Aromatherapy – the practice of using essential oils for therapeutic benefits.
Essential oils are basically plant extracts. They are made by steaming or pressing various parts of a plant, flowers, bark, leaves or fruit, to capture the compounds that produce fragrance. In a sense, eessential oils are like produce.
Aromatherapy has been used for thousands of years in ancient cultures like Egypt, India, China and elsewhere. When inhaled, the scent molecules in essential oils travel from the olfactory nerves directly to the brain and especially impact (the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain) the limbic system, which is linked to the emotions, the heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress, and hormone balance. Thus, it can improve the health of the body, mind and spirit. It enhances both physical and emotional health.
Aromatherapy works through the sense of smell and skin absorption using products such as these:
- Diffusers
- Aromatic spritzers
- Inhalers
- Bathing salts
- Body oils, creams, or lotions for massage
- Facial steamers
- Hot and cold compresses
- Clay masks
Aromatherapy benefits:
Aromatherapy is a complementary therapy. It does not provide a cure for diseases or illnesses, but it can support conventional treatment of various conditions.
- Manage pain
- Improve sleep quality
- Reduce stress, agitation, and anxiety
- Soothe sore joints
- Treat headaches and migraines
- Alleviate side effects of chemotherapy
- Ease discomforts of labor
- Fight bacteria, virus, or fungus
- Improve digestion
- Improve hospice and palliative care
- Boost immunity
Conditions it may treat:
- Asthma
- Insomnia
- Fatigue
- Depression
- Inflammation
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Menstrual issues
- Alopecia
- Cancer
- Erectile dysfunction
- Arthritis
- Menopause