Essential Oils in Aromatherapy

Medicine has made wonderful advances. There is a negative side however: waiting lists, under-funding, and doctors and nurses who are overworked and stressed. Because of this negative side there is a growing movement back to alternative health. This is a more holistic approach, for both mind and body.

Complementary Medicine uses natural remedies and treatments from a variety of sources and pays much more attention to the mind and energy of the body than does modern medicine. Far from being new, these are refined versions of skills first used in ancient civilizations.

Big business is starting to become interested too, reasoning that a relaxed work force is a more efficient one, hence the appearance of on site gyms and the availablility of massages. Some Japanese companies actually scent the air conditioning with lemon to reduce stress and typing errors! Aromatherapy, which uses natural plant oils called Essential Oils is an important part of this movement.

Being curious a friend of mine wanted to learn more about Aromatherapy and she booked herself a session with a neighbor.  Jane is one of many nurses who have left nursing to gain qualifications in alternative therapies, in this case as a Clinical Aromatherapist.

Jane explained that she used pure Aromatherapy Essential Oils, often administered by massage, in order to work the therapeutic oils into the skin and the blood stream.  Sometimes, patients are asked to simply inhale the oils or have them in the form of compresses, or in baths. Jane mixes her own essential oils, carefully blending a mixture appropriate to the needs of the patient.

My friend was looking forward to my massage she was suffering from sciatica and found the Ylang, Lavender, and Lemon very soothing.

There is evidence of Aromatherapy being practiced in many early civilizations and it is now enjoying a comeback, even being used in hospitals. It is found to relieve stress, depression and helps to control pain.  It's also used to treat skin problems and to reduce the effects of disease.  

Just as in modern medicine and herbal medicine the various types of Aromatherapy Essential Oils have different qualities. For example, lavender is a sedative and rosemary is a stimulant.  

Jane still finds time to treat residents in a local nursing home, on a voluntary basis.  Elderly people, often lonely and depressed, enjoy the physical contact of massage. Jane has succeeded in alleviating the pain of arthritis and the aggression sometimes associated with Alzheimers disease.

One aggressive patient recognized the smell of roses, so Jane used a rose and lavender bath and put lavender on her pillow. After eight massages using a lavender cream mix, she was noticeably less aggressive, and staff at the nursing home continue to apply the lavender cream. Jane told me that so many illnesses are triggered by stress and that's why Aromatherapy Essential Oil is so effective.    

Jane has a good working relationship with doctors in the area, and always obtains their permission when treating their patients in nursing homes. Jane stressed that anyone seeking treatment should check that the therapist is fully qualified. This advice, of course, applies to any form of therapy.

Aromatherapy is perfectly safe in the right hands, but could be harmful if an unqualified person were to use unsuitable oils, for example some essential oils would not be suitable for epileptics and women in the first four months of pregnancy should not be treated.

So is this a panacea for the strains of modern life?  Practitioners are careful not to make claims to cure, only to help.  Different treatments can work in tandem with orthodox medicine and are encouraged to do so, especially in the case of serious disorders.

Just as it is foolhardy to cut down our natural world which may cradle the cure for cancer or aids, we must not destroy ideas but explore them and that includes the use of Essential Oil Aromatherapy.