Aromatherapy has been used as a means of alternate medicine for thousands of years. Records show that it was used to treat various ailments in Ancient Egypt, China and India as long as 2,000 years ago. While it is unsure exactly how aromatherapy works, it has been proven to help ease certain aches and pains, treat anxiety and other mood problems and is still a popular treatment option for many illnesses to this day.
Aromatherapy is the use of extracted plant oils for treatment of various ailments. These oils can be inhaled or massaged into the skin. It was not until the early 20th century that the term "aromatherapy" was used to describe the healing effects plant oils had on the body. A French chemist by the name of Ren?-Maurice Gattefoss? discovered the healing power of essential oils in their raw form when he suffered a severe burn during an accident. It was not until Gattefoss? accidentally caught his arm on fire while working and instinctively dipped it into a vat of lavender oil that he discovered the healing powers of essential oils. The burn healed at an amazing pace and left no scar. Before the incident, Gattefoss? had only used essential oils for aromatic purposes. He later wrote a book about the healing powers of aromatherapy, which is still in print today.
Essential oils can be extracted from several parts of plants, including petals of flowers, roots and leaves. Essential oils used for aromatherapy are very precious. For example, it takes approximately 440 pounds of fresh lavender petals to extract about two and a half pounds of lavender essential oil. This makes pure essential oils quite expensive, but some say it is well worth it.
Different plant oils have different effects on the body. For example, Roman chamomile can be used to treat the symptoms of allergies, while spike lavender is commonly used to treat backaches. However, some oils have many different healing affects on the body. Peppermint oil can be used to treat several ailments, including coughs, constipation, congestion, fever, indigestion and many more. Many different oils can be used for many ailments. If you are looking for a certain kind of oil for a specific ailment, ask an aromatherapist which essential oils work best for that specific problem. You can also find useful information on aromatherapy and its uses from various book and from the Internet.
Many skeptics believe that aromatherapy has retained its popularity because of the belief that it works, rather than believing that it actually has some medicinal affect on the body and mind. When inhaled, certain essential oils have healing affects on the mind and spirit. It is popularly used to treat emotional problems, such as anxiety, depression and mood swings. When massaged into the skin, these oils can have different affects. Some are used to treat muscle aches and pains, while others are used to treat common stomach complaints. Some oils can even be ingested, but it is not recommended that you drink essential oil. Some oils are used in the production of prescription medicines and can be ingested that way.
The use of essential oils for medicinal purposes is regarded as somewhat of a joke throughout most of the United States. It is often used as a complementary treatment along with prescription drugs to treat various illnesses. However, in France, where the practice or aromatherapy originated, essential oils are prescribed by physicians for various health problems and complaints.
