Aromatherapy Essential Oils
By Nadia Cyrus

The history of aromatherapy goes back thousands of years, and was actually used as far back as biblical times. Aromatherapy serves a great purpose, and is a treatment method that offers an alternative to the harsher, more conventional treatment methods of today. This practice implements the use of scents from essential oils, which are natural substances that are extracted from grasses, flowers, herbs, trees, and spices.

Aromatherapy essential oils are the basis of the entire aromatherapy practice, and are favored especially over true oils because they are lighter than water and because they have antiseptic and anti-inflammatory purposes. These oils help in a number of ways, and they work to protect the human body against bacterial and viral infections, cleansing breaks in its tissue and delivering oxygen and nutrients to the cells.

These aromatherapy essential oils are highly complex substances, and they are made up of literally thousands of different natural chemicals. Even different varieties of the same oil can have widely different therapeutic actions. It really all depends on their chemistry, and in what manner they are being used. Of all the aromatherapy

essential oils that can be used, a few of the most popular include lavender, bergamot, cedarwood, chamomile, ylang ylang, geranium, and rosemary.

The essential oil of lavender is particularly common because it has such a sweet scent and calming effect. It is one of the most basic oils used in aromatherapy massage and can even be used in sedative mixtures. Ylang ylang is another essential oil that is highly recognized, particularly for its heavy, sweet scent and sedating effect. It is important that anyone using aromatherapy essential oils understand about their differences and about how to properly use them in order to get the effect that they are looking for.

One of the easiest ways to get started using essential oils is to put them in bathwater. You want to first test for skin sensitivity by doing a patch test, in other words putting a bit of the diluted oil on the bend of your elbow and waiting a day or so to see if a rash develops. This is important because some of the essential oils are quite potent and may affect the skin especially if it is sensitive or allergy prone skin. Then you simply add three to eight drops of the essential oil of your choice into your bathwater, just before you get in, and then soak in this for at least ten minutes.