It’s been said for years that aromatherapy does wonders for people. It’s still up in the air as to what clinical science says about the therapeutic benefits, but there are millions of people who swear by it.
Aromatherapy is based on the notion that certain aromas and scents, when delivered in a special way, can trigger healing properties. The claims of success are numerous and one can find aromatherapy spas and websites all over.
The basics are that essential oils derived from certain plants, herbs, and such when treated with heat or just presented to the olfactory senses can produce strong healing rejuvenating results. They’ve been used for countless centuries by cultures throughout the world. The human sense of smell and taste can detect around 10,000 different scents and the effects on the brain are being qualified now in labs around the world. It’s already documented that the memory centers of the brain can be triggered immensely by smell alone. Aromatherapy then uses the limbic system,the collective name for structures in the brain involved in emotion, motivation, and emotional association with memory, to produce positive results. When done correctly, a sense of well being and healing occur.
Claims such as better skin, eyesight, relief from chronic pain, better memory, and just about every malady we can list can benefit from aromatherapy. For people who are stressed out, aromatherapy is considered one of the best remedies available. In regards to scents that we found soothing as children and are no longer in our environment, when presented via aromatherapy can trigger a tsunami of great feelings and memories. It’s no doubt whatsoever that aroma therapy does something but it will take more study to qualify and quantify.
As more people are treated the results will come in regarding aromatherapy. The plants and herbs from where the essential oils are derived are available easily and it takes a good practitioner of aromatherapy to bring about the right results. We know mood can affect our bodies drastically. Mind over matter, one might say. If a scent can trigger the right responses from the body like increasing the immune system’s defenses or relieving chronic headaches, acne, blood flow, then all the better. Just the aroma and scent of an oil that can affect the olfactory centers and produce certain chemical responses to the body.
Considering how old this therapy is, it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.