Essential Oils for Women and Aromatherapy for Women's Health

Although there are no specific essential oils for women, some oils are especially useful to women, including:

Rose is an overall women's tonic that you can use for all gynecological problems.
Bergamot is useful to relieve water retention and depression and to help get rid of yeast.
Clary sage is useful for depression (including postpartum), PMS, and menopause (some sources suggest avoiding long-term use if you have fibrocystic breasts or uterine fibroids).
Geranium promotes hormone balance and can help with PMS, menopause, and yeast.
Marjoram is helpful for headaches, menstrual cramps, and constipation.
Lavender is an overall balancer. Use it for skin care, shock, and stress.
Roman or German chamomile may help with PMS, migraines, or frayed nerves.
Tea tree is the best yeast remedy and also useful for herpes and cystitis.
Neroli can help with insomnia, depression, anxiety, and stretch marks.

Source: Aromatherapy: A Complete Guide to the Healing Art

In addition to the information on this page about yeast infection, cystitis, and fibroids, see the following pages for more information about essential oils for women:

PMS Relief

Menstrual Cramp Relief

Essential Oils for Irregular or Absent Periods

Aromatherapy for Menopause

Aromatherapy for Pregnancy

Essential Oils for Yeast Infection

Essential oils for women to use for a vaginal yeast infection or vaginal thrush include geranium, juniper, lavender, sandalwood, or tea tree.

Massage: Add up to 8 drops essential oil to 4 teaspoons carrier oil. Gently massage lower back and abdomen.

Bath: Add 4 drops of one essential oil to a warm bath or use one of the following blends:

6 drops lavender
4 drops tea tree oil
1 teaspoon carrier oil or milk

3 drops lavender
3 drops tea tree
3 drops myrrh
1 drop sandalwood
1 teaspoon carrier oil or milk

Caution: See your doctor if no improvement in three days.

Other: Consider a systemic yeast eradication program. Vaginal yeast is often a symptom of yeast overgrowth throughout the body.

Essential Oils for Cystitis

Cystitis is inflammation of the bladder. The most common type is a bacterial infection, called a urinary tract infection.

Essential Oils: bergamot, geranium, juniper, lavender, sandalwood, or tea tree

Massage: Add up to 8 drops essential oil to 4 teaspoons carrier oil. Gently massage lower back and abdomen.

Bath: Add 4 drops of essential oil to a bath or use one of the following blends:

3 drops sandalwood
3 drops tea tree oil
1 drop chamomile
1 teaspoon carrier oil or milk

1 cup Epsom salt
1 cup baking soda
5 drops sandalwood
5 drops tea tree

Caution: See your doctor if no improvement in three days, or if you have backache, fever, or blood in the urine.

Sources for yeast and cystitis info: Aromatherapy Massage and Massage & Aromatherapy: Simple Techniques to Use at Home.

Note: Interstitial cystitis is a different condition, requiring different treatment. For more information, The Better Bladder Book presents a holistic healing approach for interstitial cystitis and chronic pelvic pain.

Essential Oils for Fibroids

You can use essential oils for fibroids in a compress placed on your lower abdomen, in a sitz bath, or for abdominal massage.

The first recommendations from the Essential Oils Desk Reference are cistus or lavender essential oil used in a warm compress on you lower abdomen daily.

You can also try frankincense, Idado tansy, oregano, pine, or helichrysum essential oil.

Other recommendations include ginger, marjoram, rose, rosemary, or juniper essential oil.

How do you choose an essential oil for fibroids? Understand the properties of the essential oil, understand your body and what's going on with it, and experiment using caution.

In Herbal Therapy for Uterine Fibroids, a naturopath describes how to use a sitz bath for fibroids. You can add several drops of essential oils to the sitz bath to stimulate pelvic circulation. Also, F ibroids – How You Can Help Yourself provides a Chinese Medicine view, which includes essential oils in your bath.

You can also add any of the recommended essential oils for women to a massage oil for abdominal massage. Here's a video of a simple abdominal massage.