Extracted from Aromatherapy

What is Aromatherapy ?

Aromatherapy is the therapeutic use of aromatic substances. Therapeutic use covers both mind and body, whereas aromatic substances tend to be the essential oils. As a treatment, it is usually combined with body-contact therapy in the form of massage. Aromatherapy massage is one of the most relaxing types of massage and is best done with subdued lighting and gentle background music. The nature of aromatherapy is as a holistic treatment, restoring balance to mind and body as well as its specific use in treating a wide range of symptoms.

Essential oils are pure, concentrated plant extracts obtained specifically for their fragrance and therapeutic value. The chemical composition of these oils is exceedingly complex - often tens or hundreds of constituent parts. It is now thought that all of these parts play a vital role in the effectiveness of essential oils and thus the chemical synthesis of these oils has proved remarkably tricky.

Examples of common essential oils include lavender oil, rose oil and peppermint oil.

Aromatherapy, while relatively new to the Western World, goes back a long way. Although the term essential oil is a recent one, civilisations have been using incense, perfumes and cosmetics for thousands of years. Herbs and spices have been used in cooking for a long time, but their use has often been linked to both religious and medicinal purposes. Indian literature, dating from around 2000BC mentions the use of cinnamon, ginger, myrrh, coriander and sandalwood. The Chinese have a long tradition of alternative medicine. Aromatherapy is just one of a number of treatments which include acupuncture, reflexology and herbal remedies. The Egyptians were renowned for their herbal potions and ointments. Temples were filled with incense. Corpses were embalmed in oils of cedar and myrrh. Egyptian women wore perfume. Greece and Rome were introduced to the riches of the far-away places. Camphor from China, Cinnamon from India, Gums from Arabia.

Much of the knowledge gained by earlier civilisations was lost to Europe during the Dark Ages. The Arabs excelled in the manufacture of perfumes during the thirteenth century. During the Middle Ages, infectious diseases such as the plague were fought off with aromatic plants strewn across floors. Lavender water was available in the sixteenth century at the local apothecary. It was a time of alchemists embarking on mystical quests to turn base metals into gold, and for others to distil the quintessence from aromatic materials. Not until the end of the seventeenth century was the distinction between perfumes and aromatics made clear, with alchemy giving way to chemistry as more and more became understood about the nature of matter. The scientific revolution of the early nineteenth century saw the birth of the modern drug industry. During the twentieth century, essential oils were moved away from therapeutic use into perfumes, cosmetics and foodstuffs.

In 1928, René-Maurice Gattefossé used the term aromatherapy. Although a French chemist working in the family's perfumier business, he became aware of the power of lavender in treating his own severe burns. He also found that synthetic oils were not as effective as the pure essential oils found in nature. Even trying to isolate the active ingredients did not prove very successful. The work was continued by another French doctor, Dr. Jean Valet, who treated specific medical and psychiatric disorders with essential oils. The results were published in 1964.

Essential oils are just one of the products of natural aromatic substances. There are other fragrance products used in the perfume industry and these are extracted by other means. Essential oils can be extracted by...

The aromatic substances are heated with steam and the water and the oils condensed out in a cold water condensing tube. The oils float to the surface and can be siphoned off. This method is used for the majority of oils, for example, lavender, sandalwood and cinnamon. Some essential oils are redistilled at different temperatures to obtain further splits in composition. For instance, white, yellow and brown camphor.

Expression is extraction by pressure. The oils are squeezed out. Most of the citrus oils are extracted by this method, for instance lemon and bergamot.

The following additional methods are used for the extraction of aromatics...

Hydrocarbon solvents ( such as petroleum or hexane ) are used to dissolve the aromatic material. The remaining residue is known as a concrete and is usually solid in form. A further process of solvent extraction using ethanol yields an absolute. A small proportion of non-volatile matter ( wax ) usually remains which can be removed by molecular distillation. Absolutes are usually highly concentrated viscous liquids but they may contain up to 2% of ethanol. Clary sage absolute is a semi-solid.

When the base material is organic but dead, the extraction yields a resinoid. This base material includes balsams ( eg. benzoin ), resins ( eg. amber ), oleoresins ( eg. turpentine ) and oleo gun resins ( eg. frankincense and myrrh ). Resinoids range from liquids to solids. When the resinoid is sufficiently volatile, it may be steam distilled into an essential oil. Benzoin is so viscous that this is not possible and the oil is simply a resinoid that has been dissolved in a suitable liquid.

Once a principal method of extraction from flowers, this method is virtually obsolete today. The aromatic material is placed on sheets of glass coated with an odourless fat ( chassis ). The fat becomes saturated with the aromatic oils which can then be dissolved out with alcohol. The fragrance-saturated fat is known as a pomade. The alcohol extractions are known as absolutes.

Essential oils can be liquid, semi-solid ( rose ) or solid ( orris ). Liquid is the most common form at room temperature. Essential oils dissolve in alcohol, fats and other oils but not in water. Contrary to popular belief, they are not oily to touch. Being of a volatile nature, they evaporate on exposure to air and do not leave an oily residue.

Essential oils can be absorbed by the human body in a variety of ways. The vapour, once inhaled, can trigger neurochemical release in the brain via receptors in the nose and mouth. Many people are familiar with the phenomenon of a sudden awareness of past memories after detecting a particular smell or taste. Although these memories can be buried deep in the subconscious, they suddenly flood into view. Of all the five senses, smell has the strongest link into the subconscious. Vapour can also be absorbed by the blood once it gets into the lungs. Once in the bloodstream, it can circulate quickly to all the organs of the body, not just the brain. As a liquid, essential oils can be taken orally ( not recommended ) with direct action on the stomach and the small / large intestines. More usually, oils form part of an aromatherapy massage, in which case there is an immediate local action on the skin ( epidermis and dermis ) and from there into muscle tissue, joints and the bloodstream.