Why First Aid for Complementary Therapists is so Important
Edited: July 18, 2024
As a therapist – or any other type of business owner, large or small – you are responsible for the health and safety of your employees and your clients whilst they are in your care or use your products.
You have a duty of care to all your clients and staff to keep them safe. The law requires you to cut the risks of your staff and clients of getting ill or injured, so understanding health and safety is very important. Part of this is the ability to recognise symptoms and give emergency first aid when required.
Understanding the provision of potentially life-saving emergency care and first aid is vital for every complementary therapist. You may be treating clients with an underlying and unrecognised heart disease; raised blood pressure and cholesterol; allergies leading to anaphylactic shock; brittle bones (e.g. due to osteoporosis, or steroid use); anaemia (e.g. due to menopausal problems); challenged adrenal function (e.g. due to steroid use) and any number of other common conditions like brittle asthma or epilepsy and even panic attacks which can present sudden and critical symptoms during treatment.
It is your duty as a therapist to be prepared to recognise and apply emergency first aid until NHS first responders arrive.
The UK law applies to all businesses, large or small. If you’re self-employed or an employer of even a small staff, you are responsible for the health and safety of your business. The law is there to make sure you have a safe working environment to cut down the risk of you, your staff or clients getting ill or injured. So, by law you must be aware of health and safety risks to you, your staff and your clients and this includes giving first aid.
As an employer you must appoint someone who knows about health and safety. This could be yourself, if you have a health and safety qualification, knowledge and experience; one or more of your staff, if they are qualified or you get them trained; or even someone from outside the business. If you’re not confident about managing health and safety in-house then you probably need to call in some external help or advice.
Even if you don’t employ any staff, don’t forget that legally you have what’s called a ‘duty of care’ to anyone who is affected by what you do for a living – even members of the public who might be affected by what you do. For example, someone who feels that their parent, child or partner has been badly affected by your care, might decide to pursue a claim in court.
Our advice is always to keep up-to-date with health and safety regulations – remember that they are there to protect you, your staff and your clients.
Using Carrier Oils in Aromatherapy
Edited: November 13, 2022
It is a general rule in Clinical Aromatherapy that applying pure essential oils without a carrier, is unsafe practice. The well-trained Clinical Aromatherapist is aware that there are a few exceptions to this rule, but even ‘safe’ oils like Melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree) and Lavandula angustifolia (lavender) can trigger a lifelong sensitivity. This highlights the importance of using essential oils under the guidance of a professionally trained Clinical Aromatherapist.
Therapeutic Essential Oils are Powerful.
Any essential oil could cause an allergic reaction if applied undiluted. For those interested in reading more about these dangers Marge Clark writes about her own ongoing personal battle with dermatitis following exposure to lavender oil in her book Essential Oils and Aromatics.
Using Carrier Oils.
Safe practice means treating essential oils with respect and diluting them with a carrier oil: so-called because they carry the essential oil onto or into the skin. All carrier oils are easily absorbed, have a mild or no aroma and are non-volatile. These oils nourish the skin and tissues and if chosen carefully enhance the healing properties of the essential oils.
With the wide range of non-volatile plant oils available, it is surprising to discover that many aromatherapists limit themselves to using grape seed or almond oils. Your choice of carrier oil can make a significant difference in the therapeutic properties, colour, aroma and even the shelf life of your final product. Unlike essential oils, carrier oils can go rancid over time which is why the clinical aromatherapist will generally create the bespoke oil or lotion for each client. You might choose an unscented carrier (like grape seed), lightly scented (such as coconut and jojoba) or more heavily scented (olive and argan for example) – each carrier oil bringing its own unique properties to the blend.
Essential oils are generally diluted at 2% by volume with the carrier oil for adults and at 1% for children and elderly clients. Following these guidelines should ensure safe topical application of most oils although treatment of children and elderly clients should always be undertaken with utmost care and requires specialised education and training. Higher concentrations can be used – up to 10% with some essential oils – but it is important to understand the potential risks involved. Here the professional Clinical Aromatherapist once again relies on their understanding of the chemical properties of both essential oils and carrier oils and the ways in which they interact.
Carrier oils also have cautions and contra-indications for use and so again should be used under the guidance of a Clinical Aromatherapist. E.g. Hypericum should not be used for clients who are taking certain antidepressants and nut oils should obviously never be used with people who have a nut allergy.
Choosing Your Carrier Oils.
Carrier oils should be cold-pressed and as unrefined as possible, meaning that they retain their aroma and are uncontaminated by bleaches or deodorisers. Some, like jojoba, are actually a form of wax and are useful when overproduction of sebaceous oils is a problem (as in acne). Others, like coconut and olive oils, contain fatty acids, polyphenols and plant sterols which feed and moisturise the skin. Some macerated carriers are either too viscose or too expensive to be used as 100% main carriers and therefore can be added to your main carrier at 25% of your carrier blend.
Whether they are nut oils, seed oils or from other vegetable sources, understanding the constituent elements and effectiveness of each oil enables us to choose exactly the right one as a carrier for each individual application.
Experiment With Different Carrier Oils
Delve into the exciting world of carrier oils and broaden your knowledge as to how they can create balanced and healing massage blends for your clients. Whether using avocado or sweet almond, black cumin seed or tamanu oils, every carrier oil has something unique to offer the professional aromatherapist in their practice.
Carrot Seed Oil
Edited: November 13, 2022
My mother always told me that eating carrots would help me see in the dark. She was right – she was usually right. Rich in Carotene and Vitamin A, the roots are indeed beneficial to the eyes and are effective antioxidants.
But carrots have so much more to give us. Carrot Seed oil has incredible properties that are only now being understood by modern science. The mild, earthy sweetness of Carrot Seed produces a powerful yet well-tolerated oil with a wide range of healing properties.
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