Essential Oils: Essentials for Life

Aromatherapy is the use of “essences of aromatic plants in a therapeutic manner to maintain vitality and promote well-being. The use of aromatic substances is as old as the pyramids of Egypt—it is an art of 5,000 years ago” (Young, 2000, p 72). Imhotep, a physician to King Zoser, has been credited as the grandfather of aromatherapy. Known by the Egyptians as the god of medicine and healing, he recommended the combination of aromatic oils with massage, a combination ancient Egyptians are still recognized for today. Kyphi, a perfume of sixteen different aromatics, was used as an antiseptic, medicine and tranquilizer (80). The most obvious use of aromatics was the embalming of mummies, of course. The empty body was preserved with perfumes, resins, and fragrant preparations such as myrrh, cassia, and ced

These reasons have been proposed for the administration of aromatherapy in

Essential oil vapors travel into the nose and interface with the olfactory epithelium located at the top of each nostril. The olfactory epithelium consists of 20 million nerve endings. One whiff of a scent triggers a nerve message to the brain, bringing with it a library of information. The olfactory bulb then amplifies the message, which then passes through the limbic system, the part of the brain involved with emotions and memories. The amygdala and hippocampus are the first to analyze the nerve message. They are located in the part of the brain associated with memory, learning and emotional responses. At this point, a memory maybe triggered because our subconscious receives and reacts to the nerve message before we actually think about what we smell. We use our intellectual process when the nerve message is received by the cerebral cortex.

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