Aromatherapy may be something that you’ve heard about but don’t know very much about. You may like to know more about aromatherapy so I’d like to tell you a little of the history and applications for aromatherapy.
The terms was first coined by a French chemist in 1920 and refers to the use of various naturally occurring plant substances and in particular oils distilled from plants called essential oils. The chemist was Maurice Gattefosse and he “discovered” the healing properties of essential oils following a fire in his laboratory. At the time he had a vat of lavendar oil there as he was studying the use of essential oils.
There was a fire at the laboratory and his arm was burnt, so he plunged his arm into the vat of lavender oil, experiencing immediate pain relief from the burns. Not only that but the burns healed very fast and left virtually no scarring.
Other scientist followed up on the work of Maurice Gattefosse during world war 2 when many soldiers were burnt and also experienced all sorts of other life changing wounds. Research was done into the use of essential oils on burns and various other wounds.
The art of aromatherapy under different names has been around for thousands of years. It is the art of using scents from various plant substances, now essential oils, to produce pleasant and sometimes healing effects on people with various conditions.
However it is not true that aromatherapy “cure” any disease. However the use of aromatherapy is in helping disease sufferers cope with their various diseases and to improve their mental state. Whilst this is helpful in the overall treatment aromatherapy does not cure illnesses.
It seems that there are indeed a range of psychological benefits from the beautiful scents derived from essential plant oils and these psychological benefits to assist sufferers of illnesses to cope with their disease. Whilst aromatherapy does not cure the disease it does elevate the mood, reduce fear and stress and relax disease sufferers. This helps them cope with the illness.
And in some cases aromatherapy can also help reduce a sufferers dependence on prescription drugs such as painkillers, indigestion tablets and sleeping tablets.
Particular scents have a different effect on different people. Do you find, for example, that a perfume that relaxes you that you love just doesn’t do it for your friends? Everyone has a different reaction to various scents, and so aromatherapy is a very personal thing. And many people apply the principles of aromatherapy to their lives without even knowing it. For example many use various oils, perfumes and lotions with all sorts of soothing scents in their homes because the nice smell makes them feel good. That’s aromatherapy at work.
So if you have a disease that you are confronting, and wondering about the role of aromatherapy, don’t investigate aromatherapy hoping that it will be a magic cure for all your ills. But don’t discount it either, it can do wonders for your moods and for your emotional and mental state, and these can be no less important in some cases. Aromatherapy can, and will often, make a big difference to how your illness, or the cure, progresses.
Visit my website for a book explaining all about Aromatherapy.
Tags: Perfumes