Aromatherapy Oils
Aromatherapy is one of the fastest growing fields in alternative medicine, and has been around for over 6000 years, with the Greeks, Romans, and ancient Egyptians all using aromatherapy oils. The Egyptian Physician Imhotep recommended fragrant oils for bathing, massage, and for embalming their dead well over 6000 years ago.
Imhotep by the way is the Egyptian God of medicine and healing. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, used aromatherapy baths and scented massage, and used aromatic fumigations to clear Athens of the plague.
The modern era of aromatherapy came about in 1930 when the French chemist Rene Maurice Gattefosse used the term aromatherapy for the therapeutic use of essential oils.He was fascinated by the benefits of lavender oil in healing his burned hand without leaving any scars, and started to investigate the effects that other essential oils had for healing, and for their psycho-therapeutic benefits.
During World War II, the French Army surgeon Dr. Jean Valnet used essential oils as antiseptics, as antibiotics and such were obviously not easily available. Madame Marguerite Maury started prescribing essential oils as a remedy for her patients, to which she is credited with the modern use in massage, which elevated aromatherapy as a holistic therapy.It is this holistic treatment of caring for the body with pleasant smelling botanical oils such as rose, lemon, lavender and peppermint.
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Aromatherapy works best when working on both the mind and body simultaneously, and scientific studies have shown that essential oils contain chemical components that can exert specific effects on both the mind and body.
Aromatherapy actually means treatment by using scents, and there are about 150 essential oils.
Essential oils are aromatic essences extracted from plants, flowers, trees, fruits, bark, grasses and seeds, with distinctive therapeutic, psychological, and physiological properties, which can improve and prevent illnesses.
To get the maximum benefit, they should be made from all natural pure raw materials, synthetic ones do not work. Most aromatherapy oils have antiseptic properties, of which some are antiviral, anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, antidepressant and expectorant.
Essential aromatherapy oils are added to the bath or massaged into the skin, inhaled directly, or diffused to scent an entire room. When inhaled they work on the brain and nervous system, through stimulation of the olfactory nerves. Aromatherapy is used for the relief of pain, care of the skin, alleviate tension and fatigue, and invigorates the entire body; other properties of essential oils which are taken advantage of in aromatherapy, are for their stimulation, relaxation, digestive, and diuretic properties.
Aromatherapy is widely used in homes, clinics, and hospitals, for a wide variety of applications, such as pain relief for women in labour, pain relief caused by the side effects of chemotherapy which has been undergone by cancer patients, plus helping the rehabilitation of cardiac patients.
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In Japan, design engineers are incorporating aroma based systems into new buildings. In one such application, the scent of lavender and rosemary is pumped into the customer area, to calm down the waiting customers, while the perfumes from lemon and eucalyptus are used in the bank teller counters to keep the staff alert.
Studies with brain wave frequency have shown that smelling lavender increases alpha waves in the back of the head, which are associated with relaxation.
Fragrance of Jasmine increases beta waves in the front of the head, which is associated with a more alert state. Aromatherapy is particularly useful in treating stress, anxiety, psychosomatic induced problems, muscular and rheumatic pains, and digestive disorders, women's problems such as PMT and menopausal complaints, plus postnatal depression, all with a significant success rate.
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