Ayurveda and aromatherapy are two alternative healing approaches sometimes used in the treatment of a wide variety of ailments. While aromatherapy focuses on the use of substances called essential oils, ayurveda is a complete healing system and philosophy used for thousands of years in India, and involves the combined use of mental, physical and spiritual treatment components.
Ayurveda
Ayurveda, also called ayurvedic medicine, is one of the oldest healing systems on the planet, according to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, or NCCAM. Ayurvedic practitioners seek to promote well-being and prevent disease by helping to balance both physical and mental aspects of your day-to-day health. Traditionally, ayurveda contains eight separate treatment branches, which can be classified roughly as psychiatry, internal medicine, toxicology, sexual vitality, head and neck disease, surgery, elderly rejuvenation and a combined approach to obstetrics, gynecology and pediatrics. In the United States, ayurvedic techniques are typically used to augment standard medical care.
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy also has an ancient history, and involves the use of fragrant essential oils to improve a person's physical health or alter his emotional state, according to the American Cancer Society. These oils are derived from various plant materials, including bark, leaves, seeds, blossoms and peels. Plant species used in the extraction of essential oils include rosemary, eucalyptus, rosemary, marjoram, peppermint, chamomile, lemon, jasmine and geranium. You may administer aromatherapy oils yourself or seek treatments from a variety of practitioners, including psychologists, chiropractors and massage therapists. In some cases, you may inhale these oils with the help of diffusers or humidifiers. In other cases, they may be applied to your skin by themselves or with substances designed to facilitate their absorption.
Ayurveda Effects
The University of Maryland Medical Center, or UMMC, lists common types of ayurvedic treatments that include herbal medicines, topical application of herbal oils, breathing exercises, purification through sweat or bowel movements, breathing exercises, yoga and the use of repeated meditative phrases or chants. These treatments are designed to balance energies related to basic body function, body metabolism and growth. According to ayurvedic principles, disruptions in these various energies can trigger or worsen disease processes. In Western terms, potential benefits of these treatments include stress relief, improvements in healing times, anti-aging and antioxidant effects and reductions in anxiety, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Aromatherapy Effects
Aromatherapy may gain its effects from physical interactions with hormones and enzymes in your bloodstream, or by triggering changes in your brain's storage centers for memory and emotions, the UMMC reports. Potential general benefits of treatment include pain relief, mood enhancement and increased relaxation, as well as fear and anxiety relief in women undergoing childbirth. Use of aromatherapy may also increase the benefits of traditional treatments for depression.
Considerations
When ayurveda is not administered by a trained practitioner, many of its herbal or physical treatments can cause harm or interact adversely with prescribed medications, the NCCAM reports. Use of aromatherapy can pose significant risks for pregnant women, asthmatics and individuals with allergies, high blood pressure or tumors that thrive on estrogen, the UMMC notes.
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