The medicinal use of infused oils was borne out of ancient healing traditions that began thousands of years ago according to the International Aromatherapy and Aromatic Medicine Association. From its use in spiritual rites by ancient civilizations in India, China and Australia to its modern day application in traditional medicine, aromatherapy is a complementary and alternative treatment believed to affect your mind by way of your sense of smell. Aromatherapy should not be used in lieu of conventional medical treatment.
More About Aromatherapy
Contemporary aromatherapy was developed in 1928 by French chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, who discovered that the essential oils of various botanicals have healing properties. Fellow countrymen Jean Valnet, a surgeon, continued Gattefosse's research. The first text written on the subject, "Aromatherapie," written by Valnet, is described by the IAAMA as the "aromatherapist's Bible."
The first book about aromatherapy penned in English was the text, “The Art of Aromatherapy,” by Robert Tisserand, published in 1977. According to the National Cancer Institute, Western countries, including the United States, began to take note of aromatherapy as a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in the 1980s and 1990s.
The Sense of Smell
The essential oils used in aromatherapy are highly odiferous, and scents can be up to 70 times as potent as the plant from which they were derived, states the IAAMA. Essential oils can be extracted from numerous parts of a botanical: flowers, rinds, wood, leaves, seeds and roots. During aromatherapy, the person being treated inhales the scent of the essential oil. The olfactory cells in the nose capture the scent and translate it into an electrical impulse, which then is dispatched to the cerebral cortex–a very primitive part of the brain.
Reaction in the Brain
According to the Victorian State Government's Better Health Channel, the response to scent causes changes in your brain, perhaps by evoking a feeling associated with a specific memory. For example, a cinnamon-based scent might take you back to a time during childhood when you felt secure, happy and relaxed. The smell of a specific volatile oil or combination of oils in of themselves may effect feeling and mood.
Lavender purportedly has a sedative effect. Orange blossom is calming. Rosemary is invigorating. The cool smell of peppermint may relieve nausea according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. When working with an aromatherapist, he or she may take your medical history and ask which scents you prefer.
Aromatherapy: Common Scents
Aromatherapy can be delivered through a number of ways. For massage oil, essential oils are diluted in a carrier oil. A few drops of essential oil can be placed on a burner or in a bowl of water, after which it is inhaled. Essential oils can be used in bathwater during a long soak. Commonly used essential oils used in aromatherapy include peppermint, rosemary, sweet orange, sandalwood, tea tree and lavender according to the IAAMA. Some essential oils should never used in aromatherapy, states the Better Health Channel, including pennyroyal, wintergreen and camphor.
Aromatherapy and the FDA
Due to their potency, aromatherapy oils are neither used directly on the skin nor are they ingested or used inside of the mouth, ears or vagina. Aromatherapy may pose problems for people with asthma or frequent nose bleeds, states the Better Health Channel.
Aromatherapy cannot claim to cure or treat any medical condition or disease. It also cannot purport to affect internal changes in the body–only drugs cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can make such claims. Before you use aromatherapy as a complementary or alternative therapy for your health concerns, please speak with your treating physician.
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