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DCL
Green Glossary: Aromatherapy
Close your eyes and imagine catching a whiff of something agreeable?coffee brewing, a fragrant flower or perhaps a delectable spice. Recall the pleasure this scent created and you have essentially begun to understand aromatherapy, which is used to treat a wide range of physical and emotional problems. This basic foundation of aromatherapy dates back thousands of years but the word itself comes courtesy of French chemist René-Maurice Gattefossé.
While working at a perfume factory, Gattefossé burned his arm rather badly. The folks at AromaWeb.com explain what happened next: "By reflex, he plunged his burned arm into the closest liquid which happened to be a large container of lavender essential oil. The burn he suffered healed quickly and left no scar. Gattefossé is credited with coining the term aromatherapy in 1928 within an article where he supports the use of using essential oils in their whole without breaking them down into their primary constituents."
Although some doctors doubt the efficiency of aromatherapy, medical researchers have scientifically proved that aromatherapy "may produce both psychological and physiological effects. Aromatherapy benefits includes stress and headache relief, sleep improvement, mood boosting, hormones? regulation, muscles? relaxation, immune system?s stimulation, blood circulation, skin diseases? healing, etc."
Common aromatherapy oils include patchouli, lavender, tea tree oil, lemon, rose and sandalwood.