Allergic to Menthol?

[Heritage Essential Oils]

I seem to be highly allergic to menthol. I react with shortness of breath and contact swelling with Deep Blue Rub [d***A product], and some cough drops and other OTC rubs cause reactions as well. My mystery is this: Peppermint works wonderfully for me with no reaction, and I just noticed it is 50% menthol! How can this be?

Linda wrote: If I were the one with these issues, I would not identify menthol as the culprit but rather some other component in the products you mentioned.

For example: The Deep Blue Rub that you mentioned contains a number of ingredients besides essential oils: 

Water, Gaultheria procumbens (Wintergreen) Leaf Oil, Camphor, Menthol, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Prunus amygdalus dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Stearic Acid, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Butylene Glycol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Capsicum Frutescens Fruit, Eucalyptus Globulus Leaf Oil, Deep Blue® Essential Oil Blend (Gaultheria procumbens [Wintergreen] Essential Oil, Cinnamomum camphora [Camphor] Essential Oil, Mentha piperita [Peppermint] Essential Oil, Tanacetum annuum [Blue Tansy] Essential Oil, Matricaria chamomilla [German Chamomile] Essential Oil, Helichrysum italicum [Helichrysum] Essential Oil, Osmanthus fragrans [Osmanthus] Essential Oil), Sodium PCA, Allantoin, Gardenia Florida Fruit Extract, Glycine, Squalane, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Retinyl Palmitate, Chlorella Vulgaris Extract, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloyldimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Polysorbate 60, Ceteareth-20, Dimethicone, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Xanthan Gum, Alcohol, Caprylyl Glycol, Tetrasodium Glutamate Diacetate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Hexylene Glycol, Henoxyethanol

There are a number of components in this product that would prevent me from wanting it on my skin. 

Briefly:

PEG: http://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2008/03/natural-products-contain-carcinogenic-contaminant

CETEARETH: http://www.ewg.org/news/news-releases/2007/02/08/ewg-research-shows-22-percent-all-cosmetics-may-be-contaminated-cancer

Quote for the previous link: "As a start, we recommend that consumers choose products free of carcinogenic impurities. To avoid 1,4-dioxane, read ingredient labels and avoid any of the 56 cosmetic ingredients that can contain the contaminant, including "sodium laureth sulfate" and ingredients that include the clauses "PEG," "xynol," "ceteareth," and "oleth." Easier still, use the custom shopping feature within our interactive product safety guide (Skin Deep) to choose products free of all cancer-causing impurities."

This is just a sampling of my concern with this product.

We offer a similar essential oil blend called Freedom, to which you can add a carrier oil of your choice. For pain issues, my choice would be Emu, which is great for joints and inflammation all by itself, and it works even better with essential oils. Arnica infused oil is another good choice.

Carrier Oils

Carrier Oil Usage Chart