Aromatherapy herbs for healing

Herbal medicine has several forms and aromatherapy is one of them. A patient's health and vitality are bettered through the use of scents that come from essential oils. These essential oils are derived from various herbs, flowers and trees. Not all essential oils can be used for all ailments but when they are used in the right way, essential oils are known to re-energize and regenerate the spirit, mind and body. Aromatherapy can be used in several forms. Oils, candles, soaps and lotions are probably the most popular ones.

How is the scented oil extracted from the plants?

Lots of herbs are a part of the creation of essential oils and some other tools used for aromatherapy. These oils are a part of every plant. Distillation is the process through which the essential oils are extracted from the herbs. It can be done in several ways but they are all pretty much the same.

Firstly, the herbs are placed in water which is then heated until it creates steam. Aromatic compounds are released and carried along with other chemicals. Next step is the chilling of the steam. What is left after that is collected. The oils will float on the distilled water and can be collected.

Treat aromatherapy with respect

A lot of people are not aware that they must be careful when they are working with essential oils. The oils are not to be used as much as someone would like. These oils are strongly concentrated and their measurement is in drops. For instance, a person who ingests one ounce of essential oil may die. People who do not know anything or enough about aromatherapy should use these oils only on the skin. A person should remember that the drops of essential oils should always be mixed with a certain "carrier”. For instance, almond oil is considered to be a carrier.

How can anything from plants be so powerful?

The pharmacology itself has origins in the herbal medicine and plenty of medications that are in use today are derived from certain herbs. There are a quarter of a million herbs known to man. Just 1% of all those herbs have been properly tested for medicinal usage. Still, 25% of all medications people use today are derived from that 1%.

Growing herbs for aromatherapy

A person who is thinking about growing herbs for aromatherapy should know that he or she will need a vast area of crops. The reason for this is because when a plant is distilled it has somewhere between 0.01% and 2% of essential oil. Apart from the soil, there are several more things a person will need in order to raise plants for aromatherapy.