Essential Oil First Aid: Eyes, Skin and Swallowed

If this is happening right now, stop reading and call Poison Help at 1-800-222-1222. Call 911 if the person collapses, has a seizure, has trouble breathing or cannot be awakened. Everything below is general first-aid information from poison-control sources, not medical advice.

Lemon Eucalyptus Essential Oil

Our own Lemon Eucalyptus Essential Oil, in sizes from 0.5 oz to bulk.

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The quick card

Swallowed: call Poison Help or use the free webPOISONCONTROL tool. Do not induce vomiting. Keep the container handy.
In the eye: rinse right away with plenty of room-temperature water for at least 15 to 20 minutes, contact lenses out, then call.
On skin: take off contaminated clothing first, then rinse with lots of room-temperature running water for at least 15 minutes, using mild soap.
A pet: call your veterinarian right away.

Poison Control says its expert help is free, confidential and available 24 hours a day, every day. MedlinePlus adds that the line is available anywhere in the U.S. and the call does not have to be an emergency, so calling early is always fine.

Why this belongs on our site

We sell lemon eucalyptus essential oil as a concentrated, undiluted oil, and we tell everyone who buys it to keep it away from eyes, children and pets and never to take it internally. There is no first-aid protocol written specifically for our oil, so this page is the general guidance that applies to any essential oil or repellent product. Whatever the product, the most helpful thing you can do on the phone is read the label aloud. For the wider picture, see is lemon eucalyptus safe? and our guide for households with kids.

If it gets in the eyes

Poison Control's advice is that every second matters, and a delay in rinsing can risk sight. Start immediately:

Use lots of room-temperature water. Adults and older children can stand in the shower. For a small child, wrap them in a towel and run water from a tap or slowly pour from a pitcher, letting it flow over the bridge of the nose into the eye.
Keep going for at least 15 to 20 minutes and encourage blinking.
Take out contact lenses.
Then call Poison Help or use webPOISONCONTROL.

If irritation, pain, vision changes, redness, swelling or tearing last an hour after you began rinsing, get an urgent eye exam. If symptoms are severe, go straight to an emergency room after rinsing. Plain water is what the source recommends, so there is no need to hunt for a neutralizer.

It is easy to feel helpless in the first minute, so it helps to rehearse the very first step in your head: water, lots of it, now. Everything else can wait until the water is running.

If it is swallowed

Poison Control says not to induce vomiting. It adds that a small amount of water or milk is appropriate only if the product is burning or irritating and the person is awake, not convulsing and able to swallow. MedlinePlus adds a few more things to avoid: nothing by mouth for an unconscious person, no lemon juice or vinegar to neutralize the poison, and no waiting for symptoms to appear if you suspect poisoning. Take the container to the hospital if you go.

This is true whether the exposure is an essential oil, a mouthful of repellent or a child who chewed a bottle. Do not decide on your own that a small amount is harmless.

If it is on skin

Rinse for at least 15 minutes after removing affected clothing, with mild soap to lift anything that clings. Call a poison center afterward, and see a doctor right away if blistering, pain, redness or swelling worsens or persists. If a rash develops later, a pharmacist or physician is the right person to ask. Our skin irritation guide covers patch tests and dilution.

Have this ready when you call

The container or label, the person's age, what happened and when, how much, and any symptoms. The online tool asks for age, substance, amount and symptoms. If the person is pregnant, say so; our pregnancy article covers what the sources say there.

Prevention

Keep essential oils and repellents capped, in their original containers and out of reach of children and pets, and never decant them into drink bottles. Our dog and cat articles cover households with animals.

Set the house up now, while it is calm

Most of this is five minutes of tidying that you only do once:

Save 1-800-222-1222 in every adult's phone, and write it on a card by the kitchen phone or on the fridge.
Keep oils in their original labeled bottles, on a high shelf or in a closed cabinet, so the label is there to read aloud if you ever need it.
Tell anyone who looks after your children or animals where the number is, and where the oils live.
After any project that uses oils, such as a soap or candle session, put everything back before you do anything else.

It sounds fussy until the day you need it, and then it is the difference between searching and acting. Staying calm helps, too. Read the label, give the details, and do what the person on the phone tells you.

A few seconds spent knowing this number now can save a lot of worry later. Save 1-800-222-1222 in your phone today.