Monfocus from Pixabay"/>Essential oils are a hot topic in modern culture for their calming, healing attributes. These naturally derived oils seem to stand out as a remedy to various ailments such as stress, nausea, and restlessness.
Do these oils actually work? To find out the pros and cons to aromatherapy, let’s take a deeper look…
What are Essential Oils?
Essential oils are concentrated parts of plants, like bark, roots, rinds, seeds, or leaves. Each oil is a condensed piece of the essence of that plant. In other words, it’s the essentials of that plant- hence the name “essential” oil.
The concentrate of these oils varies depending on batch, country, and brand, so it’s important to research whether it’s as pure as it seems. The oils are made through mechanical pressing and distillation. Each essential oil has a different chemical makeup with its own unique healing abilities.
Is Aromatherapy Legitimate?
There are few red flags in research regarding essential oils outside of their appropriate use. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences states that there are allegedly some adverse effects concerning lavender and tea tree with young boys.
Other than this alleged negative effect, both tea tree oil and lavender oil have produced positive results in their healing properties. These oils have been proven statistically significant in their effectiveness in treat certain symptoms:
- Tea Tree oil– This oil helps heal and produce positive effects in acne, dandruff, athlete’s foot, lice, and nail fungus according to Mayo Clinic.
- Lemon and Orange oil– Lemon oil is often suggested to pregnant women because of its ability to fight nausea, help with depression, and reduce pain. The Cleveland Clinic also says that both lemon and orange oil can reduce anxiety and kill bacteria.
- Lavender– The National Library for Medicine discovered that lavender induces relaxation and can treat parasitic infections, burns, spasms, and insect bites.
- Peppermint and Eucalyptus oil– Both peppermint and eucalyptus oil help to relax muscles and reduce mental stress, according to the National Library of Medicine. Peppermint oil can also ease headaches, fight fatigue, reduce gut spasms, lift your mood, and support memory and digestion, as stated by the Cleveland Clinic. Eucalyptus oil can reduce pain as well.
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Frankincense oil– The
Cleveland Clinic claims that frankincense oil helps with inflammation, sleep, mood, and asthma and prevents gum disease.
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Rosemary oil– The
National Library of Medicine showed that rosemary oil is significantly related to helping in improving brain function. It is also helpful in promoting hair growth, reducing pain, reducing stress, reducing joint inflammation, and lifting mood.
Overall, essential oils have seen promising results in most studies. If the essential oil concentration is pure, it can have many healing properties to it. This may be something to consider when you are seeking treatment for a symptom that’s bugging you.
Nature has many healing properties, so it might be time for you to explore some of those with essential oils!
For more healthy lifestyle tips, consider our article 5 Effective Exercise Routines That Are Actually Fun.
