Your respiratory system is essential for supplying your body with oxygen and helping it to get rid of carbon dioxide.  Any time you have a problem with your respiratory system it can wreak havoc on your entire body.  

Because the respiratory system provides a direct opening from your body to the world, it is vulnerable to infection.   The good news is that essential oils can help you to maintain a healthy immune system, keep infections at bay, and help treat infections when they happen.

Fighting Colds and Flu

When you have a cold or the flu you’re actually suffering from a viral infection.  Essential oils can help to kill the virus and help you to heal faster.  When you start to feel the beginning of a cold or flu coming on, you can begin to use aromatherapy with essential oils to intervene.

Some good oils to consider include lemon, eucalyptus, tea tree, peppermint, and lavender. These oils are antimicrobial and can help fight the infection.  Eucalyptus can also help to open up your nasal passages and chest and reduce congestion.  

Relief from Cough

One of the first things that can come on with sickness is a cough – and it is often the last thing to go as well.  Essential oils can be very helpful in providing cough relief and helping you to get better sleep so that you can feel rested and restored.

Pine and fir essential oils can provide relief.  You may also get relief from frankincense, lemon, and eucalyptus.  Rosemary also tends to provide cough relief.  These oils will help break up mucus to allow coughs to be productive and sooth your throat so that coughing is reduced.

You can use these oils by adding a few drops to your bath water, adding a few drops to warm water and inhaling the steam, or adding them to a room diffuser to allow you to breathe in the oils.

Soothing Sinuses

Sinuses can also be a source of trouble when it comes to your respiratory health.  Allergies and colds can cause your sinuses to become congested and cause pain.  It can be hard to breathe and you may feel pressure and pain in your face and head.  

Using peppermint oil, tea tree oil, or eucalyptus oil in a diffuser can help you to feel relief from the pressure and allow you to have open passages for breathing.  Helping open up your sinuses can help to prevent sinus infections.  

If you think you’re developing a sinus infection, consider adding oregano essential oil to your diffuser.  This essential oil is antimicrobial and is very helpful in fighting off bacterial infections.  It is also anti-inflammatory and can help soothe the tissues that line your sinus cavities.

You can create your own vaporub by combining ¼ cup of beeswax with ¼ cup of coconut oil.  Melt these together and then add 10 drops of peppermint essential oil, 10 drops of eucalyptus essential oil, 5 drops of rosemary essential oil, and 4 drops of cinnamon essential oil.  Stir together and pour into a small glass jar with a lid.  When the mixture cools you can use it as a chest rub to help relieve congestion.