What is Aromatherapy?

Aromatherapy is a treatment using scents. It is a holistic treatment of caring for the body with pleasant smelling botanical oils such as lemon, lavender and peppermint. These essential oils are added to the bath or massaged into the skin, inhaled directly or diffused to scent an entire room. Aromatherapy is used for pain relief, skin care, tension and invigorate the entire body. Essential oils can affect mood, promote relaxation, alleviate fatigue, and reduce anxiety. When inhaled, they work on the brain and nervous system through stimulation of the olfactory nerves.

Essential oils are aromatic essences extracted from plants, flowers, trees, fruits, bark, grasses and seeds with specific therapeutic, psychological, and physiological properties, which improve and prevent illness. Some of these oils have antiseptic properties; some are antiviral, anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, antidepressant and expectorant. Other properties of the essential oils which are taken advantage of in aromatherapy are their stimulation, relaxation, digestion improvement, and diuretic properties. Syntheticall made oils do not work and in order to get the maximum benefit from essential oils, it should be made from natural, pure raw materials.

Aromatherapy is a fast growing field in alternative medicine. It is commonly used at home, clinics and in hospitals for different conditions.  It is already slowly getting into the mainstream, for example, in Japan, some engineers are incorporating aroma systems into new buildings. In one such application, the scent of lavender and rosemary is pumped into the customer area to calm down the waiting customers, while the perfumes from lemon and eucalyptus are used in the bank teller counters to keep the staff alert.