Aromatherapy is
the use of essential oils, extracted from plants,
trees, and herbs, for therapeutic purposes. Although
aromatic plant oils have been used to treat various
conditions for thousands of years, the term aromatherapy
wasn't coined until 1928, when Rene-Maurice Gattefosse,
a French chemist first used it.
Gattefosse had earlier witnessed the curative capabilities
of essential oils when he used them to treat wounds
during World War I. After the war, he continued
to experiment with various oils, and eventually
classified them according to their "healing" properties:
antitoxic, antiseptic, tonifying, stimulating, calming,
and so on. In 1937, he published Aromatherapie,
which remains a classic book on the subject (it
is available in English). Marguerite Maury, who
built on Gattefosse's work in the 1950s, is credited
with developing aromatherapy as a holistic therapy.
She was also the first to tailor specific oils to
an individual's health needs.
Today aromatherapy utilizes approximately 40 different
essential oils, singly and in combination. Generally,
they are helpful for treating stress and stress-related
ailments, for invigorating the body, and for promoting
general well-being. The oils are used in a variety
of ways: They can be mixed with a bland carrier
oil (such as a vegetable oil) and applied to the
skin during a massage; they may be inhaled; or they
can be added to your bathwater. You can do aromatherapy
at home by buying the individual oils (they're commonly
found at health-food stores and pharmacies) or you
can visit a trained aromatherapist, who will probably
mix up a blend of oils customized especially for
you and your condition
