Aromatherapy - Theory And Application

Aromatherapy is a rather loosely used term for different healing methods using plant-based essential oils

. Its main description would be that aromatherapy is one of many alternative medical applications using essential oils and other aromatic compounds to improve health and well-being. Though, the use of aromatherapy to improve health, and even medical conditions that are generally healed through modern medicine, is thought of by its critics as more of a wishful method than a scientific one.

Although critics site that there is no scientific evidence supporting aromatherapies claims, in fact, scientific evidence of its healing powers is growing. Studies are now acknowledging that aromatherapy is effective in making a person feel good even though it is still hard to come by evidence that it heals beyond a temporary "fix". Still, the theory of aromatherapy is strongly based upon twentieth century scientific findings.

Aromatherapies effectiveness begins with the use of essential oils with a specific composition that recovers lighter phytomolocules. The word phytomolocues is derived from the word phytoncides that was coined in 1937 by a Russian Biochemist. He discovered that various species of plants, like some spices, oak, and pine trees, contain Phytoncides that work by preventing attacking organisms form growing on them. In many Asian countries, such as Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, people commonly take part in "forest bathing" to aromatically breathe in plant phytoncides to improve their health. Aromatherapies scientific roots work by the same means. Inhaling such phytoncides from specific plant compounds, or essential oils, is suppose to inhibit the growth of attacking organisms in the human body, therefore healing it or helping the body to feel relief for a time.

Although aromatherapy is based on the use of plants, scientific proof of its effectiveness on healing the human body has been harder to prove. However, drolls of aromatherapy advocates still lay claim to its healing powers every year. In addition, the market for aromatherapy products, practitioners, and its application in medicine is steadily growing. This could be a result of people seeking alternative medicine as modern medical prices skyrocket and appear ineffectual or it could be construed as a nod to the effectiveness of aromatherapy as more individuals are educated on its uses.

Aromatherapy has also progressed into a wide array of methods. While it is by nature an inhaled therapy, the way a person inhales it is varied by personal preference and therapeutic use. Essential oils can be absorbed through the skin during a therapeutic massage, distributed into the air by candlelight, or specific essential oils that are safe to digest can be drank and digested. Depending on how essential oils are applied, the active phytoncides in them work differently. When they are inhaled they activate the emotional centers of our brain, when they are applied onto our skin they can be effective at destroying attacking microbes in an unhealthy body, and when essential oils are digested internally they can stimulate and strengthen our immune defenses.

For now, while the scientific community continues to research the effectiveness of aromatherapy on healing the human body, aromatherapy continues to be a popular method of alternative medicine. Even without solid and conclusive medical proof, individuals continue to preach its healing and even preventative capabilities through personal experience with its healing powers.

by: JD Hoopes

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