Using Aromatherapy as a Complimentary Alternative Medicine to Increase Mental Health and Physical Well-being
The use of aromatherapy and essential oils to increase ones mental health and physical well-being has been a common practice for centuries. Dating back to the middle ages, The National Cancer Institutes’s PDQ summary about Aromatherapy and Essential Oils describes their use in the following way: "aromatherapy is the use of essential oils from plants to support and balance the mind, body, and spirit. It is used by patients with cancer mainly as a form of supportive care that may improve quality of life and reduce stress and anxiety." While there is limited scientific research on the therapeutic uses of aromatherapy, it will be my goal
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in writing this paper to explain why people who suffer from emotional and mental disorders as well as a variety of physical illnesses should use aromatherapy as a complimentary alternative medicine to help them increase their mental health and overall physical well-being. To achieve this goal, I have organized my paper into three main sections.
In the first section, I will show how the use of aromatherapy and essential oils can help to increase one's quality of life and mental well-being by relating information taken from current clinical studies regarding the use of aromatherapy and essential oils on patients who suffer from a variety of mental illnesses - including one study in which researchers found that the use of Melissa essential oil may reduce the amount of agitation experienced by patients who suffer from severe dementia. In the second section, I will discuss how the use of aromatherapy has been shown to alleviate pain associated with chronic health conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and headaches. I will finish my paper with a third section that will discuss how essential oils used for aromatherapy have also been found to have limited to no side effects and have been proven safe for use and conclude with a fourth section that discusses the importance of expanding the current research regarding the beneficial uses of aromatherapy and essential oils for patients with mental and physical illness alike. I have also included a Works Cited that contains the studies in which I have chosen to examine. Before I can begin with the explanation of the benefits of using aromatherapy and essential oils, I will first need to provide information that will explain what aromatherapy is, as well as how essential oils are made. It is to this …show more content…
topic I will turn first. Simply stated, aromatherapy is using plant oils for healing and the treatment of disease.
These oils, referred to as essential oils, are the basic materials used in aromatherapy and are taken from parts of the plant such as the root, stalk, flowers, leaves, bark, or rind. "Each type of essential oil has a different chemical composition that affects how it smells, how it is absorbed, and how it is used by the body" (NIH). Once the plants oils are extracted, they may either be distilled with steam and/or water or mechanically pressed. Oils that are made from chemical processes are not considered to be pure essential oils and therefore their benefits will not be the same as using a pure essential oil. Pure essential oils are extremely concentrated. For instance, according to AuraCacia, a main distributor of pure essential oils, "It takes 150 pounds of lavender flowers to produce just one pound of lavender essential
oil." Aromatherapy has been used for therapeutic purposes for centuries. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, "The ancient Chinese, Indians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used them in cosmetics, perfumes, and drugs. Essential oils were also commonly used for spiritual, therapeutic, hygienic, and ritualistic purposes." Most recently however, The history of modern aromatherapy began in the early 20th century, when French chemist Rene Gattefosse coined the term "aromatherapy" and studied the effects of essential oils on many kinds of diseases. In the 1980s and 1990s, aromatherapy was rediscovered in Western countries as interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) began to grow (Elrich). After badly burning his hand in a laboratory experiment in 1910, Gattefosse immersed his injured hand into undiluted lavender oil. "He experienced pain relief, no infection, and a quick recovery with no scarring" (2).
- A blend of 5 oils that are each known to be very beneficial for your health on their own, never-mind combined together
Mistletoe has been extremely beneficial to medical science throughout the ages. It has been known to help cure or relieve epilepsy, hypertension, headaches, menopausal symptoms, infertility, arthritis, and rheumatism. Mistletoe is one of the highest alternative medicine remedies for cancer. In European countries, extracts made from European mistletoe are among the most prescribed remedies for cancer patients.” (National Cancer Institute p.2) In the International Journal of Cancer, they ran multiple tests with the mistletoe extract and found that the results of the clinical testing is highly inconsistent. In fact the stronger tests found that there is no improvement in quality of life in the patient. “The search terms were alternative medicine, cancer, controlled clinical trial, Eurixor®, Helixor®, Iscador®, lectin, malignancy, Mistel, mistletoe and derivatives. In addition, manufacturers of commercial mistletoe products and other experts were asked to contribute published as well as unpublished material, and our own extensive files were hand-searched.” (Eduard Ernst,Katja Schmidt, and Miriam Katharina Steuer-Vogt p.262–267) Because of limited data on the efficiency of mistletoe, only patients with primary or secondary brain tumors, leukemia, or malignant lymphoma are treated with mistletoe extract. Mistletoe extract is not used on pregnant or nursing women, ...
What is aromatherapy? In an article titled “Phytotherapy Research” by Amr Edris, he describes aromatherapy as, “The use of essential oils and their volatile constituents are widely to prevent and treat human disease.” Aromatherapy is said to be an alternate form of medicine that uses essential oils, which are made up of volatile plant materials. With these essential oils it is said that they help to alter a person’s mood, health, mind, and cognitive function. It is also said that aromatherapy could substitute as treatment or prevention for certain diseases. There are many different types of oils used for aromatherapy in different ways for different outcomes. Such methods include the topical application, aerial diffusion, and direct inhalation. Topical application is any direct contact with the oil, used such as placing the oil in a bath or directly on to the skin. Aerial diffusion is where the oil is placed on the carpet around you or even on to a pillow or bed. Direct inhalation is a method where the oil is placed on the hands and rubbed together then while cupping your hands under your face to inhale the oils, this has a very powerful effect when used. Some uses of aromatherapy are for used as anti-depressants, relive stress, help with relaxation, insomnia, acne, itching and many more. To cure anxiety lavender, chamomile, rose, vanilla, and cardamom oils are all used for this. Lemon, jasmine, rosemary, sandalwood, and peppermint oils are all used to help with depression. When dealing with fatigue it is said that basil, cedarwood, clove, and eucalyptus all help. Headaches can be cured with lemon grass, thyme, ginger, and cinnamon oils. Caraway, chamomile, lavender, and rosemary oils are all used to help with menstrual cramps. The...
Nowadays, complementary alternative medicine is very popular in the United States. It is widely used by adults and children. National health statistic reports done in 2007 shows that 38.3% of adults and 11.8% of children use some form of alternative medicine (U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2016). But why is this happening? Why is it becoming so popular? Why are more people turning to it? Many times, this is because conventional medicine has not work and they want to try an alternative. That is the case of the author of this paper.
Mathews, Holly F. "Introduction: A Regional Approach and Multidisciplinary Persepctive." Herbal and Magical Medicine: Traditional Healing Today. Ed. James Kirkland, Holly F. Mathews, C. W. Sullivan, III, and Karen Baldwin. Durham: Duke UP, 1992. 1-13. Print.
For many centuries, humanity has been on an eternal quest for cures and treatments for many chronic conditions. At the present time, conventional medicine is mostly performed by doctors and other health care professionals, with the extensive use of pharmaceutical drugs, surgery or radiation treatments for disease treatment. Conversely, even though not as popular, complementary and alternative medicine and treatment options are slowly gaining popularity and becoming an addition to traditional medicine.
Tacon, Anna. “Meditation as a Complementary Therapy in Cancer,” Family and Community Health. Vol. 26, Issue 1. pp63-73, January – March, 2003. Web. 18 May 2015.
What is massage therapy you might ask? The title for it explains almost the entire career. Massage therapist help their customers by using the manipulative skill of touching to relieve pain stress, and many other discomforting factors. As the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014) state, therapists help rehabilitate injuries, improve circulation, relieve stress, increase relaxation, and aid in the general wellness of clients. Therapists also soften issues of the body and knead muscles. They promote general wellness and provide treatment for injuries. Massage therapists may use lotions and oils and massage tables or chairs as Bureau of Labor Statistics (2014) writes. Massages can last as short as 5-10 minutes or even longer than an hour. These are
Complementary and alternative therapies are relatively new and essential options in health care, they help to increase the quality of life of patients and provide them with numerous possibilities to ensure growth of their health, beyond current medicine. Recently, these therapies, such as massage therapy and acupuncture, have become more prevalent in research. Consequently, their substitution with standard medicine in the healthcare system has been supported by the literature. The literature that supports these methods has explored why complementary therapies are needed, the different and distinct features of each therapy, and they also examine the education and knowledge those implementing the services must have. To accurately analyze if complementary and alternative therapies are valuable to the health care system, this paper will aim to learn why they are becoming predominant and why nurses should use these therapies’ to assist in improving the health of individuals. To determine the main attributes of these therapies, a variety of resources that extensively discuss complementary and alternative therapies will be examined and the paper will also examine the benefits and weaknesses they have on improving health. Lastly, this paper will aim to determine if these services should be implemented by nurses as alternative options for their patients, as nurses should have substantial knowledge pertaining to implementing these therapies.
The first group of chemical compounds to be discussed are terpenes. Terpenes are a very comprehensive group of metabolites which are known to contain essential oils that produces well-known scents in herbs belonging to the Lamiaceae plant family (Scott 2008). These scented compounds are usually found in the trichomes of basil, rosemary, lavender, etc. (Scott 2008). Electron micrograph images of these trichomes can be seen below. According to Keeling & Boltmann (2006), there are about 30 000 known types of terpenes which originated from structures created from terpene synthases. These terpene synthases can be broken up into three groups, monoterpene synthases, sesquiterpene synthases, and diterpene synthases (Keeling &...
First of all they are cheaper as compared to commercial perfumes. As they are made from natural herbs you can plant them at your home so that you can obtain the scent whenever you want. You will find an array of other types of benefits of herbal incense such as relaxation of mind and body and acts as an anti-depressant. Furthermore, if you have any kind of respiratory disorders such as asthma it can soothes you in such matters. As herbal incense contains anti-inflammatory benefits it is beneficial for a user and it can also eliminates toxins form the body.
Vaping is today’s hottest trend. Teens enjoy the puffing of the smoke and the way it makes them feel: powerful, calm, and relaxed. Vaping is originally developed for smokers who are trying to quit, so this is another option for them. However, it has transformed into a trend that young teenagers enjoy to do. Therefore, according to Vaping.com, “ an estimation of at least 20.8 million people worldwide are involved in vaping ” (Vaping.com). Vaping is suppose to encourage heavy smokers to quit, not attract teens. Vaping has gone too far and needs to end before teen become addicted to them.
Peppermint is said to believe to have many benefits regarding health of the human body. Although many people relate peppermint to the extract we put in foods to give it flavor around the holidays, peppermint oil is used in aroma therapy. Some of its usage is for helping irritable bowel syndrome, indigestion, relieves headaches, and improves mental focus. Due to the many health advantages of peppermint oil, it has become a common essential oil used in modern day aroma therapy.
Homeopathy is a type of alternative medicine. The beneficial effects of homeopathic medicines are controversial (1). Homeopathic medicines are based on the premise that like is cured by like. This premise states that a disease can be treated with a substance that causes the same signs and symptoms in a healthy individual.
Frequently a person believes that herbal medicine is more naturally safe and soothing than drugs. Nevertheless, there’s no reasonable defense about this. Though many consumers trusted herbal medicine much more than the synthetic medicine because it’s safe and effective, but like anything else, it has its own limitations too. There are several hostile issues related to herbal medicine that has been quite alarming. Notwithstanding, majority of the most popular herbs are at least nearly safe.