Aromatherapy has been around in various guises for thousands of years and has been used in everything from religious ceremonies to just plain making the cave smell better. It must have been important as two of the three wise men brought Jesus frankincense and myrrh as presents.
Our Aromatherapy pages will tell you about the secrets of lavender oil, aromatherapy and the menopause, how to heal a broken heart, how to choose the right essential oils, how to use essential oils, different ways to change your moods, essential oils and massage and a whole lot more.
Although the use of aromas has been used widely and for a long time, it was an accident in 1910, which led a French chemist, Réné Gattefossé to put aromatherapy onto its modern footing. Whilst experimenting in his laboratory he burnt his hand and luckily for us, he covered the affected area with lavender oil. He was so amazed at the way the oil calmed the redness and rapidly healed his hand that he decided to investigate the properties of other plant oils.
The research was taken a step further by another Frenchman, Dr Jean Valnet, who had seen, at first hand, the efficacy of essential oils in treating wounded soldiers in the First World War. It was through his efforts that the idea of using essentials oils in medical treatments was taken up by mainstream medical practitioners and is still used today by some French doctors.
How does it work?
Smell has always been an important sense which is why many of the larger supermarkets have brought in ovens to bake bread on the premises, that delicious aroma wafting around will encourage us to buy more. When selling your house it is advised to make some real coffee as the smell will make potential buyers look more favourably on your property and perhaps you have suddenly been transported back to a happy memory, just by getting the whiff of a particular scent, new mown grass or the scent of strawberries.
The scent is carried in the air and inhaled; it reaches the many millions of olfactory (smell) receptors in the olfactory bulb, which then send messages to the limbic system in the brain which is a set of complex structures just below the cerebellum which are responsible for amongst other things, emotions, instincts, mood and memory. These messages are then responsible for the release of different neuro-transmitters which produce the responses to the different smells.
The effects of essential oils can be broadly placed into three different areas, euphoric, sedative and antiseptic and some can fall into more than one category. The most well know essential oil is probably lavender which is effective in relieving stress.
There are several different ways of extracting oil from plants, cold pressing and distillation being amongst them. It is notable that the chemical composition may vary depending on how the oil has been extracted. There may even be a difference in the composition, depending on where the plants are grown.
Although essential oils can be used alone, they are usually too strong and should be mixed with carrier oil such as almond if they are used on the skin.
As with anything containing chemicals, even though they are natural, some people may experience an allergic reaction so always test any new oil on a small area of the skin before using it.
There are many commercially available bath and shower products available that are advertised with different aromas, not all contain the actual plant essence but have the smell chemically produced so while pleasant to use will not bear any relation to the real thing.
© Ian Richards 2006
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