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Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Healthcare Professionals
Robert Tisserand, Tony Balacs
Churchill Livingstone
280 pages, first published 1995
- Detailed profiles of 95 essential oils, including constituents, hazards, dosage, toxicity data and contraindications
- Brief safety profiles of 311 essential oils and 135 essential oil constituents
- Safety guidelines for practitioners, retailers and consumers
- Details of essential oil absorption, metabolism and excretion
- Description of essential oil toxicity in relation to the skin, mucous membrane, nervous system and the major organs
- Cautions and contraindications for the therapeutic use of essential oils by all methods of administration
- Guidelines on the safe and appropriate administration of essential oils in pregnancy, cancer, epilepsy, heart disease and other conditions
- Essential oil/drug interactions
- Cases of poisoning from essential oil ingestion
- Extensive references
Gattefosse’s Aromatherapy
René-Maurice Gattefossé
Edited by Robert Tisserand
The CW Daniel Company
164 pages, first published in 1993
- This is an English translation of the 1937 book that coined the word aromatherapy.
- Gattefossé was a chemist who worked in his family’s fragrance business, and in the early 1900s he began collecting material about the therapeutic properties of essential oils. Included are over 50 case studies from doctors, many of them relating to wounds sustained by French soldiers during the First World War.
- The author briefly describes how he successfully used lavender oil to treat a burn he sustained in his laboratory after an explosion. Somehow this event has taken on a mythical dimension, which has him instinctively plunging his burned hand into the nearest available liquid. The truth is slightly more mundane – he applied the oil intentionally when the would became infected – but it was still an inspirational event for him.
- In addition to abscesses, ulcers and war wounds, there are cases relating to gynecology, urology, dermatology and veterinary medicine.
The Art of Aromatherapy
Robert Tisserand
Beekman Publishers
324 pages, first published in 1977
This was the first book in English on aromatherapy. Here are some comments from 2005 and 2009 reviews Amazon:
- This is a solid resource although a little dated. It is a great place to get the history of aromatherapy from an expert in the field. The emphasis is also on the mind/body connection and the holistic nature of aromatherapy.
- It provides a basic principles section, as well as an overview of the human body systems.
- Chapter 11 reviews, discusses and details many of the major essential oils used in clinical practice. It is a fabulous reference section and provides much useful information.
- The book also provides recipes using key essential oils for a wide variety of health issues and health problems.
Aromadermatology
Janetta Bensouilah & Philippa Buck
Radcliffe Publishing
250 pages, first published in 2006
- Contents include: Skin structure and function, essential oil sciences in context, aromadermatology and safety issues, the essentials of aromatic formulations, skin-care essentials, skin and the psyche, skin infections, childhood skin complaints, inflammatory disorders, wound care, nails, hair and sebaceous glands.
- A thorough understanding of dermatology underpins the book, and both current research and clinical knowledge are elegantly applied to the skin conditions discussed. Robert Tisserand
Click the following thumbnails to purchase at Amazon.