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Years ago, I got my introduction to aromatherapy from my massage therapist. She casually mentioned that whenever she was around someone coughing, sneezing and generally acting flu-like or cold-like, she would take out a bottle of cinnamon bark essential oil (cinnamomum zeylanicum, sometimes called cinnamomum verum) and put a drop on the bottom of her feet. She swore by this method, and said it prevented colds and the flu.

Now I’ve got to tell you, I thought this was all pretty weird. Put cinnamon bark essential oil on your feet, and prevent colds and the flu?

However, now that I’m a little older and wiser, and I know a bit more about aromatherapy and essential oils, I know exactly why my massage therapist used cinnamon bark oil to prevent colds and the flu. Although, truthfully, I can’t recommend putting cinnamon bark essential oil on the skin!

Cinnamon bark essential oil is what I refer to as a “little bomb” in the land of aromatherapy. What I mean by that is that it is extremely powerful and kills lots of nasty bacteria, viruses, etc. According to Kurt Schnaubelt in Medical Aromatherapy: Healing With Essential Oils,

“[C]innamon bark oil is effective against 98 percent of all pathogenic… bacteria. It is also effective against yeasts, candida.. and fungi, including aspergillus…. It is antiparasitic and prevents fermentation in the intestines; it is effective against diarrhea, colitis, amoebic dysentery, enterotoximia, bacterial cystitis, and urinary tract infections with E. coli….” (p. 215)

Many authors and scientific articles note cinnamon bark essential oil’s potent anti-viral uses, as well. And that explains why my massage therapist used it to fight off cold and flu viruses. As Jeanne Rose notes in 375 Essential Oils and Hydrosols, cinnamon bark oil is “Antispasmotic, anti-infectious, antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal particularly against Candida and Aspergillus” (p. 66).

Whew! You can see why I call cinnamon bark essential oil a “little bomb”. It is amazingly powerful against an amazingly wide number of bacteria, viruses and fungi.

However, the other reason I call cinnamon bark essential oil a “little bomb” is that the power of the oil comes at a price. Cinnamon bark essential oil is extremely irritating to the skin. It is one of the “hottest” oils I can think of, and I do everything I can to avoid ever getting the undiluted oil near my lips or tongue. Ow! I have never seen an aromatherapy or essential oil expert recommending that you put undiluted cinnamon bark essential oil on your skin. It is also extremely irritating to mucosal skin if it is over-diffused. In other words, if you’re going to put it in a diffuser, diffuse it only for very short periods of time. I haven’t yet tried diffusing cinnamon bark oil, but if I did, it would be for 5 minutes or less and I would never stand directly over the diffuser and inhale.

Usually, cinnamon bark oil is taken internally (one drop in a capsule is plenty), or it is diluted and mixed with other essential oils. It is definitely not for the absolute beginner who knows nothing about essential oils. I would recommend reading Medical Aromatherapy: Healing With Essential Oils before even attempting to work with cinnamon bark essential oil.

And remember to wear gloves and/or wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly after handling a bottle of cinnamon bark essential oil!

You may be wondering why my massage therapist put the oil on the bottom of her feet (at least that skin is nice and tough on most people — but not on babies and children!). Believe it or not, the feet are one of the places where essential oils are most easily absorbed. But that’s a topic for another blog entry…