Athletes and essential oils

[Tinesha</3]

Hi again

I've been asked to go to a competition with some gymnasts so I can give them treatments the night before, a kind of relaxing one to help ease tension and aid sleep, and then on the morning of the comp to stimulate and energise them.

I had a thought today though, that may be silly, may not be. I've heard stories on the news etc about athletes who taken 'substances' to help them perform etc and they end up getting banned. Would this apply to using essential oils as well? I don't want to use anything that may get them disqualified.

Ta
Tracey

 

[Yam]

The only way to check this out is to get the print out of the oil's chemical components and check if any of them are in any of the drugs. I have no idea if they are, to be honest. You have to get the oils supplier to provide this and they will do if you ask. Bear in mind that oils from different batches have different chemical components so you need to get it each time you got a new oil. This would be quite a laborious task for you I think as you would then need to check out all the possible drugs that could be used to enhance performance!

The only thing I can add is that plenty of atheletes have aromatherapy treatments and I haven't heard of this happening, but you would have to ask about and check. If you keep a record of exactly what has been used and in what quantities then that might cover it.

 

[Stack]

Perhaps the tournament organisers would be prepared to give you the details of who do the drug checks and you could then ask their opinion.

I have used essential oils only on clients post competition, mainly because of the possible reactions. I have one client who after treatment always feels a bit spaced and has a bit of a healing crisis, so I just stay clear.