Sources: Guide To Aroma Therapy, Wikipedia, various articles. Disclaimer: The information on the websites ChristineRachelle.com and NaturesRhapsody.com are not intended to replace the advice of your physician or any other health care professional. It is not meant to diagnose, or treat any illness physical or mental, nor does it indicate that the use of the products are safe, appropriate, or effective for you. In general, herbal and natural products are not subject to review or approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations (FDA.) They are not required to be standardized, meaning that the amounts of active ingredients or contaminants they contain may vary between different batches of the same product. Not all of the risks, side effects, or interactions associated with the use of herbal and natural products are known because few reliable studies of their use in humans have been done. This information is provided for your education only. Please share this information with your health care provider and be sure that you talk to your doctor and pharmacist about all the prescription and non-prescription medicines you take before you begin use of any herbal or natural product .
Tea Tree Oil: (Melaleuca Alternifolia) The oil distilled from the leaves of this tree is similar to the closely related eucalyptus. A good immune tonic and a strong antiseptic, tea tree fights lung, vaginal, sinus, mouth, and fungal infections, as well as viral infections such as herpes, shingles, chickenpox, candida, thrush, and influenza. Tea Tree also helps diaper rash, acne, wounds, and insect bites, and protects the skin from radiation burns caused by cancer therapy. It is touted as one of the most non-irritating oils, but this varies with species and the individual. It builds emotional strength, especially during post-operative shock. Tea Tree Essential Oil is safe for newborn babies.
Lavender Oil: (Lavandula Angustifolia) Distilled from the herb's flower buds, this sweet floral aroma is also herbal, with balsamic undertones. It is the most popular and widely used essential oil and has soothing and inflammatory properties. Lavender aids lung, sinus, and vaginal infections (including candida), and relieves muscle pain, headaches, insect bites, cystitis, and other types of inflammation. It is also used for digestive disturbances, including colic, and boosts immunity. A skin-cell generator, lavender prevents scarring and stretch marks, and has a reputation for slowing wrinkles. It is suitable for all complexion types, as well as for burns, sun damage, wounds, rashes, and skin infections. Specific for central-nervous-system problems, lavender has been used to help prevent nervousness, exhaustion, insomnia, irritability, depression, and even manic depression. Lavender essential ois is safe for newborn babies.
Eucalyptus Oil: (Eucalyptus Globulus) Distilled from leaves and twigs, this essential oil is pungent, sharp, and somewhat camphoric. Eucalyptus oil aids sinus and throat infections, fever, flu, chickenpox, and herpes. It is excellent for oily complexions, especially acne, boils, and insect bites, and for killing lice. The scent alone increases energy, and counter acts physical debility and emotional imbalance.
Cinnamon Oil: (Cinnamomum Zeylanicum) Distilled from the tree's leaf or bark, cinnamon is a sweet, spicy-hot fragrance. Cinnamon can stop menstrual cramps and diarrhea, while increasing sweating and providing heat for liniments. It is an aphrodisiac that relieves tension, steadies nerves, and invigorates the senses. Small amounts spice up Oriental perfume blends.
Have you seen the terms "Essential Oils" and "Aroma Therapy" on lables and in advertisements and wondered what they mean? Below are brief explanations and descriptions to help you start your research.
Essential Oils: Only lavender and tea tree essential oils are safe for newborn babies. Essential oils consist of tiny, natural, aromatic molecules that are released from a plant when you rub it, or just from the heat of a hot summer day. (This is why an herb garden smells so fragrant.) Each type of essential oil is composed of many different aromatic molecules - more than 30,000 have been identified and named, and it is common for a single essential oil to contain one hundred different aromatic molecules. Essential oils are used in creams, lotions, shampoos, shower gels, massage oils, gargles, mouthwashes, with compresses, vaporizers, and in baths.
Aroma Therapy: The term aromatherapy is coined from two words, "aroma" meaning pleasant scent and "therapy" meaning a treatment that aims to ease a physical or mental condition. It is also defined as the use of selected fragrant substances in lotions and inhalants in an effort to affect mood and promote health. It is said that when olfactory sensors detect a particular aroma, the information is sent to the areas of the brain that influence memory, learning, emotions, hormone balance, and even more basic survival mechanisms. Exactly how the brain processes this data is not completely understood, but it is known that certain fragrances act on the brain's primitive limbic system, also known as the "smell brain." Researchers studying aromacology - the science of medicinal aromas - have discovered that exposure to some aromatic substances results in an alteration of the brain waves and have tested thousands of subjects to better understand how certain scents relieve pain, surface deep-seated memories, and affect personality, behavior, and sleep patterns.
Peppermint Oil: (Mentha Piperita) Distilled from leaves of the herb, the aroma is powerful, minty, peppery, and fresh. Peppermint helps relieve muscle spasms, inflammation, indigestion, nausea, irritable-bowel syndrome, and sinus and lung congestion. It also destroys bacteria, viruses, and parasites in the digestive tract. Small amounts stimulate the skin's oil production and relieves itching from ringworm, herpes, scabies, and poison oak and ivy. As a stimulant, the scent counters insomnia, shock, mental fogginess, lack of focus and "stuck" emotions.
