Best Essential Oils for Bronchitis

Best Essential Oils for Bronchitis.

What Is Bronchitis?

Bronchitis is a broad/general term that covers acute and chronic inflammation of your respiratory system. It specifically affects your bronchial tubes. It is usually caused by a virus, however, it can sometimes be caused by bacteria. Acute bronchitis usually gets better on its own without any antibiotics. So the best treatment is to rest and manage the symptoms for three to four weeks.

If you are looking for natural ways to help alleviate your symptoms, you are at the right place. We researched and tested several essential oils with a diffuser and topically. The following is a list of what we found beneficial.

What Are Essential Oils?

An “Essential Oil” is a natural oil generally obtained by distillation. The process of distillation turns the “essence” of a plant into a liquid form for many medicinal, recreational, and therapeutic uses. The term “essential” in this case does not mean that they are essential to your health the way that “essential nutrients” are. It simply means that they have the characteristic fragrance of the plant or other source from which it is extracted. So in other words, the oil bears the name of the plant from which it is derived—the essence of the plant. For example, lavender oil or peppermint oil. Each of these oils are called essential because they are thought to represent the essence of the odor and/or flavor of the plant from which it came.

How We Select The Products To Try

Starting an essential oils collection can add up financially. Sometimes purchasing a whole set of essential oils either doesn’t make sense or not feasible for some. So we focus on quality, effectiveness, and budget. The air we breathe and what goes on our skin is extremely important, so it is literally vital that we make choices based on quality first. As much as possible, we went with a USDA organic essential oil.

Essential Oils To Help Alleviate Coughing

Bergamot
Geranium
Eucalyptus
Lavender
Frankincense (see study on treatments for animals and humans)

These are the ones we tried:

Gya Labs Bergamot Essential Oil

While this particular product is not organic, we chose it for the quality of the user reviews and price point. It smells amazing and does not cost too much. So you can always upgrade and pay more for a larger bottle without the anxiety of feeling like you bought something and did not like it. I simply love the smell of bergamot too. 🥰

Cliganic Organic Geranium Essential Oil

We love this brand for their consistency in quality.

Nexon Botanics Organic Eucalyptus Essential Oil

It smells amazing, feels calming when put to use in a diffuser. This one is a little more in price, but we felt it was worth it for one that we would be using more frequently than the others. Personally, Eucalyptus seems to have made the most difference in my breathing and allergy relief.

Pura D’Or Organic Lavender Essential Oil

So many people love the smell of lavender. This is one of my favorite brands for organic Moroccan argan oil for my hair and skin, so I got the 4oz bottle of lavender for diffusing and massages. The quality is beautiful.

Cliganic Organic Frankincense Essential Oil

Smells fresh and clean. After reading somewhere that it could help with coughing, we found this product. We chose it because it had a review from someone who has asthma. They share that said a few drops on their tongue stops their wheezing without the use of inhaler. From time to time, I get these “cough attacks” either due to an allergen in the air or simply a random occurrence. When I tried it to see if it would work on me, it did!

Essential Oils To Help With Congestion

Whether you have a dry unproductive cough, mucus that won’t cough out, or a lot of mucus all up in your airways, these essential oils have been suggested to help.

Eucalyptus
Hyssop
Rosemary
Sandalwood
Thyme

Here are the ones we tried:

Eucalyptus – see our eucalyptus choice above.

Hyssop

Rosemary

Thyme

Essential Oils That Are Antiviral / Antifungal

Eucalyptus
Oregano
Tea Tree (caution with children and animals)

These are the ones we tried:

Eucalyptus – see our eucalyptus choice above.

Oregano

Oregano oil is supposed

Cliganic Organic Tea Tree Essential Oil

While people do use tea tree oil in diffusers, we did NOT use this in the diffuser. The reason is because we have small children around at home and two dogs. Tea tree oil is toxic and can be harmful to animals and children. Other side effects in general include headaches, nausea, and vertigo. So be careful with how much you are breathing it in. Instead, we boiled 2 cups of water and added about 7 drops of the tea tree oil. Using a towel, I carefully rung out excess water and put the soak on my forehead breathing through my nose for two minutes at a time. With 2 minutes in between, I was breathing in the vapors from the towel for 6 total minutes.

CAUTION: Tea Tree Oil should NEVER be consumed.

Is There An Essential Oil Blend So I Don’t Have To Buy Several Essential Oils?

Yes, there are many blends out there to help with improving bronchitis symptoms. However, after scouring the internet for high quality products, we only felt a few to include a blend of the most effective oils on this list and have the customer reviews to vouch for it.

These are the ones we tried:

Doterra Breathe Respiratory Blend

Gya Labs Breathe Blend Essential Oil

Nexon Botanics Breathe Ease Essential Oil Blend

Wonder Healing Coughing Ease Oil

Maple Holistics Breathe Blend Essential Oil

Prime Natural Breathe Blend

Do These Essential Oils Work for Dogs?

One of our members has a small 14-year-old Aussie & German Shepherd Mix named Zoe. See adorable picture of below. She started coughing around January 2022 and paid multiple visits to the vet. Needless to say, these visits racked up quite the vet bill. Her veterinarians had to rule out whether it was related to her heart, so they did x-rays and three ECG/EKG scans within two months. They did not find any signs of a collapsing trachea, pneumonia, or other problems with her lungs.

So while this was good news, it did not address why she was coughing and how to “cure” it. After visiting with her internal medicine specialist, she felt it was highly unlikely that it was kennel cough or allergies. She suggested that they try improving the air quality along with a prescription cough medication to help manage the symptoms. The goal was to see if they observe any improvement in symptoms.

Zoe’s Treatment Plan & Essential Oils Blend

Diet

V-Dog Vegan Kibble – 1.5 cups per day (spread out over three meals)

Instinct The Raw Brand Grain Free Beef Wet Dog Food – 1-2 tablespoons per day for administering medicine prescribed by her veterinarian.

Homemade Organic Chicken Broth

Water

Exercise

1 mile walk in the morning, afternoon, and evening (3 miles per day total) ; free-running session in the afternoon. If your dog enjoys running and is still able to run, create opportunities for exercise for them like we did for Zoe. Walks are different than exercise in that they push your pup’s cardiovascular system a bit more, and keeps it going strong. Never force yourself or your pup to do more than you/they are comfortable with.

Human Housekeeping Activities

Daily laundry, vacuuming, sweeping, and disinfecting of house or room they spend the most time in.

Air Quality Support Products

LEVOIT Air Purifier for Allergies and Pets

This keeps the air very clear. The household where Zoe lives is a family that prays with incense daily, so the incense smoke and pet dander/hair from two dogs can add up. Her sister is also a mix breed dog whose name is Sunlight. We paid a visit to Zoe and Sunlight. When you walk into the room, the air really does smell clear of any smells.

LEVOIT Humidifier

Zoe’s Human felt that the Air Purifier works so well and simply just liked their marketing slogan of “Breathe Easier” labeled nicely on the inside flap when you open the box. So she felt the calling to purchase the matching brand for the humidifier. Plus they give back to the to the world through We Forest, One Tree Planted, Exceptional Minds, and many more conservation & social change organizations.

Ultimate Aromatherapy Diffuser and Essential Oil Set

While you may want to look for a humidifier and essential oil diffuser combo, the house that Zoe lives in had separate units for humidifier and essential oil diffuser. Her essential oils blend first started with Eucalyptus. As Zoe’s cough symptoms began to improve, Her Human, experimented with the following blend based on the research listed in the first half of this article:

Bergamot
Eucalyptus
Frankinsense
Lemongrass

For more diffuser recommendations, check out our review of the Best Essential Oil Diffusers.

Doggie First Aid Products

VetriScience Laboratories Fast Balance GI Paste

This was a total life-saver when Zoe suddenly became very obtunded and started having diarrhea. Her diarrhea eventually became frequent little “squirts” of orange color. She was not consistently eating or drink for about one week. Some days, she would not eat or drink at all, possibly because she felt so crummy. After administering this product somewhere in the middle of the second week of being ill, the next day, she was showing that she was willing to eat and drink again. Her stool was semi-solid on the second day. Finally, her stool was back to normal after the tube was complete. In addition, her appetite was consistent and was back to eating dry kibble one week after completing the Fast Balance GI paste. Her primary care veterinarian was very happy and surprised! 🙂

Essential Oils Safety Tips

If you are considering the use of Essential Oils, please work with your doctor or healthcare provider. Some essential oils are NOT safe for children or pregnant women. Be careful when using essential oils around elderly people or those with weakened immune systems.

Here are some additional life saving tips we found were helpful to note:

NEVER eat or swallow essential oils without consulting with your doctor first
Tea tree oil is NEUROTOXIC and should NOT be diffused around children or pets
Some essential oils can have life threatening side effects when used too much
- i.e., eucalyptus oil and tea tree oil have been known to cause seizures
Do NOT apply essential oils directly to the skin, use with a carrier oil like coconut oil

Are Essential Oils Regulated by The FDA?

NO. Essential oils are not regulated by the FDA because it is not considered a drug. In addition, essential oils have not met the agency’s standard for safety or effectiveness. So that simply means that it is very important that you purchase essential oils from a trustworthy source.