Aromatherapy, is all about healing with essential oils. With out these oils there is no such treatment. The foundation of aromatherapy is the use of essential oils which have medicinal properties. These oils are also called as aromatherapy oils which are highly concentrated in fragrance and flavor. Because of that high concentrations they are not used directly, instead they are mixed with some other oils which are called as carrier oils to dilute their strength.
Essential oils are basically the oils extracted from different plant parts like stem, flowers, roots, and barks. The types of process involved in extracting these oils are the steam distillation, cold expression and the alcohol extraction. The most frequently used method is the distillation process, which involves steaming the plant part from which the oil has to be extracted. That plant part has to be steamed until it breaks down and the byproduct obtained at this breakdown stage is the fragrant oil which is further cooled and separated. The second method is the expression method, in which the plant part is pressed directly and the oil is extracted which is similar to squeezing of juice from lemon.
Commonly used Essential oils include Lavender oil, jasmine oil, rosemary, tea tree etc. even though these oils look similar to some fragrance oils they are not one and the same. These essential oils are the pure extracts of different plant parts where as other oils which look alike are artificially manufactured using some chemicals. These oils are used in different types. They can be added to bath tubs, massaged on your body, inhaled directly, or sprayed in the room. Even though you don’t have any health problems you can use them in your house just to give a fresh atmosphere and to come out of stress from our daily routine.
Essential oils do possess some anti fungal, anti viral and anti bacterial properties which are used to cure many infections. These oils help in relieving stress and speed up the healing process. The combination of different oils are found effective and potent when compared to the individual oils. Due to their antiseptic property, they are also used in the manufacturing of different household products which are used for cleaning. But these oils are used only with proper guidance and expert super vision.
