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Perhaps you have already experienced the healing benefits of essential oils, or maybe you have a few friends who swear by them. Physical healing is just one powerful reason to use essential oils. Here’s more on that, plus other compelling reasons to add these all-natural extracts to your wellness regimen. Whether you want safe alternatives to OTC pain medications and sleep aids or are looking for easy ways to deal with common illnesses while saving some of your hard-earned dollars, essential oils can prove quite useful.
Health and Wellness
Just like some of the products found in pharmacies and on drugstore shelves, essential oils can help you feel better. For instance:
- Oils with analgesic properties ease pain.
- Oils with antiseptic properties help prevent infections by inhibiting the growth of dangerous microbes.
- Oils with anti-inflammatory properties help prevent and treat discomfort caused by inflammation and swelling.
These are just a few examples of the health benefits essential oils provide. As you read on, you’ll discover that all essential oils have numerous beneficial properties—for example, eucalyptus oil has analgesic, antiseptic, antiviral, and other benefits.
A Natural Alternative
Pure, unadulterated essential oils come straight from nature. They contain no waxes, dyes, flllers, or chemicals from questionable sources. When used correctly, they don’t cause harmful side effects like those caused by common drugs. Using eucalyptus, peppermint, and lavender to deal with cold symptoms brings quick relief, and without the dry mouth, mental fog, and other undesirable effects some drugstore remedies bring with them. Medication residue can be tough on your body, particularly your liver. In contrast, essential oils are easy for your body to use, and they are completely expelled from your system in just a few hours.
Self-Empowered Healing
Essential oils allow you to assume greater responsibility for your health and improve your quality of life. Freedom from discomfort, deeper sleep, and the ability to handle difficulties such as stress and anxiety are some of the benefits you’ll experience when you use essential oils to enhance your well-being. Vibrant energy and a positive mental outlook are additional benefits that go hand in hand with aromatherapy. By broadening your horizons and replacing chemical-based medicines with natural ones, you cut the pharmaceutical middleman from the equation. Over time, you’ll gain the con-fldence to treat common illnesses without relying on others.
Lower Medical Bills
While it’s not advisable to ditch your doctor, having the ability to use essential oils will help you and your family cut back on the number of conventional medical treatments you invest in each year. Knowing which essential oils to use for natural pain relief, which to use for migraines, and which
to use for allergies, hay fever, earaches, and other common maladies can help you save money for other things. Treating problems like nail fungus, athlete’s foot, and minor sprains on your own will lower your medical bills even more.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ESSENTIAL OILS
Aromatic oils such as frankincense, sandalwood, and myrrh were popular with ancient Egyptians as long ago as 4500 BC. About 1,500 years later, Indian scholars developed Ayurveda, a system of natural healing still used today that incorporates oils into its treatments. Chinese doctors recorded the medicinal use of oils thousands of years ago, and the ancient Greeks and Romans used them, too. Numerous references to essential oils even appear throughout the Bible.
Stepping forward to the twentieth century, we find ourselves in the laboratory of French chemist René-Maurice Gattefossé, who sustained a major burn to his hand in a laboratory explosion.
After submerging the injury in a vat of pure lavender essential oil, he was amazed to discover that he felt little pain and that he healed without infection or scarring. Later, Parisian doctor Jean Valnet ran out of antibiotics during a World War II shortage. He used oils to treat wounded soldiers and was surprised when the oils were able to reduce and even halt infections.
Today, with studies ongoing, essential oils are used in a wide range of settings around the world, including hospitals, to relieve pain, promote relaxation, improve mood, and more.
