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Have you ever picked up a pot that was too hot? Or accidentally brushed up against a hot iron? Or perhaps you spilled some boiling water on yourself as you drained the spaghetti.

Ouch!

Burns are among the most painful injuries I can think of. The initial burn is bad enough, but the pain that continues after can be horrible.

I always used to use aloe vera gel on my burns. And I still like aloe. I keep a tube of it in my refrigerator, and the coolness of it adds to the soothing power of aloe. Aloe used to be the first thing I reached for when I got any kind of burn.

But now, since I attended an aromatherapy seminar a few years ago, I first reach for lavender essential oil (lavandula augustifolia). While at that seminar, one of the speakers mentioned the amazing power of lavender to heal burns. Even more amazing, lavender could stop the burn from blistering, swelling, etc. I found that a little hard to believe, but kept an open mind.

The next time I burned myself in the kitchen, I grabbed the bottle of lavender essential oil and smeared it on my fingers. I used it “neat”, as we had been told (no dilution in oil or anything else; straight out of the bottle). Hey, it sure smelled great! But then something interesting happened. I noticed that I had no more pain, no swelling, no blistering. No more of that owie, owie, owie that accompanies a burn. I actually forgot that I had burned myself!

Ever since then, I am always sure to have a bottle of lavender essential oil in my kitchen cabinet, ready to use if I need it.

The speaker at the aromtherapy seminar did caution that undiluted lavender oil on a major burn can sting at first, but that we should keep using it and the sting would go away. I haven’t had a burn that bad, thank goodness, but don’t be alarmed if you do notice some stinging.

I’ve since found out that the discovery of lavender’s burn-healing properties was probably an accident. Dr. Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, usually called the “father of modern aromatherapy”, severely burned his hands in a lab accident. (This was in 1910.) He poured lavender essential oil on them, and they healed completely. Not instantaneously, of course, since the burns were severe, but to have such bad burns heal completely is pretty amazing!

Shirley Price tells a story of a man with severe facial burns in her book, Aromatherapy for Health Professionals (one of my fave aromatherapy books, and it’s just been updated). The man was treated with a cream that had aloe vera, lavender essential oil and tea tree essential oil (melaleuca alternifolia). After just 8 days, he was growing new skin, with no peeling and no scars!

Now THAT’s powerful aromatherapy!