Frankincense—The Oil of Kings

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As The Melaleuca Wellness Guide states, “Frankincense has been treasured since ancient times for use in worship and medicine.” For more than 5,000 years Frankincense has been traded in the Middle East and Africa due to its medicinal and healing properties. It’s because of those properties that this essential oil is still used today to address a number of common disorders.
 
Researchers believe that frankincense can help with inflammation that is common in many types of arthritis. This is due to the anti-inflammatory compounds found in frankincense. A recent study involving osteoarthritis in various joints showed that not only taking antioxidant supplements, but also using frankincense oil combined with carrier oil on the affected areas helped with joint mobility, pain, and inflammation.
 
“Antimicrobial is any substance that kills or inhibits growth of microorganisms but causes little or no damage to the host,” per pharmacology dictionary. The essential oil frankincense has been used for centuries to prevent infection and to aid in healing wounds. Researchers recently found that frankincense, in combination with myrrh and carrier oil, not only aid the healing process of wounds, but also help in the prevention of certain pathogens.
 
Frankincense has also been researched and shown to be an aid for not only chronic and inflammatory diseases, but also for brain disorders. One study showed that use of frankincense could enhance memory and learning capabilities. A 2016 sleep study showed that those who inhaled a blend, which included frankincense essential oil, had improved sleep.
 
The Melaleuca Wellness Guide gives many uses for frankincense—as a stress reliever by adding a few drops to a warm bath, decreasing appearance of scars or stretch marks by mixing two or three drops of oil to a base oil or lotion and applying directly to the skin, and inhaling directly by putting a few drops into a cloth for respiratory benefits.
 
When diffusing any oil please be cautious of young children, pets, elderly, and those with asthma or underlying problems.

~ Richard M Barry

Frankincense from

The Melaleuca Wellness Guide

Frankincense has been treasured since ancient times for use in worship and medicine. The aromatic gum-resin comes from trees grown in Somalia, Yemen and Oman. The fragrant resin is harvested from milk-like liquid that oozes from cuts on the trunks of the trees. The liquid dries into the resin that is frankincense.

Patricia Davis author of Aromatherapy An A-Z writes that frankincense essential oil massage is useful for asthma relief because it is calming. It helps a person take deeper breaths and slows breathing.

Research

Antifungal: An investigation of several frankincense essential oils found that Boswellia carteri (Somalia) had the best activity against fungal strains.

Hospice Care: Aromatherapy hand massage was beneficial for treating pain and depression in hospice patients. Each hand was massaged for five minutes with a blended mixture of bergamot, lavender and frankincense diluted with sweet almond carrier oil.

Safety Tips

• Do not take frankincense oil by mouth.
• Do not use rancid or oxidized oil.
• Tisserand and Young note that skin sensitization (allergy-like reaction) is possible if oil is oxidized. Keep oil in a dark, airtight container in a refrigerator.

How To Use

To use on skin: To make your desired dilution add drops to 30 ml carrier oil and shake or mix well. Use a glass container and an accurate measuring device, not silverware.

30 ml is the equivalent of 1 ounce or 2 tablespoons or 6 teaspoons

Elderly, Frail, Sensitive Skin 3 to 9 drops 0.5% to 1% dilution
Healthy Adults 9 to 18 drops 1% to 2% dilution
Short term on area of concern 18 to 27 drops 2% to 3% dilution

For more information on dilution please see the beginning of this chapter.

Diffusion: Follow the instructions that came with the diffuser. To avoid overexposure run the diffuser for only 15 to 20 minutes.

Direct Inhalation: Add a few drops to a handkerchief, tissue or cotton ball and inhale the aroma of the oil. If you choose to inhale the aroma directly from the bottle, hold the bottle a few inches below your nose and take a quick sniff or two. Be careful not to ingest the oil through your nose as that can be toxic.

Frankincense Success Stories

Where shall I begin with frankincense? There are many good reasons it is known as "The Oil of Kings!" My first reason for using frankincense EO was to see if it could ease my "brain fog" that doctors could not help at all. Just a drop on each temple and back of my neck was enough to clear the fog! My doctors would only tell me to 'keep doing what you're doing as long as it's helping' but would never admit that it was the essential oil that was helping me!

I've been living with a long list of health issues for the last 20 years or so. In those earlier years I tried lots of prescription medications, but they all had side effects that eventually led to me not being able to continue taking them. My own research has taken me into the world of essential oils and they are now my preferred method of treatment for many issues.

Frankincense has helped me with a number of health issues. The same way it helped with 'brain fog,' it works for dealing with stress! Inflammation is often a problem in several of my health issues, so I'm often rolling a dilution of frankincense over areas that are inflamed. Most of the time I put 10 drops into one of the roller bottles I get from Melaleuca and fill the rest with fractionated coconut oil. For really painful areas I combine frankincense with eucalyptus and tea tree (Melaleuca T36-C5) in equal portions, in a roller bottle with the coconut oil. This combination has been especially nice on my very sore joints, but works well over sore muscles too!

Every member of my family has some form of respiratory issues. We've learned diffusing frankincense is very beneficial in reducing the problems chronic respiratory ailments can cause. Sometimes rolling some over the chest is helpful too.

Research has taught me that frankincense is one of those things we want to always have on hand! While it won't cure my chronic or genetic conditions, it does very much help manage the day to day living with such health issues! Since making use of essential oils from Melaleuca, along with Peak Performance Packs and many other nutritional products, I'm no longer on any daily prescription medications, and thus, spared their side effects.

It makes me so very, very happy that Melaleuca started producing more essential oils!

~ Andee

Pure frankincense oil does me and my family many wonders! I use it mixed into my skincare to help keep fine lines at bay, and mixed with some Renew lotion makes these stretch marks disappear. I even use it on my kids when they have a slight fever or someone is coming down with a headache!

-Shalyn

I really like the frankincense oil!! My youngest son has had asthma attacks since he was born and if I diffuse frankincense with a few other oils we can keep it down!

~Esther

We have been amazed time after time when we have used frankincense on minor head injuries. Just this past week, my husband was in an accident and sustained a moderate concussion. Almost immediately after the accident, I put frankincense oil directly on the area of his head that he hit and two things happened. The first was that within half an hour after application of the oil, his mentation improved and his vision loss abated. The second thing that we noticed was that there was almost NO bruising the next day ... amazing, considering the force with which he hit his forehead and the swelling that was there and down around his eye immediately following his accident. We have noticed the same results with other head injuries in our family. Frankincense is something we will never be without in our home!

~ Ande