subject: What You Should Know About Aromatherapy [print this page] Author: Paul Kramer Author: Paul Kramer
Gloriously relaxing, aromatherapy is good for stress related conditions, such as migraine, anxiety and insomnia. Digestive problems also respond well, as do muscular aches and pains, premenstrual syndrome, painful periods and menopausal problems. Aroma therapists say it is good for skin as well. The power of perfumed oils to soothe and heal has been known for thousands of years across many cultures. A French chemist, who studies the healing properties of plant oils, first used the word aromatherapy in the 1920s. There are around four hundred plant essences and each is believed to have a particular healing property. Essential oils are extracted from the flowers, leaves, seeds, roots and stalks of aromatic plants and trees by stream distillation. The oils are highly concentrated and it may take hundreds of kilograms of a plant to make just one liter of essential oil, which means the oils are expensive and soil in tiny amounts usually in small glass bottles. Essential oils are massaged into the skin or inhaled in an infusion or sprinkled in a bath. The oils enter the blood stream either through the skin or the nose, and work with nature to bring about healing. Essential oils work in two ways. When they are massaged into the skin, they reach the blood stream rapidly, and studies show they begin to affect the body in about twenty minutes. A full body massage will get the oil into the system faster than inhaling does. In addition, their heady perfume stimulates the sense of smell, which in turn affects part of the brain cell called the limbic system, which is involved in moods and emotions. Smell is the most primitive sense and most people know that long since forgotten smells, if re-encountered, can bring back a flood of memories. About the Author:
