Aromatherapy
Scent is an important part of our lives. Everyone has a favorite aroma-a perfume or an aftershave lotion, a certain flower, the oil used in a relaxing massage.
Professional aroma therapists claim that, in addition tot cosmetic pluses-making you smell good and feel attractive-scents can improve your mood and promote good health. Essential oils-aromatic substances extracted from flowers, roots, bark, leaves, wood resins, and lemon or orange rinds-can be sprayed into the air and inhaled, or absorbed through the skin via massage, hot baths, or hot or cold compresses. It’s believed that every oil either soothes and relaxes or stimulates and invigorates.
How we respond to a particular aroma-with feelings of lust, anxiety, sadness-influences our heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and possibly our immune system as well. But there is little evidence that scent plays an important role in the management of serious disease. There are some scientifically valid studies that show it can help with less profound problems, including a recent one documenting that elderly substantial doses of sleeping pills slept like babies when a lavender aroma was wafted into their bedrooms at night. Another experiment looked at patients undergoing magnetic resonance imaging, who often complained of claustrophobia in the magnetic capsule. After exposure to the aroma of vanilla, 63 percent of patients reported that they felt less claustrophobic. Interestingly, there were no corresponding changes in their heart rates. So the patients’ anxieties were lessened either by pleasant associations they made with vanilla-a purely psychological phenomenon-or by some undiscovered physiological response.
THE BOTTOM LINE: I don’t believe aromatherapy is a major player in the fight against disease, but certain essential oils can relieve stress and help manage some skin disorders. If you’re considering aromatherapy or are already using it, beware that aromatic oils vary in quality, and their production is not regulated: so make sure your source is reliable. Your best bet is to find a product or brand that works well for you and stick with it. If your skin is sensitive, always test for allergies by applying a very small amount of the diluted oil before you try the whole treatment.
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