WHAT IS AROMATHERAPY?
In 1928 a French chemist named Gatefosse mistakenly plunged his burned arm into a vat of Lavender essential oil instead of water, to find that his pain was immediately reduced and his arm ultimately healed with minimal scarring. He later titled his published research "Aromatherapy", and thus coined the modern term for the ancient practice of using essential oils from plants and flowers for their beneficial effects on our body, mind and spirit.
Evidence of the use of aromatic oils for health and beauty can be traced back 5000 years in the Tibetan Sanskrit's; recipes have been found on Babylonian clay tablets and in Egyptian tombs; over 400 references to aromatic oils including cinnamon, myrrh and spikenard are contained in the Bible.
In the operating rooms of World War I, oil of Thyme was used to sterilize surgical instruments. Placing 2 drops of peppermint oil in bedpans was a1950's treatment for post-partum urinary retention. Today inhaling peppermint oil is used to relieve nausea. Its use is officially listed in the new Merck Manual of Geriatrics to help reduce abdominal cramping in irritable bowel syndrome. Essential oil of sweet orange has recently been diffused at One Police Plaza, in the debriefing and bereavement room after the World Trade Center Tragedy.
Interest in Aromatherapy is rapidly growing in the United States by lay persons and health professionals alike. It is important to become familiar with the basic concepts, as well as current trends and applications in this dynamic modality.
WHAT ARE ESSENTIAL OILS?
Essential Oils (EO) are liquid, fragrant molecules that are steamed-distilled from various parts of plants or flowers. They are 75-100% more concentrated than the herb or flower from which they are extracted. If you are already using herbs, you can't make a direct linear association between the actions of the herb and the essential oil because they may differ. Their use is not to be exchanged with or substituted for tinctures, extracts, flower essences, or teas that bear the same name. With exception of Lavender and tea tree, they should not be placed directly on the skin or taken internally.
Each essential oil is comprised of organic compounds that the plant must manufacture and store, most often in a secretory trichome. The EO functions as the plants immune and hormonal systems. Divided into functional groups based on their molecular chemistry, EOs can facilitate calming, uplifting, or stimulation of mood and demonstrate antibacterial, antifungal, or antiviral properties.
The essential oils molecules have a low molecular weight. This small size enables the exchange of EO molecules at the capillary membrane, crossing the placenta and the blood-brain barrier, and interaction with all body systems.
HOW DOES AROMATHERAPY WORK?
The first level through which aromatherapy works, is through the sense of smell. Faster than sight, sound or touch, we respond immediately, primitively and involuntarily to scent. The area of the limbic system where this occurs is said to house our emotions and drives, and influence the modulation of pain. Three events occur with smell. The first is the immediate, emotional reaction to the aroma, then the evocation of a memory if there is one associated with the particular scent, and thirdly identification of the odor at the neocortex.
When we inhale an aroma we love, and respond, "mmm, I love it!", our brain quickly releases endorphins, the body's happy neurotransmitters. In 1976 Candice Pert, author of Molecules of Emotion, discovered the opiate receptor site: she found that every cell in every organ system has an opiate receptor site. Entities that can bind to the site are opiate derivative drugs, but the better news is our body's own endorphins bind to that site! The more we can do to stimulate our brain to release endorphins, the greater will be the amount available to our cells' opiate receptors, and thus we can be more resilient to stress.
Endorphins are released when we hear good news, when we're laughing, when we're looking at something beautiful, when we're listening to music we enjoy, and of course, when we smell a great scent. (If we're hear music we dislike or inhale unpleasant aromas, there will be no endorphin release.)
We can compare adequate endorphins for our cells to balanced blood sugar or sufficient sleep, and make an analogy to the physiological level of our ability to respond to stressors. Imagine you have had adequate sleep and food; you just finished washing the kitchen floor and your small child spills orange juice. Might you say, "That's OK honey, accidents happen," and calmly clean up. Imagine being sleep deprived and/or starving: (too much night shift or no break or lunch over a 12 hour shift). Could you be as nice? The stimulus of the spilled juice is the same, but your physiological ability to respond is compromised.
A secondary simultaneous result is the stimulus of neuro-transmitters due to the actual EO. Lime, peppermint, eucalyptus, and basil are mental stimulants that induce the release of noradrenaline, which keeps us alert. Essential Oils like lavender, chamomile, marjoram, and ylang cause a release of calming seratonin.
Few modalities are quicker than the effects of aromatherapy through smell. Inhale something you love, go mmmm, and begin to feel stress, sadness, anxiety and anger lighten up. There are no special supplements or foods to buy, and you don't even have to loose weight first! Its use is simple, but the effects are profound.
BRIEF ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF SMELL
With our every breath, the brain receives and interprets vast information about our environment. Our brain is capable of identifying at least 10,000 scents, and can detect the presence of vanilla at concentrations as low as .00000000762 grains per cubic inch.
When we inhale an aroma, a small portion of the odor molecules of inhaled air land on the olfactory epithelial membrane in the upper nasal cavity, melt and initiate an electrochemical cascade of responses leading into the limbic system. Others are exhaled back out into the air; still some enter the lungs and cross the capillary membrane, causing a subtle physiologic response dependent on the chemical constituents of the odor molecules themselves. Finally, a few molecules enter the stomach to join digestion.
Interestingly, the mucous covered olfactory epithelium is the size of a nickel with approximately 10 million olfactory neuron receptor cells that continue to regenerate throughout our lifespan. The dendrites of the receptor cells contain cilia that project into the mucous. As odor molecules dissolve, it is believed that they bind to specific receptor proteins on the cilia.
The thin unmyelinated axons of the receptor cells form slender bundles that pass through tiny openings in the cribiform plate of the ethmoid bone to reach the olfactory bulb. Physiologic studies indicate that a considerably large amount of informational processing occurs in the bulb. Mitral cells, olfactory bulb relay neurons, transmit not just stimulating messages, but reciprocal as well as inhibitory responses to locations in the brain.
The olfactory bulb is the only part of the brain exposed to the external environment. On the other side of the cribiform plate, the receptor cell bundles of the olfactory bulb are in proximity to the sheaths of the meninges and the lymphatic system of the nasal cavity, making a relatively easy pathway for nasal infections to spread to the meninges of the brain. Studies suggest that environmental toxins can invade the receptor cells and reach the brain through this route, the basis for the theory that aluminosilcates enter the brain through the olfactory pathway and contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease.
In other words, the response to scent is a real, mechanical, electrochemical process in which odors are converted into a cascade of messages, amplified by the olfactory bulb, transmitted along the olfactory tract and sent to the center of the brain, the limbic system.(formerly called the rhiencephalon, or smell brain). It's not just in your mind.
We can use aromatherapy to help us cope as stress occurs or we can choose to arm ourselves first, through daily, consistent use of essential oils. Individual use includes body wash or shampoo, diffusing or misting EOs in the car, or at work. Remember, less is always best with aromatherapy.
Gently Inhale directly from the bottle limitless times as long as you continue to enjoy the scent. (Do not sniff deeply or snort) A few drops of EOs can be placed on tissues or cotton balls and carried with you in ziplock bags. They can be added to air conditioner filters, hot air vents, air purifier cartridges, potpourri pots, bowls or pots of warm water or sprinkled on you pillow case. These inexpensive ways do not involve equipment.
Make an aromatherapy angel. Take a rectangular piece of soft cloth. Put a cotton ball in the center; tie a ribbon around the ball and it becomes the head of the angel the bow becomes the wings. Attach Velcro. It can easily be worn and drops of Sweet Orange or Lavender can adorn the angel head and help to cheer up or calm the wearer. (Making it can be fun too). See Picture
Use a Diffuser Box to gently scent your desk, night stand closet, drawers and more. Fold a half of paper towel tightly into the shape of a rectangle the size of the box, place inside the box, place 2-3 drops of your favorite Essential Oil on the paper towel.
Use a Mysty to inhale directly from the bottle or use the fine mist atomizer to spray above your head to experience the moist air. The mist increases the surface area from which you can inhale the EO molecules. As the mist slowly falls to the ground it brings with it dust particles and thus temporarlily removes them from the air.
Terra cotta clay that's not glazed will absorb scent. There are numerous figures available such as Angels, which will passively diffuse the Essential Oils into the air over a small area. Put a few drops of oil directly on the clay figures and place them in drawers, hang them up or put them on a desk, night stand or bedside table.
Lamp Rings of either terra cotta, metal, or glazed ceramic sit on top of a light bulb. You fill the channel with a little of water and then you add a few drops of essential oil.
Basic common sense for light bulb rings is necessary. Don't take it off a hot light bulb, fill it with water and then place a drippy, wet ring back on the hot light bulb. You want to put it on a cool light bulb not higher than 60 watts. Terra cotta clay rings will absorb the scent, and not permit changing the scent. The glazed ceramic style you can wash off the oil and change scents. The metal light rings get very hot, so you need to be extra careful with those.
Aromatherapy necklaces make it easy to carry your favorite eesential oil with you anywhere! Most styles have a glass vial with a stem cap, that fits into a lovely decorative vial holder allowing you to open and inhale easily at a whim.
Candle Diffusers are available in hundreds of beautiful styles. They all have the same principle though; a bowl of water to which you add 3 to 15 drops of oil and a tea candle heat source to warm the water and cause the scent to evaporate into the air. Many of the styles are lovely and add ambiance into any room. Follow normal candle safety; do not leave these devices completely unattended or forgotten. In the case of a very dry home, the water in the bowl may evaporate before the tea candle finishes burning. When adding more water to the bowl, you must add HOT water to avoid cracking. Although quite beautiful, these diffuser bowls are not pyrex and need proper care.
Diffusers that use a light bulb as the heat source use anywhere from a 15 watt to 40 watt bulb. These will be a little slower initially heating up. It helps to use warm water so you don't have to wait for the water to heat up. This style doubles as an ambient night light and can work nicely for use in any room.
Note:Institutional Quality Diffusers must be easy to use, have low maintenance, be capable of diffusing essential oils in a wide range of room sizes and fit specific budgets. A glass nebulizer style is often mentioned by authors as effective in dispersing EO molecules, but can be difficult to clean, and replacement of the glass if broken is costly.
AKO Diffusers are presently being used in numerous settings. The water chamber is filled two thirds, and drops of essential oils are added. The amount determined by the oil's potency, the amount of scent desired, and the logistics of the room. Drops can range from 5 to 100. As mentioned before, a trial and error period is necessary to determine drop amounts. This particular diffuser utilizes cool evaporation and a quiet fan to disperse the molecules. There is no heat to further dry the air; water provides some moisture for our dry mucous membranes. Two settings allow for continuous use, or 2 minutes on every 25 minutes. This is Diane's favorite and the one she considers The Best Diffuser.
How many drops do I use? Well, there is no magic answer. Factors that influence number of drops added to any lamp ring or diffuser depend on how strong you desire the scent, the potency of the particular oil, the size of the room, height of the ceilings, the temperature and humidity. You will need more sweet orange than Lavender, Eucalyptus or Patchouli. Also, it depends on where you're putting this lamp ring or diffuser. Is the room drafty, L-shaped, do you expect it to go down a windy hallway? (It won't). There is always an initial period of trial and error to determine how many drops whether you use a lamp ring or a diffuser.
Storing your Essential Oils: Essential oils must be kept away from heat, but do not have to be refrigerated. Extremes of heat and cold are harder on them than common temperature. If your building is between 68 and 75 degrees, you can have them just about anywhere, provided that they are not in direct sunlight or directly on a heat source such as a shelf on top of a radiator. They should be stored in either cobalt blue or pharmaceutical amber because that prolongs the shelf life.
