Regarding usage of Aromatherapy as Internal Medicine

As an aromatherapy practitioner and educator since many years, I have to admit that I was a hypocrite regarding usage of aromatherapy as internal medicine. I have been using some essential oils for use within my own family and myself as internal medicine also, but I always told my students and patients that never use essential oils for internal consumption. The purpose behind this advice was actually to save my patients and learners from incorrect use of essential oils. It was recently pointed by one of my student that I had referred internal consumption of some oils in specific diseases. Then, I decided to clarify my stance on this issue using this blog.

For example if I suffer from some irritation of bowel or an outbreak of diarrhea, I do take 1 drop of neat peppermint oil mixed with about 100 ml of water about 3 times a day. I mostly get relief without taking any other medication. Mixing essential oil with water is difficult, but some rigorous churning of oil in water breaks oil into very small particles and they are not irritants any more. I am able to do this because I have full faith on the source of essential oils. I also know that by smelling the oil bottle, I would be able to make out that the oil I am using is peppermint oil only and not anything else.

I do not advice the same to my patients for some compelling reasons. The first one is that internal consumption can be done only for some essential oils only. The quantity used in any dose should be very low and should be correctly measured. Accidental over consumption can lead to serious problems. The trust worthy source of essential oil is very important. Since aromatherapy is often used by people by just reading from somewhere or hearing somebody, essential precautions may be missed. It is also important that the person who is experienced in the field of aromatherapy is able to differentiate most oils by just smelling them. This helps the practitioner in a way that he/she  is not making wrong choices in picking  bottles. It is also important that while using any oil for internal consumption, it must be picked from a bottle which has come directly from the manufacturer only. Self refilled bottles should not be used.

The final word is “Use essential oils for internal consumption, only when prescribed and given by an experienced and qualified aromatherapist only. Self experimentation can be dangerous.”

(This blog is also available at https://aroma.website in the articles section)

Disease Definition and a Feeler about Different Medical Systems.

Disease is an unsatisfactory health condition of an organism's body, mind or both due to internally present or created agents like auto immunity issues, congenital issues, nutritional absorption or imbalance issues, or unregulated lifestyle etc or due to external agents likes microbes, accidents or other environmental factors which lead to impairments that are acute, chronic or permanent in nature.

Disease conditions that arise due to internal agents
are well addressed with ayurveda, naturopathy, yoga, homoeopathy, diet therapy, aromatherapy, bach flower therapy and many other similar therapies that treat the body as a whole and thus called the holistic healing. These therapies also reduce the chance of severity of disease caused by impact of external agents. If severity of external agents has already occurred, Western medical system or so called "Allopathic System" do have some remedies and techniques to help, but with a long list of cautions, effects and side effects. Once brought in control, the system of life style management with holistic healing has to be brought in again for a permanent cure and a bring the organism back to the cycle of a meaningful life.

However, one must agree that with commercial focus and availability of good amount of money in the western medical system, the research in past few decades has been biased towards piece-meal healing techniques of Allopathy and due to this reason this system has taken a clear lead both in perception and reality for masses. The commercial focus has also lead to heavy monetization of diagnostic techniques that resulted in better disease diagnosis on one hand and malpractices in form of money trails and commissions on the other hand. If simple and old diagnostic techniques based on pulse examination, stethoscopic examination, body types and signs observations are learnt well by the physicians and given preference with limited and conscious use of gadgets and machines, the days of low cost treatments with quick and permanent health cure with holistic health can be brought back. 

Smell Better - Sell More: A new opportunity domain for Aromatherapists

Smell of dishes made by Mom we always remember, howsoever old we become. People have far better smell memory than audio visual memory. The reason is that our smell sensing systems are much nearer to central portion of our brain, which is less susceptible to changes due to external environments. 

The concept of better smell memory is being identified recently as a tool to impress customers and in turn achieve greater commercial success. A grocery store in New York actually used artificial aroma diffusers to pump dry aroma of chocolates and baked bread to give customers a feel that fresh chocolates and freshly baked breads are available here. 

As we use logos to identify a brand, we are likely to use a distinct smell to identify a particular brand or a specific product from a particular brand. Even today many housewives identify their choice of washing powder with its smell. If by chance a company forgets to add right amount of fragrance to its washing powder, its sale may come down drastically. We may soon enter the times, where even things like mobile phones, laptops or television sets may get identified with their smell. The digital gadgets promises to make this competition one step further as it may allow choice of smells by digitally communicating it from one point to the other. 

A new dimension is Aromatherapy will soon make headlines owing to its power of drawing customers towards a product. Scents can boost suggestive selling of products kept at the point of sale counters. A research jointly conducted by Washington state university and Switzerland's University of St. Gallen conclusive proves that simple single aromatic essences like orange can make a person buy a product much more easily than complex smells of essences like basil, green tea etc. I am sure if research is done further we will surely find out exact components vis a vis purchase behaviour of Individuals.

In terms of hormonal induction, I can say with my experience that aromas that induce happiness hormone categories like endorphins, serotonins and dopamine can usually be considered as suggestive selling boosters. Essential oils of Lemon, Grape Fruit, Bergamot, Orange, Tangerine, Peppermint, Spearmint fall in this category. There are some essential oils which are effective in some people but not in some other people. Lavender and Sandalwood fall under this category. Sometimes it is observed that these oils are initially not liked, but later the liking level is extremely high. Floral source oils like Rose, Jasmine and Geranium may help boost sales of products for Ladies. Oils like Cinnamon, Fennel, Vetiver can also be experimented as oils with smells to align our minds to a particular category of products. For example a pencil brand with a cinnamon smell can become an identifier for customers to identify it quickly. Some smells like citronella, lemon grass, basil, eucalyptus etc. are too strong and may give a feeling of rejection and moving away from a product. However a mild mix of these oils with some other simple and pleasing smells may sometime be used as a variation of smell variety. Some smells like Frankincense, Tea Tree, Thyme etc are often controversial in terms of liking by some Individuals, but rejected by many other people. For example smell of shoe polish may not be liked by many, but some people identify it with its characteristics smell only. If it is case of a product like shoe polish, trying addition of smells that give it characteristics balsamic or resinous natural smell, people may perceive it of pure quality and may be inclined to buy it. Smell of products like shaving cream should be such that it is expected to be liked by masculine gender while shaving and should retain its smell in a way that even a well shaven male is liked by his partner also. Lavender and musk aromas meet this criterion. 

Finally, it can be said with surety that our smell sense do affect our behaviour related to making purchase decisions the way we think colour and looks does. It is largely an untapped area at the moment, but for this reason only it is a very high potential area to venture into and apply our knowledge of Aromatherapy to commercial success of products by making them not only visually appealing but aromatically interesting as well.