Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine that uses volatile plant materials, known as essential oils, and similar aromatic compounds from plants, for the purpose of improving a person's mood, cognitive function or health. There are many of these "essential oils" which are soothing and refreshing although it is important to note that as with any bioactive substance, an essential oil that may be safe for the general public could still pose hazards for pregnant and/or lactating women.
Aromatherapy has origins in antiquity - the use of infused aromatic oils and their healing properties were described by Dioscorides in his De Materia Medica which was written in the first century. The concept of aromatherapy as we know it was first mooted by a small number of European scientists and doctors, in about 1907 and in 1937, the word first appeared in print in a French book: Aromathérapie: Les Huiles Essentielles, Hormones Végétales by René-Maurice Gattefossé, a chemist. A French surgeon, Jean Valnet, pioneered the medicinal uses of essential oils, which he used as antiseptics in the treatment of wounded soldiers during World War II.
Using the bath as an innovative way of administering aromatherapy is becoming more popular than the traditional massage therapy as many of us use a hot bath as both a way to relax tired bodies and to relieve metal stresses. The scents of an aromatherapy bath directly seep into respiratory, skin and nervous system to help reduce problems like joint or muscle pain and PMS.
To maximize the benefits, add the drops of oil just before you enter the water and keep doors and windows of the room closed (even better if you have a shower curtain around your bath tub which can be drawn closed) to keep the steam vapours where they can be inhaled as you gently breathe. In addition, any bath oil containing Vitamin E can be added to your bath as you run it which will help keep the fragrance oil on the surface longer.
The soothing effects of this treatment will help you into a deep and restful sleep, allowing you to wake invigorated. (Although if it's a different kind of invigoration you have in mind, some oils can be used as an aphrodisiac.)
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