Aromatherapy

Improve Your Health with Aromatherapy  

Aromatherapy, a term created in 1920, involves the use of essential oils that are compounds in their purist state. The oils are concentrated liquids derived from plants through a variety of means: distillation, solvent extraction or expression processing. And the resulting oils are then used as treatment for a variety of ailments and healing.

Aromatherapy was actually coined because of Mr. Rene Maurice Gattefosse. While he was conducting research about how oils might aid healing, his arm caught fire and subsequently poured lavender oil onto it by accidental, which in turn caused the arm to heal faster, leaving no scar.   Since that time, many have delved into how aromatherapy can help with physical and emotional healing.

Popular Uses

Some common uses for aromatherapy oils are as scents for homes and offices to help trigger relaxing feelings from occupants and to also help get rid of unwanted smells and germs. For example, lighting candles and burning wax chips made with aromatherapy oils can help rid a kitchen of smelly fried onion and other food smells.

A light fragrance can help welcome people home after a long day at the office. Popular scents are bergamot, eucalyptus, lavender, jasmine and rose.

Some of the oils can help fight bacteria, like lavender oil.  And others, like camphor and menthol can help increase your metabolism and endocrine system, improve your central nervous system and boost your immune system to fight colds.

Other aromatherapy oils are used for massage treatments, too. Absorbed by the skin and muscles, the oils activate thermal receptors that result in warm relaxing feelings and calmness in the muscle groups.

And still other aromatherapy oils are used as topical aids to aid in the destruction of microbes and other fungi; the oils are simply applied to the skin. And other oils are taken internally where they can help improve antiseptic activity, stimulate your immune system and work as a diuretic aid.

Safety Precautions

When deciding about the uses of aromatherapy for your ailments and healing, use the following guidelines as precautionary measures:

·         Pure essential aromatherapy oils can be very strong and harmful to animals, children and you. So check labels carefully before using aromatherapy products, and consult your healthcare provider if needed. And do not use in pure oils undiluted on your skin.

·         Do not use aromatherapy oils if you are pregnant, or have epilepsy or asthma.

·         Test the ingredients and sample a drop or two first to check for allergic reactions.

Only use aromatherapy oils in small amounts as they can cause burning of the eyes and other negative reactions