Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils, the concentrated aromatic liquids drawn from plants, to support relaxation and a sense of well-being. Oils such as lavender, peppermint, lemon, and eucalyptus are most often inhaled from a diffuser, a tissue, or a bowl of steam, or applied to the skin after dilution in a carrier oil, often as part of a massage. Practitioners include aromatherapists, massage therapists, nurses, and hospital teams who offer scents for comfort, and many people also use oils at home.

Aromatherapy is a complementary practice, and it is not a treatment for any disease. Researchers have asked whether the scents can ease anxiety, nausea, pain, or sleep, with mixed answers. An overview of systematic reviews found the evidence was not sufficiently convincing for any condition, mainly because studies were small and of poor quality, and placebo-controlled testing of a scent is hard because people can tell which oil they are smelling. Newer reviews report short-term benefits in some settings, such as lower anxiety and menopausal symptoms, with low certainty.

Essential oils are potent and can cause harm if used carelessly. They can irritate or sensitize skin, citrus oils can make skin more sensitive to sunlight, some oils are risky for infants, and swallowing even small amounts can cause serious poisoning. Some oils are toxic to cats and other pets. Used with care, in dilution, and in good ventilation, aromatherapy is generally low risk and can be a pleasant addition to routine, as long as it complements and never replaces medical care.

People have used fragrant plants and distilled oils for thousands of years in medicine, religion, and perfumery. Dioscorides described aromatic plant substances in the first century, the physician Ibn Sina is credited with refining the distillation of essential oils such as rose in the eleventh century, and Hildegard of Bingen is recorded using distilled lavender oil in the twelfth. The word aromatherapy itself is more recent. It was first printed in 1937 in the French book Aromatherapie by the chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse.

The French surgeon Jean Valnet carried the idea into medicine after using essential oils as antiseptics on wounded soldiers in the Second World War, and later promoted their use. Marguerite Maury (1895 to 1968), an Austrian-born biochemist working in France, is credited by the International Federation of Aromatherapists with introducing aromatherapy massage and with opening early aromatherapy clinics in Paris and England, which helped shape the practice in the United Kingdom. Aromatherapy then spread through schools, therapist associations, and hospitals in Europe, Australia, and North America. Today there is no single global standard. Training, registration, and the rules on selling oils vary by country, and clinical teams in some hospitals use aromatherapy as a comfort measure alongside standard care.