Aromatherapy History

Introduction

I have been given the task of writing an essay about Aromatherapy. In this essay I will talk about the history of aromatherapy and its pioneers. I will also talk about oils and the different methods that are used to extract oils from a wide range of sources, the ways that we pick oils for specific needs and how we prepare the oils before we use them on a client during massage treatments. I will then go on to talk about the different types of massage and how we can incorporate different oils into them for the certain needs and circumstances of each individual client. I will also discuss other ways of using oils other than during aromatherapy massage. I will talk about contraindications of aromatherapy treatments and conditions

that may require special care thought the treatment or may require a physicians approval prior to the treatment.

Historical factors and Pioneers

History states that aromatherapy came around over 5300 years ago in around 3000BC.

It was an Egyptian man called Imhotep who had a great knowledge of advanced medicine through years of research whilst using infused oils and aromatic ointments. (Paterson, 2006). Medical papers have been discovered from the 1500’s which are known to hold various recipes and remedies in a wide range of ailments that have been used in Egyptian medicine at some point in time. Some of these methods are still used today and the application is still much the same as they were then. Remedies that are dated back to the first century most of which are still used in today's aromatherapy. Incense that were commonly used in people's homes were also formed from aromatics. They

signified
prayers being carried to the gods in religious homes as they were usually burned when families would sit together and pray. It wasn't until the Greeks researched further into aromatic oils and various ointments that they introduced them both medicinally and cosmetically, but also to used the to create fragrances. People say that a physician named Marestheus could possibly be one of the first to acknowledge that aromatics had the ability to have a stimulating or sedative effect on the mind and body, “they advocated the use of massage, music and perfume as soothing healing agents” (Paterson, 2006). The Chinese were also known to be practicing aromatherapy at the same time as the ancient Egyptians. History states that there were three emperors that founded the healing art. Each of them wrote about plants, massage and acupuncture they also wrote text about the meridians. It is the oldest form and is known as Ayurvedic which translated to “knowledge of longevity”. It is one of the main aspects of aromatherapy massage. many centuries ago perfumed waters would be exported to China, India and Europe with the most popular one being rose water.

Oils :Sources and Extraction Methods

There are many ways to obtain oils and various different things that we source our oils from, such as, the leaves, fruit, grass, roots, bark, gums and blossom.

I will talk about these different sources and what processes are used to extract the oils from the source. When oils are extracted from plants there are different ways that they can be extracted from the pant this is mainly due to where the plants have been grown, the climate that they have been grown in and it can also depend on the soil that is used when the plant was planted. It is even said that when a plant is harvest and way it was harvested can depend on how they will then choose what extraction method will be used. To ensure that you are going to get the best quality from the source. It is extremely important that you get the most natural biochemistry of the plant, as it will then mean that you are going to the best oils sourced. There any many different ways of sourcing essential oils. One of the ways that we extract an oil can be through Solvent extraction. This is when a solvent called hydrocarbon is used to dissolve the essential oils from the plant. This Is done by adding the solvent to the plant. The dissolved essential oil is then distiller by filtering and concentrating the oil, until you have a combination of resin, wax and essential oil this is know as the concentrate. Pure alcohol is then added to the concentrate which will eventually evaporate and leave behind the oil. Steam distillation is

different as it is where plants are heated. The essential oils from the plant then evaporate into the steam along with tiny molecules which are then left to cool in a condenser. When they return to liquid from the oils will either float or sink to the bottom of the condenser which easily allows for liquid to be taken away leaving you with the oil. Before we were able to use high technology it was very common for oils to be obtained from the plant by hand expressed where people used enfleurage and mace ration to get the oils from the plant. This is still used today along with other forms such as, machine expression, enfleurage, maceration. Maceration is when the plants flowers or leaves are crushed so the the glands which hold the oil break so that when they are put into a warm vegetable oil and stored somewhere warm allowing the base to absorb the oils from the flowers or leaves. This process gets repeated with more fresh flowers or leaves until you have a concentrate of the oil. Hand expression is only used when extracting oils from citrus. This is when the rinds of the fruit are squeezed by hand until the glands in the rind of the fruit rupture. The oil is then collected by sponges and then squeezed into a large container. This method of extraction is no longer done by hand but it is still used today to extract oils. (Paterson, 2006). Enfleurage is now a very outdated form of extraction. (989)Cold fats are used to allow oils to still be produced in flowers after the have been picked. This is because the odourless fat substances can absorb the oils and keep them in the purest form. A thin layer Is placed over a glass frame