Different Theories on How it Works
Not everything is yet understood about how aromatherapy works. The clearest understanding involves inhalation aromatherapy. Smell is a chemical reaction during which the molecules of the essential oil enter the nasal passages and are transmitted via the olfactory tract to the olfactory center of the brain. From there messages are sent to the limbic system, the oldest part of the brain, from which it affects the entire body. The limbic system plays an important role in memory, learning and emotion. The essential oil produces changes within the limbic system which leads to physiological responses in the body through the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems and voluntary and involuntary motor centers.

Conditions it Works Best For
Whereas essential oils have been used therapeutically by ancient cultures for thousands of years, only in the past century have they undergone scientific analysis to verify clinical effectiveness. Clinical studies have shown the benefits of aromatherapy in the treatment of headache, relief of post-operative pain and nausea, and inflammatory hair loss. Further clinical studies have supported the usefulness of aromatherapy during childbirth and for the treatment of mood disorders, stress and anxiety.

Content last modified on Mar 18, 2003