the oil “liberally” on your son’s feet, is whether you were using essential oils or if euclyptus oil comes in a bottle similar to baby oil — and is perhaps less concentrated. I always thought you had to use essential oils quite sparingly. I’m just checking as I’d like to get some and have it on hand should my family get a cold this winter.
Thanks for any info you can provide!
Hi Barbara,
Thanks for pointing out to me the error of my ways. In my zeal, I probably overdid it with 2-3 drops directly upon each sole of his foot. The following night, I mixed one drop with a dollop of a neutral lotion base (Alba) to apply to my daughter’s feet. This was probably a better course of action.
Fortunately, the soles of my son’s feet are pretty toughened and there doesn’t seem to be any ill effects. Phew!
Elizabeth
PS: Taking an aromatherapy class is high on my list!
Gosh — I wasn’t questioning your judgement on how much to use! I just wasn’t sure and just recall someone telling me to use essential oils sparingly because they are so concentrated. But obviously it worked well for your son!
I did a little research on the uses of eucalytus oil and posted about them on my blog. I couldn’t believe how versatile it is! I picked up a bottle to have on hand should I come down with a cold but there’s a lot of other things it’s helpful for as well. Check it out here if you’re interested.
http://www.thethrivingwoman.com/my_weblog/2008/02/eucalyptus-oil.html
And again — thanks for sharing about this. I would never have known otherwise! Using eucalyptus oil sure beats over the counter stuff!
Barbara,
I ALWAYS appreciate learning new things and was glad to see your posting! No worries! Thanks for pointing it out.
Elizabeth
PS: I enjoyed your blog!