~AROMATHERAPY~
Aromatherapy is the use of pure essential oils extracted from fragrant plants to help relieve a variety of health problems. Tradional uses of aromatherapy include assisting breathing and loosening musous secretions; healing minor cuts and insect bites; promoting relaxation and sleep; reducing pain; relieving digestive problems; and soothing muscle aches and pains. relatively new to the United States, aromatherapy has been used for thousands of years in other parts of the world, especially in the Middle East.the modern practice of aromatherapy developed primarily in the 1930's in Europe and made its way to the United States in the 1950's. Although aromatherapists speacialized in this type of therapy, you can reap the benefits on your own with some knowledge of essential oils.
Essential oils are concentrated extracts commercialy prepared from various parts of a plant, which may include the blossoms,leaves,or roots. Moat essential oils evaporate eaasily, making them highly fragrant but also making them potentially flammable. Because they are so concentrated, essential oils need to be diluted with water or carrier (or base) oil before use. They may be used singly, or some may be used in a combination to produce complementary effects.
In aromatherapy, essential oils can be used either by applying them to the skin or by inhaling them throuh the nose. When applied to the skin, essential oils are absobred into the body. Some oils have pysical effects, such as relieving swelling or fighting fungal infections. These antifinfection properties are available both in pure esssentail oils and in products made with them, such as cleansing creams and shampoos. When inhaled, the aromatic molecules of the essentail oils are thought to stimulate the olfactory merve. This sends messages to the brain's limbic system, the part of the brain that controls memory and emotion. Researchers believe that when the limbic system is stimulated, it can positively affect the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. Inhalation of essentail oils can also impact the respiratory system directly. For instanse when the essential oils from eucalyptus leaf are inhaled, they can help clear the sinusus and respiratory tract and thereby help fight upper respiratory infections.
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE SUPPORTING AROMATHERAPY:
Until very recently, medical scientists tended to scoff at the idea of armotherapy, but recent research comfirms that it has direct effect on the human brain. Scientists at the University of Maimi School of Medicine ised electroencephalogram (EEG) measurments to comfirm aromatherapy's direct effects on the braion. They found that aromatherapy with lavender causes the brain to produce more beta waves, increasing relaxation, lifting depression,and, interestingly, enabling test participants to solve math problems more accurately. They also found that aromatherapy with rosemary causes the brain to produce fewer alpha and beta waves, suggesting increased alertness, but without increased anxiety.
Other scientific studies are beginning to show how aromatherapy affects the endocrine and immune systems. For example, research at Kurume University of Japan found that aromatherapy with lemon oil helps to restore the immune systems of labortory animals during stress; researchers at the Univeristy of Alaska at Fairbanks found that aromatherapy with lavender oil accelerates recovery of the cardiovascular system after aerobic workouts; and in a study at the Univeristy of Pittsburg, reseraches found that pleasantaromas reduce the craving of cigarettes in smokers trying to quit. Other clinical studies have shown that aromatherapy can help reverse hair loss, improve the mental function of people with Alzheimer's disease and even accerate recovery from coronary bypass surgery.
APPLYING ESSENTIAL OILS TO THE SKIN
Before applying essential oil to skin, always dilute the oil first. A carrier (orbase) oil can be used for this purpose. Use a pure, unperfumed vegetable oil, such as soybean, olive, or almond oil. Chemicals in synthetic oils may interfere with the properties of the essential oil and with your body's absorptation of the oil. If you do not wish to use a carrier oil add the seential oil to an unperfimed, vegetable based lotion or skin cream.
Adults generally should use essentail oils diluted to three parts per hundred. For instances, for 1 cup (48 teaspoons) or carrier oil, add about 1 teaspoon of essenail oil. Children and people with sensitive skin should use a dilution half as strong about 1/2 teaspoon of essentail oil per 1 cup of carrier oil. The scented carrier oil then can be massaged into the skin over the affected area. Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after coming in contact with the oil before touching your eyes, as some oils can cause bruning or stinging.
Essentail oils also can be applied t the skin by mising 4 to 10 drops of the oil with 1 quart of warm or cool water, soaking a cloth in the water, and them appying the cloth as a compress, or by adding about 6 drops of the oil to a tub of warm water and saoking in the bath for atleast fifteen minutes.
INHALING ESSENTAIL OILS
The simplest way to inhale an essential oil is to sniff the undiluted oil itself. Do not allow the liquid to get into your nose. Instead, sniff the air above the oil, as you might when smelling the scent of a perfume. There are many other ways to inhale essentail oils, including the following:
* Place one drop of oil on your pillow case to smell it's scent as you sleep.
*Burn a store-bought wax candle scented with an essential oil. Note taht adding your own essentail oil to a flame is a fire hazard.
*Use a diffuser, a device that uses heat tp desperse scented molecules of essentail oil into the air.
* Spray the oil into the air. For air-freashening water sprays, add 3 drops of essentail oil to a pint-sized spray bottle full of water.
PRECAUTIONS FOR USING ESSENTAIL OILS
When using essentail oils, start slowly, gradually added jsut enough oil to achieve the level of aroma you desire. Essentail oils are usally sold in small bottles with drppers so that you can add the oil drop by drop. The concentration on essentail oils mary vary depending on the brand you choose.
Avoid prolonged use of the same essentail oil, that is, for more than one hour per day, or daily for more tham one month at a time. Prolonged use can result in developing an allergic reaction to the oil, skin reactions, or even mild toxic reactions in the liver.
Do not ingest drinks made from essential oils unless you are working with the skilled aromatherapy practictioner. Overdose of essentail oils may cause agitation, convulsions, drowsiness, nausea, or vommiting. Pregnant women and children inder the age of three should not ingest essentail oils. In almost all cases, essentail oils should be used externally, yet some flower essences may be used internally as directed on the label.
If you buy a prepared product that claims to be aromatheraputic, read the label to be sure the product actually comtains essentail oil. Some probucts are made with artifical fragrances rather than herbal oils. Artificial fragrances should never be used in defusers. Candles that contain manufactured fragrances can cause head aches.
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