According to the US Government National Cancer Institute:
Aromatherapy is the therapeutic use of essential oils (also known as volatile oils) from plants (flowers, herbs, or trees) for the improvement of physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.
- Aromatherapy is used by patients with cancer primarily as supportive care for general well-being.
- Aromatherapy is used with other complementary treatments (e.g., massage and acupuncture) as well as with standard treatments for symptom management.
- The effects of aromatherapy are theorized to result from the binding of chemical components in the essential oil to receptors in the olfactory bulb, impacting the brain’s emotional center, the limbic system. Topical application of aromatic oils may exert antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effects.
- Functional imaging studies in humans support the influence of odors on the limbic system and its emotional pathways.
- Aromatherapy research with cancer patients has studied the effect of essential oils on anxiety, nausea, vomiting, and other health-related conditions.
- Aromatherapy practice supports the body’s healing processes related to cancer treatment side effects in areas such as:
- digestion
- stress
- heightened emotions
- energy
- detoxification
- sleep
- cognitive function (to clear away the “fog”)
Used as a healing technique for thousands of years by the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, essential oils aid in relaxation, improve circulation, and help the healing of wounds.
Essential oils are the fragrant (aromatic) part found in many plants, often under the surface of leaves, bark, or peel. The fragrance is released if the plant is crushed or a special steam process is used.
There are many essential oils used in aromatherapy, including those from Roman chamomile, geranium, lavender, tea tree, lemon, ginger, cedarwood, and bergamot. Each plant’s essential oil has a different chemical make-up that affects how it smells, how it is absorbed, and how it affects the body.
Essential oils are very concentrated. For example, it takes about 220 pounds of lavender flowers to make about 1 pound of essential oil. The aroma of essential oils fades away quickly when left open to air.
The chemical compounds in essential oils can change as they get older. Many essential oils do not have an expiration date.
Specific essential oils are blended by the aromatherapist and added to a carrier oil, such as almond oil, to be used during the massage. Each oil has its own unique characteristics and benefits. Aromatherapy diffusers are utilized to fill the massage room with the scent of the oils.
Aromatherapy is used in several ways.
- Indirect inhalation: The patient breathes in an essential oil by using a room diffuser, which spreads the essential oil through the air, or by placing drops on a tissue or piece of cotton nearby.
- Direct inhalation: The patient breathes in an essential oil by using an individual inhalermade by floating essential oil drops on top of hot water.
- Massage: In aromatherapy massage, one or more essential oils is diluted into a carrier oiland massaged into the skin.
Essential oils may also be mixed with bath salts and lotions or applied to bandages.
Use of this technique declined as the modern pharmaceutical industry developed. However, the French chemist Gattefossé revived the art by coining the term aromatherapy and by publishing a book on the subject in 1928. Click here to find an Aromatherapy practitioner.
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