Her Face, Her Confidence, and Her Change – A Case Study on Healing Rosacea With Carrier Oils

Introduction

Emmy is pursuing a nursing degree with the hope of working as a cosmetic nurse when she graduates. She is now working part time as an administrative assistant in a dermatologist office. She has rosacea on both sides of her cheekbones. The rosacea undermines her confidence considerably. To mask the symptom, she uses makeup. The makeup may be one of the contributing factors to her present situation.

She has had this problem since childhood. Her mother works in a medical spa. She has tried many methods to alleviate her daughter’s problem but never was able to cure it. The fact that Emmy likes to eat junk food and to use her hand to scratch her face makes the problem worse. Usually, people with long term illness have a tendency to engage in a unhealthy diet or habit.

Healing Protocols

I am a client of her mother’s medical spa. I found out about her problem during a lunch meeting and offered help.

I thought of using essential oils to treat her problem. However, I was concerned about the side effects of essential oils. “Less is more” appeared to be the right motto for this situation as the less the irritation in the healing process, the more effective the healing protocols.

I gave her a balm to apply to the affected areas. The balm contained only carrier oils.

Beeswax: 1 oz

Coffee infused olive oil: 0.5 oz

Calendula infused olive oil: 2.5 oz

I made the above in lip balm form for easy application and hygiene consideration.

There is lack of research data on using carrier oils as healing agents; therefore, I drew the conclusion from the information of comparatively trusted sources. Please bear in mind that more research data is needed on the application of each component.

Beeswax is a common thickening agent and emulsifier used in skincare and cosmetic industry. In addition, according to webMD, it also carries the properties of mild anti inflammation. It is also soothing and emollient.

In an article by webMD, it quoted the comments made by some researchers that coffee has antioxidant capacity which can reduce the damage made by free radicals [anti-inflammation].

Olive oil, on the other hand, is very emollient and anti-inflammatory as well. it helps relieve skin irritation.

Calendula is well known for its anti-inflammatory properties and its ability to help the growth of new cells – according to webMD.

Encouraging Reports

After receiving the balm, Emmy applied it once a day. After a week, the redness on her cheek started to go away. I recommend her to keep using it. A month later, more than 1/2 of her redness was gone.

During the 6th week, she had some flare-ups (acnes caused by rosacea), and her redness seemed to come back, but that redness was under control. Her mother suspected that the symptoms were the result of unhealthy eating habit and scratching of her face.

I then gave her another balm for the acnes:

½ oz (15 ml) Beeswax

1.5 oz (45 ml) Coconut Oil

10 drops Ginger essential oil

10 drops Tea Tree essential oil

I made about 10 lip balms, which meant that the dilution of oil was only 2% per lip balm.

I use Coconut Oil for its moisturizing and anti-inflammatory properties. It reduces the skin irritation that lead to inflammation. Instead of directly applying the essential oil(s) to the affected areas, the client feels more comfortable when essential oils are mixed with some carrier oils as a buffer, although doing so reduces the strength of essential oils. Beeswax is added for its solidification purpose and its anti-inflammatory property.

Ginger essential oil and tea tree oil are anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial.

The balm proved to be very effective in healing her flare-ups. Within a week, all her redness and acnes were gone.

Afterwards

Emmy has more confidence in her appearance now as she is receiving compliments from her clients on her amazing skin. It is worth mentioning that she started a healthy diet and habit after the healing of her rosacea.

Conclusion

People used to think that essential oils are the key components of aromatherapy. In fact, carrier oils, when used correctly, are very good in healing irritated skin. More research data on the use of carrier oils is needed to determine their efficacy in other applications.

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