AROMATHERAPY

Whooping Cough

Pertussis is called whooping cough because a 'whoop' sound is made  as the child draws in air against the resistance of the glottis which is usually closed by the cough reflex. Before he/she learns to do this, the child appears to be suffocating because he/she cannot take in air while he/she is coughing. Basically, the pertussis cough comes on too suddenly for the usual taking in of air before a cough. The coughing is violent and uncontrolled and there can be as many as fifty coughing fits during a twenty-four hour period.

You can forget about having a peaceful night's sleep - whooping cough will keep you and the child up for three or four weeks if you are lucky, twelve if you are not. This is a very serious disease, especially for babies and the under-fives. It can cause brain damage, convulsions, ear infections, pneumonia, bronchitis, hernia, and a collapsed lung. It also makes the child susceptible to other serious infections.

Whooping cough is an extremely distressing disease, not only because the coughing and vomiting is so obviously painful and uncomfortable for the child but because the complications it can cause are worrying to you. The treatment below isn't simple but is well worth making the effort it entails to try to keep the condition to a minimum. Results will be evident after a few days and will reward your perseverance.First of all, keep your child away from other children for at least two weeks. Even if a child has been immunised he/she can still catch a mild form of the disease and will still be highly infectious.

Whooping cough is more common than one would like to think and sometimes a child with a mild case of it appears simply to have a bad cold. Such a child can easily infect many classmates before anyone realises what is happening. In the treatment of whooping cough we use oils which are not  the main list for children and introduce more vital and aggressive essential oils .You will perhaps already have some of them in the house:

Essential Oils For treating Whooping Cough
Cinnamon, Lavender, Hyssop, Red Thyme, Cypress, Niaouli, Grapefruit, AV1(Dermatect) Thyme linalol 

Change the child's diet to one that is light and nutritious. Cut out milk products which can cause excess mucus in the body. Give the child chicken ,fish, eggs, wholemeal bread, vegetables, fruit juices, mineral water and herb teas. Sorbets and ice lollies made at home with diluted natural fruit juices will be soothing. Make soups and liquidise vegetables to make them easier to swallow. Cod-liver oil helps, as does vitamin C (get the water-soluble variety which can be sipped as a drink).

Multi-vitamin and mineral tablets and a zinc supplement are particularly helpful at this time. As during any disease, the body will be working very hard to rid itself of the offending organism. One should try to help the body now, not hinder it: so no sweets, additives or preservatives of any kind. That means no fizzy drinks. Give only mineral water and pure fruit juices.

Do not keep the child in hot stuffy rooms which dehydrate the body, but let him/her have plenty of fresh air. Open the windows during the day, ensuring that the child is well wrapped up. Steam also helps. put bowls of steaming water in the child's room  at night to keep the atmosphere as humid as possible and thus avoid dehydration of the bronchial tract.

Make a synergistic blend of the following oils and use them in the room - in the hot-water bowls, in a diffuser or on a source of heat. Use 3 drops each time, three times a day.

Room Method Synergistic Blend

Make up another formula for use in the bath (4 drops each time)and also put 3 drops of this on a piece of cotton and leave it tucked under the edge of the child's pillow overnight:

Bath and Pillow Synergistic Blend

Massage Oil Formula 

If your child is under one year old, halve the dosages in all treatments above.

Reference: The Fragrant Pharmacy: Valerie A Worwood

Chickenpox

Chickenpox is yet another viral infection, and highly contagious. It is commonly believed that once you have chickenpox you never get it again but I know children who have had it several times, including myself. The virus can lie dormant and return as shingles later in life.

After the incubation period of two weeks the child's temperature will rise and almost immediately a rash will appear.This is made up of small spots which may turn into blisters which burst and crust over. Trying to stop your child scratching and picking off the scabs is a full-time occupation.

The spots start on the trunk of the body and then appear on the face and limbs. The child should be isolated until the last scab has fallen off

Bed-rest may prevent fever, and the child should be encouraged to sleep as this is one of the best things for chickenpox.

Treatment involves trying to stop the very irritating itching. Add 10 drops of lavender and 10 of chamomile German to a 100ml bottle of calamine lotion and shake the bottle.

Apply all over the body twice a day. Baths can also relieve itching: add 2 drops of lavender to 1 cup of bicarbonate of soda and put them in the bath. Also, spray the air with an anti-viral mixture.

Reference: The Fragrant Pharmacy: Valerie A Worwood

Rubella (German Measles)

German measles is a very mild version of measles that isn't much of a problem unless contracted during the first four months of pregnancy. It can cause serious defects in the unborn child and so young women are vaccinated against if they haven't had German measles during childhood. Epidemics of this viral infection seem to occur every three or four years . It is another rash condition, which this time starts behind the ears and spreads to the rest of the body, In some cases no rash appears and the child is only feverish and generally feeling under the weather. 

Measles

Measles is a highly contagious disease that is often dismissed as part of growing up. It is, in fact, a killer. The major problem is that during the infectious stage the child is especially vulnerable to bacterial infection including bronchitis, pneumonia and ear infections which can lead to deafness.

Like many childhood illnesses, measles can start as nothing more than a runny nose and a sore throat and you think your irritable patient just got a cold. Other early symptoms are sore and runny eyes, fever and enlarged glands in the neck, but symptoms are numerous and vary from child to child.

The most telling symptom is spots - small red ones with white centres on the lining of the mouth, followed by spots on the cheeks which turn into a rash around the fourth day, spreading down the body.

Keep the child in bed and away from other children. The virus is spread by air-borne droplets and saliva. Use a blend of anti-viral oils as an air-freshner throughout the house so that other members of the family can inhale it. Spray the child's room too, and keep it warm.

Make a synergidtic blend of equal proportions chamomile German and lavender essential oils  and use 5 drops of this in a pint of tepid water for a wash-down solution. The water should be warm. Add the cloth, wring it out gently wash the child. Do the whole body.

This will soothe the spots and aid recovery. If you wish to cover the spots in calamine lotion, add 5 drops each of chamomile and lavender essential oil to 100ml bottle of calamine and shake well.

Reference: The Fragrant Pharmacy: Valerie Ann Worwood