Using Aromatherapy In The Home Safely

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Thursday, December 13th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

Aromatherapy has become increasingly popular along with many other alternative health care philosophies like meditation, acupuncture and Reiki. Why these things have become popular is not exactly clear but I think people have become a little skeptical of pharmaceutical companies and the high cost of health care. It has prompted them to take more control over their health care. In the case of aromatherapy, it is also an interesting hobby. It is popular in the United States even though it is not recognized as a valid form of health care. Most people start with pre-made oils and burners and move onto researching how essential oils work. They move onto making essential oils and blending different oils for treating health problems.

Aromatherapy is easy to get into. There are many products on the market that are ready to use. So you have things like pre-made aromatherapy candles, lotions and massage oils. Most of these products tell you what type of essential oil is in the candle and what sort of results you can expect from it. This is the first part of your aromatherapy education. Clearly pre-made items like candles may differ in quality and may not even contain any essential oils but simply smell good. So although it is safe to start your aromatherapy education buying ready made products you really want to move on to creating the essential oils yourself. This will produce the most concentrated oils and you will be able to see how they work.

What Are Essential Oils

If you think of the olive fruit, it is harvested and pressed to produce an oil that can be used for adding to food. There are health benefits to eating olive oil over, say, saturated fats like lard or vegetable oil. The same thing applies to many other plants and fruits. This is the basis behind aromatherapy. By extracting the essential oils out of plants or flowers like lavender or basil you can use these oils to benefit the body. For instance, lavender can be used for many things, notably to relieve pain if your skin is burned and to speed up the healing process.

Essential oils are typically pressed or extracted through steam distillation. In some cases they are extracted using chemicals. The extraction process can be quite complicated for some essential oils but pressing and steam distillation is can be done at home. Obviously steam distillation is more complicated than pressing. It involves passing steam through the plant or fruit in question and them cooling this steam. The result is a liquid and oil. The oil rises to the top due to its density and can be skimmed off. This is your essential oil.

Essential Oils And The Skin

This is a very concentrated oil and in some cases essential oils can cause skin irritation if applied directly t the body. So essential oils are great for burning to create rejuvenating scents, you should be careful about applying to the skin. You can either read about the essential oil in reference books or on the internet. They will tell you if the oil is considered toxic, an irritant or safe. You could also try a patch test. This is where you place a drop of the oil on a part of the skin and wait a few hours to see if there is any adverse reaction. After a day or even a few hours you should know if the reaction is good or otherwise.

If the oil is not good for the skin then you can always blend it with other oils that are not irritating to the skin. This will have a diluting affect and make the product safe for the skin.

In terms of safety in the home with aromatherapy, it is advisable to start off small and build your knowledge and experience of aromatherapy before you try exotic oils and involved aromatherapy treatments. The same applies with creating essential oils. You can buy essential oils initially and then build towards creating your own.

Some Aromatherapy Products listed on Ebay :

Spa Comforts Hot Teddy Bear Body Wrap Aromatherapy