Essential Oils for Burns

Chalk this one up to experience. Last week, I spilled a pot of boiling canner water on my bare feet. The whole thing, as I carried it out the back door. I do my canning on my enclosed back porch, but once I’m done, I put the pot of hot water outside to cool. This helps keep at least some of the heat off the back porch. After the water cools, it’s given to nearby potted plants. The water in this pot, however, spilled all over the top of my feet.

When I was a small child, I got second degree burns on my legs when someone accidentally poured freshly percolated coffee on my lap (this was in the days before drip coffee makers). My thighs were covered with burn blisters as a result, and this is what I feared would happen to my feet. I had to do something quickly.

The first thing I did was fill another large pot with the coldest water I could get from the faucet, and I submerged my feet in it. Did you know that insulating a burn from air stops the pain? Our tap water isn’t very cold, but it stopped the pain until I lifted my feet out. I sat there as long as I could, but I still had a big clean-up job to do and needed to get to it. So I slathered the burns with aloe vera gel, got my clean-up done, and then put my feet back into the cool soaking water as fast as I could.

A little research on essential oils for burns told me I had several on hand that would help: peppermint, lavender, and tea tree. Essential oils are very strong and must be diluted, usually with a carrier oil such as olive or coconut. Instead, I used aloe vera gel.

• 1 tablespoon aloe vera gel
• 2-3 drops each of these essential oils

• peppermint (anti-inflammatory, analgesic)
• lavender (anti-inflammatory, analgesic)
• tea tree (soothes, inhibits infection)