Good health is often defined as the wellbeing of both the mind and the body. For this reason, it is very essential that individuals take proper care of to ensure they are always in good health.
A body and mind in good health and shape leads to an optimal performance of the daily tasks or goals that one has to meet. As a matter of fact, no one wants to be sick, thus, it is in the best interest of every individual to do all within their power to stay as healthy as they possibly can.
Over the years, with each inroad made by researchers, more treatment options for different conditions emerge. Once any of these options proves effective to some degree, it inevitably becomes “a thing”.
A prime example of such would be aromatherapy treatment which is done with the use of Essential oils.
What Is Aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy is classified as a type or form of alternative medicine that makes use of the oil extracts from plants to support a person’s wellbeing. You can read more about it here
Essential oils on the other hand, are extracts from plants and can be used for the treatment of certain conditions. It can be used in various forms, for example, they can be inhaled, they can be used on the skin for skin treatments (though it must be diluted) etc.
Furthermore, it has about ninety different varieties, each with its own features that are unique to it and with certain health benefit claims. Below is a list of ten of the most popular ones with the various health benefits they are supposed to offer.
Peppermint: It is said to be able to aid digestion and to also act as an energy booster.
- Ylang-Ylang: It is used in the treatment of nausea and is able to calm headaches and cure skin infections.
- Tea Tree: Helps to boost body immunity and treat infections.
- Lemon: Helps with mood swings, digestion challenges, headaches etc.
- Jasmine: Helps boost libido and also helps with child birth and depression
- Chamomile: Helps one relax and also helps with a person’s mood.
- Lavender: Basically provides relief from stress
- Bergamot: Equally helps to give relief from stress and helps to fight skin conditions or infections while improving the skincare.
- Sandalwood: Helps to improve focus and is also used to calm the nerves.
- Rose: Particularly helps with anxiety attacks and generally helps improve mood.
Despite the claims listed above, there is still no definite consensus regarding the level of effectiveness that aromatherapy offers. Though some positive results are being recorded, research is still on-going on the subject.
To this end, it is still important for one to be properly informed before engaging in aromatherapy. To learn more, you can visit Hopkinsmedicine.org.
How does Aromatherapy work?
Basically, there are two major delivery agents for administering aromatherapy. These are:
- Vaporizers
- Diffusers
Vaporizers
It is an inhalation device that firstly has to vaporize the substance to be inhaled (in this case essential oils). The vaporization process produces mist and in the process keeps the environment moist too.
They are of different types which include, vaporizer pens, heat vaporizer and the multifunctional device
Diffusers
This is generally considered as the best device for aromatherapy because it disperses the natural fragrance of the compounds in the air very efficiently. Unlike vaporizers, it is able to retain the various essences and all of the components of the essential oils therein.
Currently, there are different types of diffusers. They are classified into four categories which are:
- Evaporation: As the name suggests, the oils evaporate into the air and then is inhaled into the body were it majorly goes to the olfactory organs.
- Heat: This involves the heating of the essential oils which then releases their natural scent and aromas
- The Ultrasonic Device: This is a device which is electrically powered and has a water reservoir. It is able to use sound waves to break up the necessary compounds and molecules in the water, producing a cool mist as a result.
- The Nebulizer: This doesn’t require water or heat. Its major benefit is that you get these essential oils in their purest form.
There have been further innovations on how to use diffusers by some reputable brands. A good example is the essential oil diffuser pen by Bemoxe which is very portable.
By the very invention of this brand, it has become easier to make aromatherapy a life style and something you can engage in at your convenience.
Conclusion
To a very large extent, aromatherapy can be very helpful to the human health. It’s been proven to greatly influence the state of the mind of an individual. This means that one can create the mood they want by using the right kinds of essential oils.
Given all the stress and pressure the modern man or woman has to deal with every day, having something like this is surely a welcome development.