Aromatherapy

Archive for October, 2006

Pregnancy is both a wonderful time and an also a time for stress and apprehension. Aromas have a powerful effect on our bodies and can influence our emotional state. Aromatherapy roughly translates as “treatment with scents.” It is the practice of using essential oils as a therapy to go with the program your doctor has you on. It heals and uplifts the mind, body, and spirit. Aromatherapy can be a great benefit throughout pregnancy and during birth.

Can aromatherapy help you to have an easier pregnancy and birth? It can be safe if used in moderation and only after the first trimester. During pregnancy, our sense of smell is heightened so what would normally smell good to us, may be excessively strong during pregnancy.

Aromatherapy uses many different methods to get the essential oils into the body. A massage with essential oils in carrier oil is one of the most popular but other methods are baths, vaporizers, inhalations, and scented compresses.

A massage from a knowledgeable therapist can be done after first consulting with the client’s doctor. Gentle massaging or stroking the back and the legs can help ease them through this emotionally and physically demanding time. It is important that you use only half the essential oils as for a normal person. The therapist should be sure the client is comfortable, never making her lie on her front. She can lie on her side with her legs drawn up and a pillow under her knees that will make her comfortable. On the other hand, she can use pillows and lean forward on the therapist couch or table.

All essential oils should be diluted in carrier oils, creams, or lotions for massages. It is important to remember that during pregnancy you should use half of what a normal adult would use, whether it’s in a bath or a massage, or even in the air.

Some essential oils should not be used during pregnancy at all and are considered a health risk. These oils should not be used during pregnancy: thyme, rosemary, rose, peppermint, origanum, parsley, myrrh, lemongrass, marjoram, basil, cedarwood, fennel, juniper, clary sage, cypress, and jasmine. During the first trimester if you are using aromatherapy at all, it’s important you avoid chamomile and lavender. After the first trimester, they may be used and are helpful.

Citrus oils such as orange, lemon, and grapefruit are considered safe to use during pregnancy and have an uplifting affect on the body. Don’t use them before being exposed to direct sunlight because it could cause skin discoloration.

A therapist can be helpful while giving a gentle massage for poor circulation problems, backache, apprehension, and water retention, all which are common during the last two trimesters of pregnancy.

Another word of caution is that aromatherapy and massages should not be given during pregnancy if the patient has had prior miscarriages or other complications during pregnancy. If she has experienced any bleeding, she should not be treated with massage or aromatherapy. Varicose veins, high blood pressure may suggest different complications and should be treated by the client’s doctor or midwife. A well-known medical saying used by nurses and doctors alike is “First, do no harm.”

Essential oils and aromatherapy can also be used safely during labor. Jasmine is warm, fragrant and has antispasmodic and analgesic properties. Lavender is an antiseptic and is great for aching back and limbs. Geranium helps breathing and is good for circulation. Ylang Ylang is calming and lowers blood pressure during a stressful time.

Aromatherapy can be an important part of having an easier pregnancy. It should not be used during the first trimester. Stay away from the oils that are listed above as harmful to pregnancy. The same calming scents you use during your time of labor can also be helpful to your birth partner. Remember, use essential oils with caution during pregnancy, and consult someone who is a professional in this area.

Aromatherapy and therapeutic massage can be good for pregnancy, especially as a means of relaxation. Relieving stress and being able to enjoy this special time in your life is one area that aromatherapy will help. So relax, enjoy this period of your life, and get all the rest you can. You may not be able to get much rest after the baby is born.

Aromatherapy uses essential oils extracted from natural plants and the term means “treatment using scents.” Using botanical oils such as rose, lemon, lemon, and peppermint can change your mood, ease fatigue, promote relaxation, and relieve stress. Aromatherapy has been used for over 6000 years, but the term was not used until 1930 when the word was coined for the therapeutic use of essential oils. A French chemist was fascinated after using lavender oil in healing his burned hands. The healed hand didn’t have any scars. He started experimenting the use of other essential oils for healing and for the psychological benefits.

During World War II, the essential oils were found to have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and pain relieving abilities. They work on the brain by stimulating the olfactory nerves. These oils can be extracted from plants, flowers, trees, fruits, bark seeds, and grasses. In total, there are about 150 different essential oils. They can be used to stimulate your body, help with digestion, used as an antidepressant and expectorant. The maximum benefit is from using oils extracted from pure raw materials. Synthetically made oils are not effective as their all-natural counterparts.

Aromatherapy is one of the fastest growing alternative medicine fields. It is used in homes, clinics, and hospitals and even in some shopping malls and waiting rooms. The scent of lavender and rosemary can calm waiting customers and patients.

How can you reap the benefits of these scent treatments in your home? One of the easiest ways can be in your bath. Aromatherapy works best when working on the body and mind at the same time. Adding essential oils to your bath can do just that. The oils in your bath can stimulate your sense of smell. Odors have a known impact on how we feel. Some scents can remind us of happy events in our childhood, such as the smell of vanilla from a fresh baked batch of sugar cookies. The smell of a campfire can bring back unpleasant memories of a camp you didn’t enjoy as a child. We can distinguish 10,000 different smells. By placing essential oils in our bath, we are reaping the benefits from both the scent of the oils and the soothing quality of the oils being absorbed into the skin.

A hot and relaxing bath using essential oils can calm stressed bodies, ease tired muscles, and allow you to meditate and think about the many blessings in your life. A few essential oils in a hot, steamy bath can bring you a new enjoyment into an otherwise boring bath time. Meditation, thinking, calming your body, clearing your mind, and concentrating on yourself makes a bath a treat for body, mind, and spirit.

When you use essential oils in your bath can soothe and refresh you and help you sleep better. Essential oils can be useful in treating acne and other skin ailments. Soothing the skin and allowing the natural oils to slowly penetrate and soften your skin, you can relieve itching and soreness on your skin.

Another advantage to a hot soothing bath with natural oils is what it can do for your mind. It relieves stress and other nerve disorders by naturally calming our bodies, and opening our minds. You can create a more stable mental state by allowing the oils to feel calmer and stronger. Some of the oils are considered help in furthering romance. A few drops can help you and your spouse to relax enough to enjoy a healthy, passionate time of intimacy. This is another known stress reliever.

Fragrant bath salts or bubble baths are not the same as using essential oils. They may form bubbles and make you feel good, but the therapeutic benefits are not included in this experience. Essential oils can help you enjoy your bath, by feeling the warm water, smelling the wonderful scents and knowing the oil is seeping into your body.

Your skin gets a layer of pure essential oils; vapors rising from the hot water enter your olfactory system as well as your lungs. It calms the mind, and help put problems into perspective. If you haven’t tried this wonderful at home treatment, why not buy some essential oils and enjoy a new experience while taking a bath.

Aromatherapy is a safe, natural, proven way in which to boost your immune system. For thousands of years people have been using essential oils for exactly that. There are many essential oils for you to choose from which will help protect your immune system.

This article will talk about stress and the immune system. Stress is a major culprit in the breakdown of the immune system. Today who doesn’t have stress in their lives? A little stress can be good but when it gets to be too much your body will tell you. If you pay attention, you can tell when you’re going too many directions at one time.

How does stress break down your immune system? When you experience something stressful your body secretes a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is helpful in small doses because it helps you to react in dangerous situations. But the system is set up so that once the danger is gone, that same hormone can help your body restore homeostasis. If there is prolonged stress, the cortisol level doesn’t have a chance to return to a lesser amount.

Too much cortisol in your blood for an extensive period of time will lower the immunity responses in your body. The first step in using aromatherapy to boost your immune system is to help yourself relax. Essential oils that are known for their ability to decrease stress and promote relaxation are: tea tree oil, chamomile, and lavender. You can heat the oils to fill the room with the vapors, put them into the bath and soak, or you can use the oil for massage.

Using essential oils for massage will benefit you three different ways. Massage is good for circulation and to help relax you, as you inhale the vapors of the essential oils you will feel your anxiety lifted away, and your skin will get nourished as well.

Skin is the first and most important barrier that keeps infection out of the bloodstream. Take care of it because it you don’t you may have a break down of your body’s first line of defense. Tea tree oil is a common essential oil used for skin care. But there are so many out there to choose from that you should find which one would work best for your skin type. Use the oil to steam, massage, or wash your face; soak in a bath; or use as a spritzer and it will help strengthen your skin’s defense.

Popular for its reputation as being the most powerful natural antiseptic, is tea tree oil. It can be used to treat acne, warts, boils, burns, athlete’s foot and vaginal infections. Because of weakening of the immune system, many people that are positive for HIV develop thrush (a yeast infection in the mouth and throat). A lot of times the thrush is resistant to the antibiotics. But because tea tree oil is often able to kill these resistant fungi and bacteria many patience have been able to use it as an alternative medication.

Frankincense is another essential oil that is known for the ability to protect against bacteria. Back in ancient cultures frankincense was often burning in temples or churches. With so many people so close to one another infections and viruses can spread quickly. One reason that frankincense was used was because of its ability to fight against viruses and bacteria and support the people’s immune systems.

When your immune system has taken a crash and you’ve gotten a cold, cough, sore throat, upset stomach, laryngitis or flu there are essential oils that can help you get rid of the ailment. Tea tree oil is proven to work for each of these ailments. Peppermint essential oil will help you get rid of your upset stomach.

Aromatherapy can help boost your immune system in more than one way. You can use is as preventative medicine all the time or when you get sick or feel like you’re getting sick, get out the essential oils. Any way that you choose to practice aromatherapy be safe and remember what role stress plays in the weakening of your immune system.

Aromatherapy is a great natural way to relax and relieve stress and tension. It also will help with certain health problem. Aromatherapy is used to go with any treatment your Doctor has prescribed. Diffusion is spreading the scent of the natural oils throughout a room or any area. There are several ways to use diffusers to circulate the scent of healing oils through your home, or a particular space.

Some simple diffusion methods are useful but have their advantages and disadvantages. Placing three or four drops of oil on a tissue and leaving it near you is a simple diffusion method. Any movement in the room can cause the scent to be released from the tissue. It is helpful to use this method because it is portable and can be used anywhere. The disadvantage is that it doesn’t send much aroma out into the room.

There is steam diffusion that is effective as well. Drop up to 10 drops of oil in a bowl of steaming, boiled water. The steam will quickly spread the aroma throughout the room. The disadvantage is that heating may destroy the parts of the oils that have the most therapeutic value and are not as effective as cold-air diffusion methods.

Lamp rings are another effective ways of spreading aromatic oil throughout the room as well. Made from terra cotta they have a groove around the ring that holds the oil as it sits on a light bulb. They are usually inexpensive, but can cause a light bulb to break if some of the oil accidentally falls on it. Again, the heat can reduce the therapeutic value of the oils.

Clay pot diffusers also are made from terra cotta. The oil is put into the container and then a stopper is placed on top. The container absorbs the oils and spreads the aroma throughout the room. Aroma is usually strongest when the oil is placed in the pot and lessens every day. You may also buy fan diffusers, electric heat diffusers, and nebulizers for use in spreading aroma throughout the room.

Electric or battery ran fan diffusers have their advantages in that it uses a small fan to blow the aroma into the air. The oil is usually put on a disposable pad and the fan blows across this pad to diffuse the oils throughout a whole room. They are usually portable because you can use them with batteries. Also available are electric heat diffusers will spread the oil aroma throughout a large room, but as with other heat methods, it can reduce the therapeutic benefit of aromatic oils.

A candle diffuser is different in that it uses a tea light candle or any other candle to heat the oil and promote the diffusion into the room. A candle diffuser is normally made from ceramic or metal. It has a place for a candle and a small bowl or tray in which you place the drops of oils. You can buy candle diffusers in various colors and shapes and can be bought to go with the decor of your home.

There are some advantages and disadvantages to candle diffusers. The advantages are they can be inexpensive and you don’t need either batteries or electricity to run it. If you love candles and have ones that are scented already, this could be what you’re looking for. Another advantage is the aroma is light and isn’t overpowering in the room.

There are some disadvantages to candle diffusers or using candles in general. Another disadvantage is that you must be sure to keep replacement candles. In addition, it could be an advantage but also a disadvantage by only putting out a light aroma. It will not usually diffuse a whole room. As with other heat-generated diffusers, the heat may alter or destroy ingredients in the oils that have the most therapeutic benefit.

For those of you who prefer the ambience of candlelight and have candles lit to enhance mood most of the time, the candle diffuser would be the obvious choice. Keeping candles handy isn’t anything to worry about if you already collect and use decorative candles and tea lights. Candle diffusers are wonderful and give you the best of both worlds, the ambience of candle light and the benefits of aromatherapy.

Increasingly, aromatherapy is one of the most fashionable types of alternative medicine in the world today. Perhaps one of the reasons it is so popular is that it is quite helpful for a number of different applications. In the world of medicine, there are a number of different applications. Women use it to ease labor pains on a regular. You don’t have to be sick to benefit from aromatherapy, though. It can simply help you to focus your mind. It can improve your memory, improve your mood, it can even invigorate you after a long night. Making your own essential oil combinations can help you to take your daily aromatherapy rituals one step further.

If you intend to make essential oil combinations of your own, you must first understand a number of things related to essential oils. First, essential oils are classified according to notes. Top notes, on a general basis, are essential oils that tend to evaporate rather quickly. For the most part, essential oils that are classified as top notes tend to have anti-viral properties. Top notes are almost always quite fresh. They usually have properties that make them seem uplifting. They are also lighter scents than most. If you go to purchase essential oils that have been classified as top notes, they are usually quite inexpensive. They act very quickly. They usually have very little substance, and the first whiff of a top note essential oil will give you a good impression of the oil itself. Top notes do not last as long as some others. Middle notes tend to be most helpful in giving a sense of body to whatever essential oils blend they are being used in. They do a good job of balancing the blends, which is one of the reasons they are so popular.

For the most part, when you go to smell an essential oils blend, the middle notes will not always hit you at once. It may take a few minutes before you even notice them in any essential oils blend. Middle notes are warmer style fragrances. They have soft overtones that make them perfect for blending. Essential oils that are called base notes tend to be heavier than any other notes. They have a very solidified scent. Base notes stay present for a much longer period of time than any other oil, and they can truly help to slow down the level of evaporation most other essential oils experience. These are very intense experiences. Their rich nature tends to be relaxing for most, and they also tend to be the most expensive of all aromatherapy essential oils. In order to achieve a perfect scent balance, there are several things you should keep in mind. Remember that top notes hit hard to begin with, but leave quickly. Try balancing them evenly with a blend of middle notes and base notes. Remember that you want your final blend to be emotionally enjoyable.

You can start your first essential oils blending experience by choosing a combination of essential oils that you like and use on a regular basis. It is important to remember to choose at least one top note, one middle note, and one base note. While you can just choose a combination of scents that you think would work well together, if you are unsure about these kinds of things, stick with the basic notes formula. It will be a process of experimentation and learning no matter what you do at this stage. Grab a small glass jar for your next step. Dip a cotton swab into the first essential oil. Put it in your glass jar. Do this again for each essential oil that you have chosen. Don’t forget to write them down as you add them. Once you have placed all of your swabs in one jar, leave it for a few minutes. Come back and smell it. Does it work for you? If so, you are ready to put the lid on the jar and leave it for several hours. Open it and smell it again. If you still like it, you are ready to blend the oils. Once you have blended equal parts of each essential oil in an airtight container, put the lid on it and leave it for at least forty-eight hours. When you reopen the jar, you will have the scent you created.