How To Get Rid Of An Abscess With Essential Oils

Did you hear the one about a sweet mama named Jennifer? She grew a tail that one day turned into Frankenbutt? I’ll let you go back and read the posts that explain how this whole thing started if you are intrigued because today I have so much goodness to share as it relates to how to get rid of an abscess with essential oils!

I know enough about how to get rid of an abscess with essential oils to be dangerous.

I took an Essential Oil 101 type of course before I wrote Coconut Oil For Your Skin. I wanted to make sure that I not only used the correct essential oils for the conditions I was hoping to help but that I was also not using an oil that might be considered “dangerous” if used in too high of a quantity or in conjunction with other essential oils. I also wanted to get a firm handle on how various essential oils react with sun exposure. And while I learned enough to create some really nourishing recipes, I still had a lot to learn about the various brands of essential oils.

I have done an incredible amount of research on the various essential oil companies out there. Many other bloggers have as well and it has been pretty interesting to follow along on their journey. Some of the findings have prompted me to do my own research and others have left me shaking my head in disbelief because I know that the information presented is completely fabricated in an effort to earn a fast buck.

Now, this is not a post where I talk smack about any specific essential oil company. That isn’t who I am. And truth be told, there are a lot of quality essential oils out there. I have used A LOT of oils from MANY companies. I will share my personal favorites later…

Back to how to get rid of an abscess with essential oils…

Fast forward to April 2013. I was happily using essential oils from a couple of those MLM companies. 😉  They met my needs, were affordable, and insofar as I could tell, did what they were supposed to do. Until….

My tail grew back!

(For those of you who did not go back and read my “tail of woe”, I had a growth below my tailbone that abscessed in November 2010, I had removed in April 2011, which kicked off my 19 month colitis flare).

When I had my tail removed, the doctor warned me that these particular growths have a 50% rate of return. Not awesome. But I was cautiously optimistic that I would be able to stay tail free for many years.

No such luck. Dang thing came back 22 months post-surgery. I was peeved. I mean, really? I don’t even get a full 2 years without a tail bothering me?

The doctor told me we needed to keep it from abscessing until the 3 year post-surgery mark. Since that area is so delicate, having another surgery so soon could lead to some tissue issues. This basically means that the area around the surgery could sort of implode from not having enough tissue to properly support the area.

Again, not awesome. Who wants the top of their butt crack caving in?

I was determined to keep my tail happy and healthy.

But it wasn’t meant to be! In early May I overdid it with the sitting (I basically should not have been doing much, if any sitting at all) and my tail started getting puffy, red, and warm. I knew what was happening. It was only a matter of days before the darn thing abscessed on me.

I was miserable. I was in major pain. I was scared. And I was doing EVERYTHING I could to draw out the infection and keep my tail from a full blown abscess.

Clay and turmeric poultices were not working. Consuming gobs of coconut oil, oil of oregano, and garlic weren’t helping. The abscess was spreading, the pain was getting worse, and I was started to accept the fact that things were going downhill quickly.

How To Get Rid Of An Abscess With Essential Oils

I did a ton of research about getting rid of an abscess with essential oils. I determined that I needed to apply an essential oil compress. The compress was a mix of lavender and chamomile to soothe the inflammation along with thyme essential oil and tea tree oil to help break of the infection. I had all of these oils but they were not doing what they were supposed to do. I realized that I needed to purchase oils from one brand and one brand only. This mixing and matching wasn’t working.

My abscess was at the point of raging out of control. So I went ahead and did a quick essential oil test using my bottle of Thyme EO from Plant Therapy, a new-to-me brand at the time. It was the first time I had used this brand period. I took a deep breath and slathered the area in Thyme oil. 10 seconds later and I about called the fire department to put the fire on my tail out. Holy goodness! That oil was STRONG! I stupidly used the same amount I had been using from my other essential oil brand without bothering to test it for potency. Well, lesson learned. The Plant Therapy brand of oils are crazy potent. Which honestly makes them even more affordable because you do not have to use as much as some of the other brands. Win!

Fast forward a few days later after ordering some more Plant Therapy essential oils with one day shipping. I had been using the same blend of oils as before (lavender, chamomile, thyme, and tea tree) in a little compress hourly. After the first day, the area became much less hard (it was like I had a silver dollar sized boulder under my skin) and on day two, it was actually pretty squishy. I was ecstatic! My essential oil regime was working to kill the infection, break it up, and bring relief to my poor, sore tail. While the growth still remained (it was about the size of a half dollar) all of the inflammation and infection was gone after 5 days.

I had used the other brands of essential oils for 4 days (in a higher concentration mind you) with no results. In 5 days, using Plant Therapy’s oils, I was able to avoid a harsh dose of antibiotics, relieve some of my misery, and stall another surgical procedure until September sometime.

You might think that I am writing this post for the sole purpose of promoting this line of essential oils. I sort of am but I sort of am not.

Firstly, I wanted to share that an abscess CAN be relieved with the right blend of essential oils. Every abscess is different so the oils you may use might vary but typically, the four I used would be the most effective. Treating an abscess with essential oils is possible obviously but you might need to mess around a little with the EO combo you use.

Second, I wanted to illustrate that just because something doesn’t work the first time doesn’t mean it won’t work at all. As I experienced first-hand, quality has a huge impact on the end result. While it is possible that the other brands of essential oils would have eventually helped my abscess, I got more immediate and effective relief when I used oils of superior quality which obviously, Plant Therapy EOs are.