Aromatherapy - Definition and Overview

Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils, absolutes, carrier oils and other fragrances from plants to affect someone's mood or health, and is commonly associated with alternative medicine.

One of the best known essential oils for aromatherapy is lavender, which is recommended by practitioners for treating wounds, to enhance memory and to aid sleep by combating anxiety and insomnia. Other popular scents include eucalyptus, rose, jasmine and bergamot.

While pleasant scents can make a room a nicer place to be in and therefore relaxing, lowering stress and related effects, there is no scientific basis at all for aromatherapy or any form of proof it does anything other than make a room smell nice. There are some that give a form of relief for the airways when having a cold or the flu, such as most citrus-based essential oils. While there is no scientific proof that essential oils cure diseases, many people have found great success in their usage.

Some essential oils have been shown to have effects on the nervous system, other parts of the body, or bacteria. Rosemary and ylang-ylang have opposite effects on alpha brain waves. Tea tree and leleshwa oils kill a wide variety of microbes, and sandalwood oil kills certain bacteria at lower concentrations. Plai oil (a species of ginger) is useful for treating joint pain.

References

• Smell Research by Tim Jacob: Aromatherapy - does it work? (http://www.cf.ac.uk/biosi/staff/jacob/teaching/sensory/olfactres.html#aromatherapy)
• Essential Oil University (http://www.essentialoils.org/)
• Avraham Sand on Aromatherapy Principles and Practice (http://www.tiferetonline.com)