How Does Aromatherapy Work?

How does aromatherapy work? Essential oils enter the body either by absorption or inhalation.

Let's start with inhalation. When your body's olfactory system processes smell, signals go to two parts of your brain:

• the olfactory cortex, where you consciously interpret the smell
  
  
• the limbic system, which processes emotions and memories. That's why freshly baking cookies remind you of your grandmother who was always baking cookies. Conversely, if a smell is associated with an unpleasant event, you can experience feelings related to that event.

Because the limbic system is directly connected to parts of the brain that control heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress levels, and hormone balance, scents can have physiological and psychological effects.

Essential oils are also absorbed through the skin when directly applied, such as with massage. They then travel into the lymphatic system, which circulates them into the blood stream, where again they can have physiological effects.

Even when you inhale an essential oil, the oil is absorbed through the mucous membranes of your respiratory tract and lungs, where it's transferred into the blood stream.

How Do Essential Oils and Aromatherapy Work in the Body?

Each essential oil contains many natural chemical components that can affect a person. The predominat component, or combination of components, in an oil determines its effects (that is, relaxing, pain-relieving, unfriendly to bacteria and viruses, etc.). Some oils, such as lemon and lavender, are "adaptogenic" and adapt to what your body needs.

The main groups of chemical components are terpenes and other molecules based on terpenes (higher homologues) and phenylpropane derivatives. The various types of terpenes and phenylpropane derivatives can have many beneficial effects, including:

• Creating an environment unfriendly to viruses, bacteria, and fungi.
  
  
• Helping reduce inflammation.
  
  
• Relaxing our nervous system and muscles, which helps ease pain, tension, cramps, and muscle spasms.

For a more detailed chemical breakdown and explanation of the effects of various components of essential oils, see chapter 2 of Advanced Aromatherapy: The Science of Essential Oil Therapy.

The bottom line in how does aromatherapy work is that essential oils have chemical components that affect the body. Currently, the effects are not fully understood, but more research is happening to give us more information.