AROMATHERAPY
Aromatherapy is the use of natural and high quality plant essential oils to enhance the health of body and mind, and to treat disorders. Aromatherapy is perhaps not the best word to describe the technique of clinical Aromatherapy, because it implies healing through aroma or scent alone, which is not the case. The way essential oils are used in clinical Aromatherapy varies with the effect desired, but essentially consists of applications of the oils in the general environment and on the body itself.
Also Aromatherapy can be subdivided into "aesthetic" and commercial Aromatherapy: The purpose of aesthetic Aromatherapy is pleasure, rather than healing. Aesthetic Aromatherapy relies on body applications such as perfumes as well as environmental fragrancing techniques like diffusers and humidifiers. Commercial Aromatherapy relies almost exclusively on environmental fragrancing techniques in the work, purchasing and sales place, such as subliminal or perceptible essential oil diffusion, and fragrancing of printed magazines.
Interest in and use of Aromatherapy continues to grow, based in large part on the efforts of massage therapists. The last decade has witnessed a virtual explosion of aesthetic and leisure products all touting the word "Aromatherapy" simply because they may contain or include trace amounts of natural or synthetic essential oils. At the same time, the last few years have seen increased interest in the more therapeutic, or clinical, aspects of Aromatherapy by alternative practitioners of both somatic and psychological therapies.
Since the late 1970s massage therapists in English-speaking countries have had a head start in this rich and exciting area. In their quest to enhance treatment results with natural essential oils, they are currently being joined at a rapid pace by other health care providers such as body workers, acupuncturists, nurses, occupational therapists and counsellors. The overall feeling among them is that both their clients and practices can greatly benefit from using essential oils in a clinical context.
Like other holistic therapies, Aromatherapy's main objective is to enhance and balance the individual constitution and thereby prevent the development of disease. Second, it aims to treat actual sickness when it arises. Because of the nature of essential oils, clinical Aromatherapy's working method is essentially non dualistic, addressing the individual's body/mind as a whole. Where the origin of disease is in the psyche, the oils as fragrance will work through neuroendocrine functions down to the physical body to heal and re-establish harmony. Where the origin of disease is in the body, it will work through the body's physiology up to the mental and emotional levels to heal and harmonise the whole person.
Aromatherapy involves numerous treatments, some more preventive, others more curative; some more mainstream, others more alternative. They range from general hygiene and massage applications to biomedicine (herbal medicine, naturopathy, acupuncture, Western medicine), and, potentially, psychiatry. Note, at this point, that we are describing a system of treatment that, from the historical perspective, is relatively young: There is currently no formal practice of "aroma-medicine" or "aroma-psychiatry," for example. Nevertheless, clinical Aromatherapy is gradually becoming accepted by professions such as nursing, naturopathy and acupuncture - especially in European countries.
The complete list of therapeutic modalities that potentially encompass clinical Aromatherapy includes massage and other forms of bodywork, energy work, acupuncture, biomedicine, nursing and counselling. It is also conceivable that in the future an entirely new form of essential oil therapy may come about as a result of the current integration of Aromatherapy in these various treatment areas.
Today, it is massage therapy more than any other, therapy, that has
integrated the use of essential oils into its practice. In fact, it seemed for a
while during the 1980s that Aromatherapy massage was all there was to clinical
Aromatherapy. Aromatherapy has since advanced in the above-mentioned areas, to
the point that a larger context of clinical Aromatherapy is emerging.
Aromatherapy is based on the three original effects of essential oils: physiological, topical and psychological.
First, being hydrogen-based liquids, essential oils affect the body's physiology as a stimulant, relaxant, spasmolytic or anti-ineffective. Engaging these actions for the purpose of altering human physiology and relieving pathology is the area of biomedical Aromatherapy more than any other.
Second, essential oils affect the skin and superficial tissues when applied topically. Oils can treat different skin types by moisturising, dehydrating or stimulating, as needed (this is a major aspect of aesthetic or beauty care Aromatherapy). For the same reason, they are also appropriate for treating muscular and articulator conditions, both acute and chronic.
Third, because essential oils are also active in gaseous form and therefore
emit fragrance, they also affect the psyche, causing mental, emotional and
behavioural changes. Because the physiological, topical and psychological
actions of essential oils are all used in clinical Aromatherapy, applications of
essential oils involving the body and those diffused through the environment are
both important.
Environmental applications in Aromatherapy rely mainly on the
diffusion of the essential oils in the atmosphere through either vibration or
warmth diffusion, using atomiser diffusers or hot air diffusers. By far the most
effective, versatile and economical of these is the atomiser, which by creating
micro-vibrations breaks up the oil molecules in the air and so releases their
full fragrance into the environment. This action is different from a hot air
diffuser or essential oil burner, which cause the oils to emit fragrance as they
simply vaporise.
The other side of essential oil use in clinical practice is the somatic aspect. For many years massage therapists have included essential oils in a one to three percent dilution in their massage oil or lotion base. Many practitioners prepare or obtain standard formulas with refreshing, relaxing, stimulating, warming or other effects that generally complement or enhance the type of massage they give. The dynamics of Aromatherapy massage actually involve both absorption of the oils through the skin and stimulation of the limbic brain and pituitary gland via their scents. This twin-pronged effect on both body and mind through touch and fragrance is perhaps the reason why Aromatherapy massage is truly a marriage made in heaven. Again, the key words here are preventive healing, maintenance and balancing of the individual's vital energies, and engaging of his/her autonomic, spontaneous, self-correcting healing forces.
Nevertheless, when essential oils are incorporated in various types of bodywork such as neuromuscular and other deep tissue work, lymphatic drainage, rhythmical massage and so on, this opens up many other opportunities for clinical Aromatherapy.
Because essential oils perform such a wide variety of physiologic functions,
it is basically a matter of first selecting oils that will enhance the
particular treatment given, and then determining the best administration method.
Since essential oils can be applied on or introduced into the body by such a variety of means, the study and use of these administration methods form an especially important part of clinical Aromatherapy. The practitioner has to consider not only which oils to select, but also other factors such as the exact dosage required, the correct dilution of the oils and in what medium, the cautions and contraindications associated with each oil, and the duration of the treatment itself.
Let's take, for instance, just one of these administration protocols, cautions and contraindications. An essential oil has cautions and/or contraindications associated with it for three possible reasons: intrinsic toxicity level of the oil itself; irritation to the skin and mucous membranes and spontaneous idiosyncratic reactions. The clinical aromatherapist has not only to decide on the best administration methods in relation to a particular condition, but also in relation to the cautions/contraindication factors of the selected oils themselves. Clearly, clinical Aromatherapy should not be carried out without appropriate training.
Most forms of Aromatherapy use a combination of holistic and scientific styles, although the rationale for its effectiveness offered by therapists usually leans heavily toward one or the other. However, it is interesting that the very nature of essential oils is such that they cut right across distinctions such as body/mind, substance/fragrance, molecule/vibration. This is because, essential oil exists in the form of both liquid and vapour. As liquid it affects mainly the body; as vapour it affects mainly the mind. This non-discriminative effect of essential oils is a key to the true nature of Aromatherapy.
For example, when a massage therapist applies essential oils by carrier oil in massage, these exert three distinct effects in a single seamless treatment method: First, a superficial effect on the epidermal, muscular and joint tissues (the sinews) when they are applied to the skin. Second, an effect on the body's internal physiology when they diffuse percutaneously into the blood, lymph and mesenchymal fluid circulation. Third, an effect on the individual psyche as their fragrance is released, causing stimulation of the hypothalamus and entire neuro-endocrine system. It is this comprehensive effect of essential oils on the body/mind that makes Aromatherapy intrinsically and ineluctably holistic by nature.
It is actually very difficult to use essential oils for purely physiological or purely psychological treatment. From a whole systems perspective, this area of spill over is simply too great to be ignored. French doctors, for example, in the 1950s and 1960s, tried using essential oils as substitutes for antibiotics, but many found that their systemic effects went completely beyond their expectations based on their monomorphic theories of infection. As a result, some researchers developed broader schemes for understanding the nature and therapeutic applications of essential oils.
True Aromatherapy is holistic in its very essence. If our aim is to address the whole individual and promote healing at all levels, we would always choose to use essential oils with respect to their systemic actions. In terms of information theory, the oils provide the body/mind organism with varied and polyvalent physiological and olfactory information. The organism is then free to take in and transform what information it needs in line with its requirements for healing. It will then initiate both functional and structural alterations toward healing.
In the clinical environment, particular oils should ideally be chosen for both their physiological and psychological actions. Regardless whether the focus is primarily treatment of the body or the mind, the other complementary aspect also needs to be considered. For example, in a medical clinic or hospital environment - taking a complex example - the requirements of environmental diffusion of essential oils may be to promote conditions of the general environment, to gently energize the working staff, to promote the focused yet relaxed type of attention required of them, and to relax and support the patients.
The unifying element in all forms of Aromatherapy is knowledge of the
essential oils themselves. Regardless of whether one is working in the field of
massage, nursing, biomedicine energy work or counselling, it is of paramount
importance to understand the essential oils one is using. Study of the oils has
to be complemented by living and breathing them, literally, in actual practice.
This should ideally encompass some experience in aesthetic and commercial
Aromatherapy in addition to experience in purely clinical Aromatherapy. Using
the oils day in and day out, in any way desired, is one of the best teachers.
In this field as in any other. Only then will one come to realise the profound
healing effects of these precious substances on a physiological, mental,
emotional and energetic level. Gradually, by noticing over longer periods how
the oils work and affect us in various ways, we may begin to get a sense of the
uncanny way that essential oils ultimately transcend the body/mind dichotomy so
familiar to us in the West. This is one of the true gifts of working with
essential oils.
When working in any area of Aromatherapy, two considerations concerning the actual oils are especially important. First, that the oils used are 100 percent natural, not adulterated in any way. Second, that the oils are of high, not low, quality. Although easy to understand and subscribe to, these two concepts are sometimes difficult to implement in actual practice.
The reasons for this are historical and commercial. Aromatherapy has spent the best of 40 years trying to separate its sources of natural essential oils from those of the perfumery and food industry. These two trades command over 90 percent of the world's supply of essential oils, only less than 10 percent being used in Aromatherapy.
In the manufacture of perfume, food and cosmetics, the quality standard is entirely different from the standard used by aromatherapists. These industries don't distinguish a natural from a synthetic oil, for example, and routinely mix the two to produce a standard "lavender," "rose," or whatever. Their concerns are not purity of the oil, but standardisation of fragrance and chemical components for commercial purposes.
In Aromatherapy, on the other hand, the concern is for 100 percent purity of an oil extracted from a specific plant genus, species and chemotype, with nothing added, taken out or reconstructed, whether using natural or synthetic oil sources. The reason for this is that only the natural, living plant extract carries the healing potential, not its dead, synthetic analogue.
A scientific example is the proven restraining action of essential oils on micro-organisms toxic to the organism, or stated, simply, their ability to treat infection, impossible with synthetic oils. The natural plant oil will give and create more life energy, whereas the synthetic will drain life energy as the body tries to eliminate something alien and unacceptable to itself; i.e., a toxin.
Fortunately, with the tremendous growth of all forms of Aromatherapy in the
last decade, there are a few sources of completely natural oils available to the
practitioner of Aromatherapy.
The quality of an essential oil is a second important consideration.
Depending on the type of equipment, process, care and time taken to extract an
essential oil, the final product may range anywhere from excellent to mediocre.
Therefore, the concept of "natural" is clearly not enough to guarantee
best clinical results. An oil may be natural but only contain the most basic
spectrum of volatile components, missing the fragrance depth of some base notes,
perhaps, or the brilliance of some top notes. Good or high quality oils are
crucial to the success of Aromatherapy treatments, including environmental ones.
The ultimate test for the purity and high quality of essential oils is the human nose. Chemical tests such as liquid gas chromatography, the standard chemical assay for essential oils, although helpful, can also be duplicated or adjusted using other natural or synthetic oils. Only the nose is able to distinguish a natural from a synthetic fragrance source, which again is based on training and experience.
This article has been publised in the magazine The Power of One Fall 1997
This Page was created by Ian Hunter using Hot Metal
© Hunter's 1997