Hot Spots and Essential Oils: A New Perspective

If your pup has ever had a hot spot, you know hot spots are often as frustrating for us pet parents as they are for our dogs. The itchy, red, and inflamed skin is difficult to treat, and the licking can be non-stop. Typically hot spots are viewed as an allergy and treated with antihistamines. But what if there was another option? One that treats the underlying cause and not just the symptom. 

Well, there is another way to deal with hot spots, but first I need to tell you about Nala… 

Nala and I had a follow up visit with Dr. Deb, our holistic veterinarian. Nala, my 6-year-old 60 pound pity mix, has digestive issues and anxiety. She’s been doing very well, however she has a few small cysts forming under her skin.

Dr. Deb practices Traditional Chinese Medicine (TMC)  so I knew she would look at them from a holistic, TCM perspective. If you’re not familiar with TCM, the basic concept is that Qi, a vital life force, flows through the body.  Qi that’s stagnant, or blocked, can cause disease and illness. TCM treatments restore the flow of Qi, clear any stagnation or blockages, and return the body to health.  

Dampness and phlegm are just two of many energetic components that can block Qi. Dampness is too much moisture in the body, and when too much dampness stagnates, it thickens, accumulates, and becomes phlegm. (Just like a beaver dam blocking the flow of water… the stagnant water becomes murky and green.) 

Nala’s cysts are a sign of phlegm, or too much dampness in her body. To treat the cysts we need to, in TCM terms, “drain the dampness.”  So, how do we drain dampness? 

A TCM practitioner will often use acupuncture and/or herbs, but we can also use aromatherapy.

Essential oils have energetic properties that align with TCM

Yep, there are essential oils that are drying, which can help dry dampness.  But it doesn’t end there. Another component in TCM is heat and cold. Essential oils also have warming and cooling properties. 

Nala, for example, seeks heat… she lies in the sun and very close to the fireplace. Taking all of this into consideration, I can offer Nala essential oils that are both warming and drying, such as ginger or juniper berry.   I can see which ones she chooses, dilute them, and offer for self-medication, and possibly apply topically to the cysts.

Treating Hot Spots with Essential Oils

After that brief lesson in TCM, I hope you see that Hot spots are a sign of heat and dampness… they are a wet condition that needs drying, and hot condition that needs cooling.  The best essential oils to use with hot spots have cooling and drying properties, such as Grapefruit, Yarrow, Lemon, Sweet Marjoram, Myrrh, German and Roman Chamomile. 

Yarrow, German Chamomile, and Myrrh are also gentle for the skin, so diluting them in a skin-loving carrier like aloe vera or calendula and applying topically would be a good option.  Easier yet, inhaling any drying, cooling essential oil can help the body clear dampness, possibly addressing the underlying cause. 

Keep in mind that excessive licking isn’t always an allergy, it’s also a sign of pain. The same concepts apply- cooling and drying can help many causes of pain as well. 

Besides cysts and hot spots, there are several other damp conditions that our animals show us. Essential oils with drying properties are helpful for all these conditions… goopy eyes, runny nose, lung congestion, mucousy stools, greasy skin, fungal infection, and even fatty lipomas. 

I love how the therapeutic properties of essential oils integrate with TCM. You may know that TCM is a complex method that takes years to master, but I hope this new perspective on hot spots and other damp conditions is helpful.  (Keep in mind that both essential oils and TCM are integrative methods that also work alongside traditional veterinary medicine.)