Aromatherapy has been known to heal the mind, body and soul for centuries. Ancient civilizations like Egyptians used aroma oils to embalm and preserve mummies. Greeks and Romans used aroma oils in spas for bathing, relaxation and massage.
Indians and Chinese used aromatherapy in beauty treatments, skin care, religious rituals and mostly alternative medicines. Holistic healing to calm stressed nerves, alleviate mood, cure burns, soothe the soul are all techniques that are a multi pronged strategy many aroma therapists’ use worldwide to cure their patients.
Today, doctors are prescribing the use of essential oils in various forms to patients, some even having chronic diseases! Today aromatherapy is recognised as an acceptable form having curative properties by practitioners worldwide. Millions of products are sold under patent labels and the aromatherapy industry is pegged at billions of dollars with many pharma companies seeing the potential in using it as a full fledged division to generate business.
The aroma of success wafts as long as positive results are registered amongst users. It has the strong reputation of having therapeutic effects, if not a total cure for problems. Just for the record what works for one may not work for the other.
Chronic problems in any case do not disappear with any therapy or medicine. The mind heals itself. Therefore, a bit of psychology is applied on the patient. However, let us not drive away the goodness of aromatherapy.
A French chemist Rene-Maurice Gattesfosse understood the benefits of aromatherapy in the 1920 when the rest of the world was swearing by allopathic and modern medicines. He had burnt his hand badly in the lab where he worked. He immediately put his burning hand in a cold substance nearby which cured him quickly. Unknowingly he had dipped his burning arm in lavender oil. Well, he spent the rest of his life studying the benefits of other essential oils too. The chemist turned into an overnight aroma healer and encouraged others to use it. People of many cultures have been healing themselves with aromatic oils with home made recipes,
beauty treatments in spas and medical assistance.