An Introduction to Aromatherapy

The roots of aromatherapy run deep. Long before it had a name, ancient cultures were using oils derived from plants and flowers for a wide variety of purposes, from cooking and cosmetics to the religious and medicinal. While Arabian cultures and the Chinese used essential oils extensively in their day to day lives, it was the Egyptians who had the most well-developed body of knowledge when it came to aromatherapy, using it in many aspects of their lives, including the embalming techniques for which they are most widely known today.

Aromatherapy as a science really began to be established back in the 1930's, when the French chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse stumbled upon the therapeutic value of some of the oils he was working with. While at his family's perfume business one day, he burned his hand quite badly and plunged it into a vat of pure lavender oil. To his surprise, the pain and discoloration from the burn quickly dissipated, and his hand was almost completely healed within hours. Gattefosse started experimenting with different oils, and much of the work he did became the basis for the field today. Among his accomplishments: discovering that synthetic oils did not have nearly the therapeutic value of essential oils, and actually coining the phrase "aromatherapy."

But what exactly is it? Aromatherapy is the branch of alternative medicine that uses essential oils to alleviate physical, emotional and mental maladies. Essential oils are those which are derived directly from the leaves, flowers, stems, roots and other parts of herbs and plants. These are opposed to fragrance oils, which are created chemically in a lab. These essential oils can be very complex, composed of hundreds of different constituent parts.

The oils themselves are used in a number of different ways. One way is to combine them with carrier oils (used to dilute and "carry" essential oils into the skin) and then massage them directly into the skin. The more direct method is simply to inhale them. When breathed in, properties in the oils travel directly to the brain, where they trigger neurochemical reactions that can help you relax, stimulate you or enable other therapeutic responses. Our sense of smell is the most direct link to our subconscious and can help to trigger memories or encourage a wide range of emotional or physiological responses, not all of them positive. For example, some essential oils to avoid during pregnancy include angelica, myrrh and ginseng.

There are some 300 essential oils out there that are used in everything from medicines and foods to cosmetics. They are usually "collected" from plants and flowers in one of two ways: either through steam distillation or cold pressing. The amount of work that goes into the collection process, as well as the quality of the oil (which is determined by such things as how the plant was grown, the weather during the growth cycle, etc.), can greatly influence the final cost for the oil. For example, it takes six pounds of lavender to make one ounce of oil, and 300 pounds of roses to make the same amount. On one site we recently visited, lavender oil was selling for $8 for five ml, while five ml of rose oil was a stunning $173.

Despite the cost (or perhaps, in part, because of it… have you priced a doctor's visit lately?), aromatherapy has enjoyed a burst of popularity over the past couple of decades as people turn more and more to natural medicine to ease their maladies.

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