Holistic therapy

AROMATHERAPHY is the therapeutic use of essential oils extracted from flowers, leaves, roots, fruits, grasses and seeds to promote health of body and serenity of mind. It combines the physical and emotional effects of massage with the medicinal and psychotherapeutic properties of plants essences. Aromatheraphy reigns supreme as treatment for stress-related ailments including anxiety, moderate depression, insomnia, fatigue, emotionally induced sexual difficulties, digestive disturbances, premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and menopausal distress.

Aromatherapy is closely connected with the last two branches of Ayurveda namely Rasayana tantra and Vajikavana tantra. The aim of rasayana or rejuvenation therapies was to maintain youth and long life, keeping the enzymes of the body in their normal functioning condition. The tranquility of the mind is promoted and the nerves and bones kept in good condition.

Aromatherapy is not intended to supplant allopathic medicine, but to supplement it and enhance the caring work carried out by doctors and nurses, to reintroduce natural healing agents into hospitals. Many allopathic drugs are manufactured from these oils. Forglove, for instance, contains the cardiac tranquiliser, digitalis.

A major breakthrough for the therapy was in 1993 when general practitioners were empowered to refer patients to the National Health Service (NHS), provided that the GP concerned remained clinically accountable for the patient.

Due to the growth of Aromatherapy in U.K. and complementary therapies in the NHS, the Royal College of Nursing introduced nurses to the various complementary therapies available, with a steering committee to compare results of their use in hospital situations. Where the benefits to patients can be quantified, it is hoped to use this evidence to persuade more hospitals managers to fund natural therapies - including aromatherapy.

As a result of the work undertaken by the British Complementary Medicine Association (BCMA), Aromatherapy Organisations Council (AOC) was born in 1991 and is the leading body in the U.K. One of the main aims of the AOC is to establish common standards of training and to ensure that all organisations registered with the council provide appropriate standards of professional practice and conduct for their members.

The practice of aromatheraphy varies widely across the globe. In some countries like France, Phytotherapy (which includes aromatherapy) is an established branch of medicine and essential oils may be prescribed only by qualified doctors.

In France, aromatherapy is a branch of medicine, generally included with medical herbalism and used by medical doctors already involved in alternative or complementary medicine.

Another important use of aromatherapy in France, and one where no placebo or psychological effect can be said to intervene, is in emergency situations involving burns, wounds and external trauma. The successful use of essential oils in such acute cases provides strong confirmation of their efficacy.

The connections between a person's thoughts, feelings and immune status suggests that the ability of essential oils to affect all these states makes aromatherapy worth considering a a truly holistic therapy. It has been established beyond doubt that essential oils have a physical impact in that they are bactericidal, anti-inflammatory, anti- fungal, appetite stimulant, hyperemia, expectorant and, at the same time, possess properties which can affect the mind and emotions, to sedate, calm and uplift. This is especially true when the essential oils are applied with body massage. This direct and profound effect on the mind and emotions as the sense of smell is direct to the human brain.

Research carried out in the early 1990's at the Middlesex Hospital's intensive therapy unit (ITU) assessed the effects of aromatherpy and massage on post-cardiac surgery patients. It indicated a trend towards greater and more lasting psychological benefit. Great advances have been made in our knowledge of the interactions of the mind, emotions, nervous system and immune system, and there is growing recognition of their combined impact on general health. Essential oils have an important role to play in bringing about a state of relaxation which can favour healing.

A wide range of conditions from the onset of puberty to beyond menopause can be treated by these essential oils. Use of oils in labour can reduce a woman's need for drugs such as pethidne. Clearly the use of essential oils during pregnancy requires great expertise. Only those qualified in aromatherapy should use such oils.

Many conditions occurring during pregnancy and childbirth from backache and heartburn, stretch marks and uterine inertia can be relieved or prevented by the use of various essential oils. This is being increasingly recognised by midwives. According to Sue Lundie, a midwife and aromatherapist working for Derby General Hospital, aromatherapy is a useful adjunct to the range of options they are able to offer their clients to assist them in their efforts to make pregnancy, labour and the puerperium a natural and enjoyable experience.

Use of essentials oils during labour releases tension, relaxes the muscles improves circulation, lowers blood pressure.

Aromatherapy also helps in postnatal care relieving problems like caesarean section wounds, emotional imbalance, fatigue and haemorrhage. It further helps the new mother deal with a range of baby's problems like colic, fretfulness, nappy rash, insect bites, cough and cold, diarrhoea, fever, insominia, stomach ache and others.

Massage is an extension of touch which relaxes the muscles and encourages the mind to take a break from its usual frenetic activity. The addition of essential oils to a bland massage oil extends massage into a therapy which can have profound effects on the mind thus beneficially affecting the emotional and physical behaviour of people with learning difficulties.

A trial study in the U.K. is cited which demonstrates that massage with essential oils can significantly reduce stress level in patients. A lady was admitted hospital with pregnancy-induced hypertension. She was obviously anxious and, during the course of the chat, was asked if she would like her feet massaged. A cream to which was added three drops each of Canarge Odorata and Lavandula Angustifolia was used and was continued for a little over half an hour, during which time her BP dropped gradually.

A large number of essential oils are stress reducing and, to this end, can be used independently on a paper tissue, in the bath and a vaporiser. Also the effects of massage are enhanced when essential oils are added to the basic massage oil, as discovered by Passant.

The main function of aromatherapy as introduced in the 1960s, i.e. with obligatory massage, was to relieve stress. The first aromatherapies were thought to concentrate only on relieving stress, so that the body's own healing mechanism would be brought into play to alleviate other symptoms such as migranies. Aromatherapy, as practiced today, combines several aspects of healing which enhance each other's effects. Therapies such as massage and aromatherapy and being seen more are more in the treatment of depression and anxiety, often being seen as an alternative rather than a complementary therapy.

The value of essential oils in significantly reducing patient stress-levels in coronary and intensive-care contexts. The mind can be calmed further by the use of essential oils. Therapeutic touch with essential oils can sometimes be all that is needed to bring relief from mild pain or discomfort; avoding the use of chemical analgesia or heavy sedation. Trial studies at Battle Hospital show that touch and massage give positive psychological results to patients in intensive care. It also confirms the findings of the Royal Sussex County Hospital trials that, while massage alone is beneficial, massage with essential oils gives enhanced and longe lasting effects.

Essential oils can also be used to treat emotional shock and to minimise the risk of infection. This is especially so in the case of severe burns. Damaged tissue is a good incubator for bacteria and essential oils can play a potentially life saving role in such cases by sanitising the micro-environment. The research studies presented clearly demonstrate the efficacy of essential oils in significantly reducing patient stress levels in coronary and intensive care contexts. It is interesting to note that both the inhalation of oils and different forms of massage with them produce beneficial results.

Some benefits to both patient and doctors come from the use of essential oils by the elderly. Studies show definite reductions in the need for medication for sleep disturbances in cases where aromatherapy has been used.

The use of certain essential oils can induce sleep easily and a number of side effects can be alleviated with essential oils. Aromatherapy has helped reduce the need for expensive sedation and pain killing drugs on account of the relief obtained from constipation and general aches and pains by the application of this therapy (Macdonald 1993).

With the help of aromatherapy, people faced with terminal illness have enjoyed a quality of life better than they might otherwise have experienced. Aromatherapy with massage is particularly suited to the terminally ill, who have a profound need for the caring and loving touch of gentle hands. Massage conveys warmth, comfort, pleasure and safety. For these people, the use of essential oils to enhance the massage can relieve some of the anxiety in a caring way and perhaps bring about deeper, more relaxed sleep.

DR. SUMATHI

The writer is with the Institute of Reproductive Medicine and Women's Health in Madras Medical Mission, 5th Floor, 4-A, Dr. J.J. Nagar, Mogappair, Chennai-600050. Ph: 6565513, 6565514.

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