Scents by Nature: Therapeutic Benefits From Essential Oils

There are several benefits that can be derived from essential oils and aromatherapy. However, its therapeutic effects is one of the reasons why aromatherapy is popular and has seen widespread use. Read on to learn about how it can benefit you therapeutically.

If you want to experience maximumtherapeutic benefits from the use of essential oils, therapeutic grade essential oils are often recommended for this. It follows proper distillation methods to ensure that the essential and therapeutic elements are still present. Here are some factors considered when gathering and creating therapeutic grade essential oils:

• They are harvested during their potency peak.
• If possible, harvest organically grown or wild plant materials since they lack harmful chemicals like pesticides or fertilizers.
• The oil gathered must undergo extreme laboratory testing and certification to ensure that all the therapeutic elements are still present.
• To get maximum benefits, gather essential oil from fresh and alive plant materials.

To get the most therapeutic benefits from an essential oil, it is important opt for the therapeutic grade essential oils. Most essential oils available in the market are the inferior type since they are mostly used for fragrance, instead of their therapeutic capacity. It is therefore important to determine what makes a therapeutic grade essential oil if you want to get maximum health benefits from your use of essential oils.

Here are some processes that essential oils have to go through to attain therapeutic grade:

*Gas Chromatography Purity Testing – This scientific method is done to measure the essential oil's basic components. This will also determine if an essential oil has undergone synthetic manipulation that might degrade its therapeutic quality.

*Steam Distillation – Improper steam distillation can oftentimes destroy the purity of the essential oil causing it to lose some of the essential compounds. Among the factors to keep in mind during distillation are: use only stainless steel cooking chambers, apply the lowest possible pressure, and use the lowest possible temperature.

*Lack of Additives – When using aromatherapy for therapeutic purposes, it is advised to opt for pure essential oils. The presence of additives or synthetic ingredients create health risks.

By using essential oil in aromatherapy, you can experience a lot of health and therapeutic relief such as the following:

• Since essential oils are small in molecular size, it is easily absorbed and penetrated into the skin for immediate relief.
• Research and health experts have shown that essential oils can be fully absorbed by the body's cells within 20 minutes of application.
• The presence of oxygen molecules in essential oils help in transporting nutrients into the human cells. Thus, proper assimilation of nutrients help prevent the occurrence of certain diseases and boosting your immune system in the process.
• Essential oils act as antioxidant that destroy free radicals that damage your health.
• Essential oils contain several helpful properties such as antiseptic, antibacterial, anti-fungus, anti-microbial, anti-viral, and anti-infectious.

Most health experts and aromatherapists would insist that you use pure essential oils to get the most therapeutic benefits. Essential oils are applied in a variety of methods to maximize its capacity to affect or alter the body functions to provide relief and cure certain conditions.

In some cases, different types of essential oils are used in combination to provide maximum benefits. This will aid in the carrying the powerful healing essences and deliver them into your internal system for healing. Essential oils can then be used to treat a variety of health diseases and problems like respiratory ailments, stress, anxiety, high blood pressure, and some other ailments.

Inhalations

To create an inhalation using essential oils, simply get yourself a bowl of steaming hot water. Then, pour in a few drops of your chosen essential oil into the water to create an essential oil solution. The steam is important to enable the aroma to come up and for you to inhale. Take a towel and use it to capture the steam coming out of the water mixture. With your eyes closed, inhale the aroma produced by the essential oil solution.

You can experience the therapeutic benefits once the oil solution is inhaled and penetrates your nasal passage. The essences from the oil will relieve your passages and boost your immune system. Hence, this is best for curing respiratory problems.

Humidifier

As opposed to the use of hot steaming water in inhalations, this one requires cool mist. Get yourself a type of essential oil that you prefer and add about 9 drops into the humidifier water. Keep the water running continuously and add the essential oil every two or three times a day.

The use of humidifier to utilize the therapeutic benefits of the essential oil is a safer choice, especially when the patient you are treating is a child. This will prevent any danger of having to deal with hot water. Plus, inhaling the healing essences of the essential oil makes it easily absorbed by your body and into your bloodstream. When the healing properties of the essential oil reaches your body's central function, it can alter and improve your body's functions.

Bath Salts

To create an essential oil bath, fill the tub with warm water. Then, drop a few amounts of essential oil into the water and mix it thoroughly. For best results, you can also try adding honey, your preferred carrier oil, and milk or cream into the essential oil before adding them into the water. Then, soak your body in the essential oil solution for about 15 minutes.

Soaking your body enables the healing elements of essential oil to penetrate your skin and be absorbed by your body. It produces a calming and soothing effect that makes this method of application suitable for individuals suffering from stress or any form of muscle tension.

Compress

The topical method of application of essential oils is one of the safest method at attaining therapeutic effects. This is ideal for relieving menstrual cramps in women, soothe any kind of pain, and relieve strained muscles.

To make a compress, simply add a few drops of your preferred essential oil into a bowl of warm water. Then, mix the water and essential oil completely. Get a cloth and apply some of the solution into the cloth. Put the cloth with the solution into the affected area until you experience relief. When you inhale the aroma and the healing elements of the essential oil is absorbed by the skin, you will notice immediate relief from pain.