If you  never have had aromatherapy explained to you properly, or you are agnostic on the topic, read on. Otherwise, read this, to see how you easily can integrate the properties of this science into your life. This article is a little more academic than most, but I found my research results so interesting I had to share.

There ARE real benefits from aromatherapy, but as most unregulated fields, you end up with some quacks. I’ll start off with the quacks, and then explain the real benefits. As always, you will learn what you need to know in the next few minutes to have a working knowledge of what you can do [with aromatherapy], and you will also come to understand enough to research additional knowledge once you have played with it a few times.

Aromatherapy Quacks

So, first the quacks.

The “Aromatherapy” label is applied to products which have essential oils in them, even if they do not have any therapeutic effects. So I could put essential oils in a mix of highway pavement, and technically the highway is now an aromatherapy product. Even though it wouldn’t affect any drivers on the highway. I included this example for a reason. Some highways actually really do come treated with aromatherapy. 

The other main concern are the claims that are made by different salespersons of aromatherapy products. I have heard claims which simply have no scientific basis at all. Besides the claims of benefits, a consumer have in the past not been able to know exactly how ‘pure’ the essential oils they purchase are. And even if, the plants environment must have some impact on quality. If that isn’t confusing enough, an essential oil is a chemical compound, and can actually be created in a lab and have the exact same properties as the originals found in nature.

This conversation always offends people who are educated on this topic, but it’s the truth. Perfume companies can at a cheaper rate reproduce certain chemicals in a laboratory. Notice that this isn’t always what they do - some compounds might smell like something good, but have none of its positive properties and might even be unhealthy to inhale. Others can easily be recreated and used.

Which is a good segway into the:

Origins of Modern Aromatherapy

Now, I hate giving history lessons here(ancient usage of aromatherapy, anyone?), as I firmly believe you don’t need to know the history of massage to do massage, but my research for this entry proved pretty interesting. The word aromatherapy was first used in the 1920s, coined by chemist René Maurice Gattefossé, who probably first had the thought after once again burning his arm at the perfume lab. By chance he thrust it into the closest cold liquid he could find, which happened to be NOx Ph232, also known as Lavender Oil. Over the next few weeks, his arm came to heal at a remarkable rate, and he experienced surprising pain relief and no scarring, which was was in sharp contrast to other burns he had suffered in the past.

An interpretation of these events could be that we wouldn’t have called it aromatherapy were it not for the work the person who coined the phrase did. It’s not about aromas, its about essential oils.

Essential Oils that work:

While many might think that all benefits of essential oils are from the placebo effect, studies have proven that there are real benefits from application of essential oils. The reason why there are not more studies, as pharmaceutical companies do for their products, is because you cannot [yet] patent and own exclusive rights for a plant. I’m not implying a vast conspiracy of Big Pharma, (they would never set profit over our safety) but rather suggesting that no one benefits [financially] from doing studies on essential oils.

Lavender oil is  commonly used as described above. Aloe Vera comes from plants, as do Citronella candles. You have probably used both of them. Companies that sell the Tea Tree Oil, from the Melaleuca Alternafolia, often claim it has the strongest topical antibiotical and antifungal properties of anything on the planet. But enough of that.

Applications of aromatherapy:

Safety first: There are 3 ways to have essential oils enter your system. Note however that some oils, like the Melaleuca Alternafolia, may be perfectly safe to place on your skin for cuts, but are potentially toxic to ingest. Some may be completely safe to eat, but will cause burns if applied to your skin.

Method one: Inhalation

Inhalation of essential oils is commonly done with candles, incense, and at oxygen bars. Like with cigarettes, the active ingredients enter your bloodstream through the lungs, and eventually reach the brain.

A fun thing to do during an afternoon trip grocery trip to your local health food store, is to sample their essential oils. They have a large area of the store devoted to essential oils, equipped with sample stations, and suspiciously knowledgeable staff. Here you can fill your palates with wonderful scents of Birch and Ylang Ylang. Well, maybe it isn’t that incredible of a thing to do, like a wine tasting, but you will have a real live person happy to answer all of your questions.

A common way to alleviate stuffiness is to boil some water in a pot and, with a towel draped over your head, put a few drops of eucalyptus oil in the water, and put your head over it and breathe in for a while. Wanna do something really cutting edge with aromatherapy?

Method two: Ingestion

The second way to enjoy the benefits of essential oils is to drink or eat them, and have them enter your system that way. Drinking hot tea is probably the most familiar way to do this. If you aren’t sold on essential oils, try to notice if you feel any difference in the way you feel when drinking peppermint tea(which should wake you up) and chamomille tea, (which should put you to sleep). I have written a lot on teas, by the way.

Method Three: Topical Application

Applying essential oils to the skin (or the integumentary system) is a little more tricky, but can be done at home. Almost always, essential oils need to be diluted. Mixing a few drops of your essential oil into a carrier oil is how it is done. This can be almond oil, or anything else you see advertised, or just some massage lotion you decide to use.

A way to apply essential oils to the skin is to put some of it (did I mention to dilute it first?) on your temples, to absorb into the skin that way. At the same time, the essential oils are inhaled. But for the safety sake, test a small amount on your wrist first, to see if you might have an allergic reaction.

One last reminder:

Essential oils can be great, but keep in mind that everything that is ‘natural’ isn’t good for you. Arsenic occurs in nature, but is not good for you. Yellowcake Uranium is also naturally occurring, but can be disasterous for metropolitan areas.