Can using essential oils and aromatherapy really improve your life? Let's look at the benefits of aromatherapy and ways you can use essential oils.

Medicinal and Healing

Modern aromatherapy developed after Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, a French cosmetic chemist, accidentally burned his arm in his lab. He thrust his badly burned arm into the nearest cold liquid, which was a tub of lavender oil.

The pain decreased dramatically and he developed no redness, heat, inflammation, and blisters. The wound healed quickly and left none of the usual burn scars. Gattefosse then spent his life researching the medicinal properties of essential oils and coined the term aromatherapy.

Here are just a few ways to use essential oils for healing (consult a professional as appropriate):

• Sniff peppermint oil for nausea.
• Sniff lavender or peppermint oil for headaches.
• Massage menstrual cramps with clary sage diluted in a carrier oil.
• Gently massage varicose veins with a massage oil containing cypress.
• Add a few drops of eucalyptus oil to your shampoo to help dandruff problems.
• Help smooth wrinkles by massaging your face nightly with a few drops of frankincense oil diluted in sweet almond oil or rosehip seed oil.
• For depression, diffuse jasmine or rose in the air.
• Dab tea tree oil on acne pimples to help clear up the infections. Also, use tea tree oil for cuts, scrapes, and headlice.
• Put a few drops of eucalyptus oil on a cloth by your pillow at night to help your breathing when you have a cold or flu.
• Use essential oil with hot compresses on sore, tired muscles. Add five to ten drops of oil to hot (not boiling) water. Soak a cloth in the water, wring it out, and place on the affected area. Repeat as needed.

Headache Aromatherapy Blends

You can use the following aromatherapy recipes as a preventative measure and to help ease your pain. Add the essential oils to a 10-ml bottle and fill the bottle with vegetable oil. Massage your forehead, temples, neck, and shoulders.

Blend #1: Aromatherapy for headaches due to negative emotions: 3 drops Roman Chamomile and 8 drops Lavender.

Blend #2: Aromatherapy for headaches due to muscular tensions: 4 drops Lavender and 5 drops Peppermint.

Blend #3: Aromatherapy for headaches due to nervous tensions: 3 drops Roman Chamomile, 3 drops Neroli, and 5 drops Marjoran.

Aromatherapy Massage

Massage is a popular way of using essential oils. Add 10-20 drops of essential oil to one ounce of carrier oil, such as cold pressed almond oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil, or jojoba oil, and massage yourself or partner. Keep away from eyes and genital areas. To relax, choose calming oils such as lavender, or use an invigorating oil such as eucalyptus. Click here for more aromatherapy massage recipes.

Aromatherapy Baths

Add five to ten drops of your favorite (nonirritating) essential oil to one ounce of carrier oil. Add this blend to your running bath water and mix well before getting into the tub.

Add juniper to your bath to help detoxify your body.

After a shower, put a few drops of oil on a washcloth and rub vigorously over your body.

For a hand or foot soak, add four to six drops of oil to warm water and soak your hands or feet in it. For tired feet, also add two tablespoons of Epsom salts to the water.

For skin care aromatherapy information, visit my Using Essential Oils for Skin Care hub.

Household Freshener

You can use aromatherapy oils to freshen up rooms; just place a few drops in a diffuser. You can create air fresheners with lemon, geranium, petitgrain, and sandalwood blends. Put six to eight drops in about two and a half cups of water in a fine spray bottle and spray into the air. Do not spray onto velvet or silk or directly onto wood.

To get rid of stale tobacco or cooking smells use cinnamon, eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, orange, tea tree, rosemary, or lime. Saturate cotton balls and place in the corners of a room, in cupboards, or in out-of-the-way places.

Add a few drops of your favorite oil to your trash can, laundry, drain, vacuum bag filter, or on a tissue in your drawers. You can also use essential oils that have antibacterial or antiviral properties for cleaning. For example, when washing down surfaces in the kitchen, use one drop of lemon, thyme, cypress, or lavender placed directly on a cloth or add one drop to seven drops of water.

Essential oils believed to have antiviral effects include Melissa, tea tree, juniper, eucalyptus, thyme, palmarosa, lavender, rosemary, clove, laurel, cinnamon bark, anise, rose, lemongrass, geranium, neroli, bergamot, clary sage, and dill.

Bug Repellent

Another of the uses for essential oils is as a bug repellent. Citronella, lavender, and peppermint are a natural repellent against insects and bugs. Sprinkle a few drops of essential oil onto tissues or cotton balls and place near your doorways and windows to help repel insects. Be cautious when using these oils, as some oils may not be suitable for use around pets. Be careful not to apply the essential oil directly onto fragile surfaces.

Pet Care

Essential oil use can help keep ticks and fleas off your dog or cat for less than commercial chemicals. Learn more with Holistic Aromatherapy for Animals: A Comprehensive Guide to the Use of Essential Oils and Hydrosols With Animals.

Learn more about using essential oils with aromatherapy courses. Or download my free aromatherapy ebook.