Essential oils and their properties: Reference Guide App

The essential oils are organic compounds extracted from plants with enormous healing properties. The use of essential oils for medicinal purposes is often called aromatherapy, a holistic treatment that seeks to improve physical, mental and emotional health.

For more than 5,000 years, many different cultures have used these healing plant oils to treat a variety of health problems. They are often used in relaxation, beauty care, cleaning the home and commonly as a natural medicine.



Since the use of essential oils is present in many countries, it is difficult to determine precisely where the practice originated. The oils have been used by Jews, Chinese, Indians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, both in the form of cosmetics, perfumes, and medicinal purposes. Some cultures even use oils in spiritual rituals.

In 1928, the French chemist René-Maurice Gattefossé used lavender oil to cure a burn on his hand. He then decided to further analyze the properties of lavender oil and how it could be used to treat other types of skin infections, wounds or burns.

Thus was born the science of aromatherapy. The main objective of Gattefossé was to help the wounded soldiers during the First World War. The use of these oils began to spread especially among practitioners of alternative medicine, such as masseurs and beauticians from all over Europe.

Aromatherapy became popular in the United States in the 1980s, when essential oils began to be added to various lotions, candles and fragrances.

There are also trained professionals such as aromatherapists, physiotherapists, masseurs, nutritionists or even natural medicine doctors who use aromatherapy in their practice and who have studied the specific uses of each essential oil.

Aromatherapy has a variety of health benefits and can be used in various environments. It is a non-invasive method to treat a variety of medical afflictions and can be used safely in combination with many other therapies.

Many traditional hospitals, such as Vanderbilt University Hospital, are giving ground to the benefits of essential oils and use them in the treatment of anxiety, depression and infections in hospitalized patients.



A 2009 study found that preoperative patients who received aromatherapy with lavender oil experienced significantly less anxiety when approaching their surgery than control patients. Other oils such as sandalwood oil, neroli oil, and lavender oil have also been used in traditional medicine to help patients manage anxiety better.

Some essential oils have also been used by midwives to help reduce anxiety and fear during delivery. A 2007 study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine suggests that women who used aromatherapy during childbirth reported less general pain and were able to use fewer pain medications.

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