Essential Oil Recipe for Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever)

Recipe Categories - Diffuser Blend; Allergies

Research shows this essential oil blend for allergic rhinitis (commonly known as hay fever) can significantly improve nasal symptoms, sleep, fatigue and quality of life.

In the study, half of the participants were asked to breathe in a mixture of sandalwood, frankincense and ravensara oils twice a day for a week. The other half (the control group) just breathed in almond oil.

The group using the essential oils showed significant improvements in:

- Total Nasal Symptom Score (this covers 4 different symptoms - blocked nose, sneezing, itchy nose and runny nose. The biggest improvement was in blocked nose.)

- Quality of life

- Sleep quality

- Fatigue

- Emotional wellbeing

The study participants poured the diluted essential oil blend onto a fragrance pad, put the pad 30 cm away from their nose and breathed in the scent for 5 minutes twice a day.

The recipe here includes instructions for a blend that can be poured onto a tissue or fragrance pad, as was done in the study. It also includes instructions for using the essential oils in your diffuser if you’d prefer to use them that way.

Note if you click on the link for the study, you’ll see an error in the abstract (summary of the study), which says geranium instead of frankincense. If you continue reading, you’ll see that the study itself says frankincense, not geranium, so don’t be confused by the error in the abstract. Also note that the study didn’t describe how much of each oil was used so this recipe might not have the same ratio of oils as the one used in the study.

Ingredients

This recipe is perfect for a 200 - 300 ml diffuser

Convert to a Different Diffuser Size or Recipe Type

	3 drops Sandalwood
	3 drops Frankincense
	3 drops Ravensara
	50 ml Sweet almond oil

Warnings - According to some sources, Frankincense Serrata is not safe for use with babies and young children but Frankincense Carterii and Frankincense Frereana are generally considered Kidsafe.

Ingredients

3 drops Sandalwood
3 drops Frankincense
3 drops Ravensara
50 drops Sweet almond oil

Instructions

Combine all of the oils in a 50 ml dark glass bottle and mix well

Twice a day, pour 1 ml of the oil onto a tissue or fragrance pad. Put the tissue 30 cm away from your nose and breathe normally for 5 minutes

If you’d like to use a diffuser instead, add 1 drop of Sandalwood, 1 drop of Frankincense and 1 drop of Ravensara to a 100 ml diffuser and diffuse twice a day. If you have a larger diffuser you can increase the amount of each oil as needed – eg 2 drops of sandalwood, 2 drops of frankincense and 2 drops of ravensara for a 200 ml diffuser.

According to the authors of the study, ravensara and frankincense have both been shown in previous studies to reduce inflammation and allergic symptoms, while sandalwood increases the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (the branch of the nervous system that’s responsible for relaxation) and could stimulate parasympathetic nerves in the nose to reduce allergic reactions. If you’re interested in science, check out the details of the study – the authors go into a lot of scientific detail about the actions of the different oils.

Tried this recipe? Please let us know how it went.