From acne to stomach pains to headaches to back pain and everything in-between, there’s a lot of benefit to using essential oils for health and wellness.
For those who favor practicing holistic medicine, essential oils for health and wellness are one of the most popular forms. It’s an alternative medicine that uses extracts from plants to promote overall health. These extracts capture not only the scent of a plant, but also the essence of it and are captured through distillation and then combined with a carrier oil for everyday use.
So how to essential oils for health and wellness work? One of the most common uses for them is through aromatherapy and inhaled through different methods. They can be applied to skin and absorbed, the aroma of oils can be inhaled through the nose and some of them can be added (in a few drops) to drinks such as tea.
Believe it or not, there are close to 100 types of essential oils for health and wellness, each with unique properties and different health benefits. Some of them include:
- Lavender: Commonly used as a stress reliever.
- Rose: Helps to reduce anxiety and improve mood
- Peppermint:
- Lemon: Can aid digestion, headaches, moods, etc.
- Jasmine: Helps with depression, libido, childbirth, etc.
- Sandalwood: Helps calm nerves and improves focus.
- Bergamot: Can help improve skin conditions like eczema and can also be used to relieve stress.
- Chamomile: This is used to improve relaxation and mood.
- Tea tree: Can help boost immunity and be used to help fight infections.
- Ylang-Ylang: This is used for skin conditions, nausea and headaches.
Helps to aid digestion and boost energy.
It should be noted that many companies that sell essential oils for health and wellness make claims of selling oils that are medical grade or pure. But this isn’t always the case and you should keep things things in mind as you pick certain oils to use:
- Reputation: When you’re looking at oils, you want to buy brands that have a reputation for high quality.
- Quality: When you’re looking at essential oils, you’re looking for those that have been changed the least during extraction. Chemical-free oils are the ones you’re after.
- Purity: You also want to find oils that have only pure plant compounds with no additives. A good way to check the purity is that a plant’s botanical name will be listed on a bottle.
There’s no question Americans can go through quite the ringer in terms of pain. Chronic illnesses accounted for about 86% of healthcare costs in 2015 alone and that number has continued to grow. What’s more, the CDC estimates that more than 38 million Americans get sick every year from food-borne illnesses and more than 100,000 Americans are hospitalized every year as a result of them.
While essential oils are associated with natural holistic health, little is known of their ability to treat some health conditions. None the less, studies have shown them to be effective in treating various everyday health conditions such as stress and general aches and pains.
It’s important to note that while most essential oils are considered safe, there can be some side effects to using them including allergic reactions, headaches, asthma attacks and rashes. Nonetheless, they can be a fantastic holistic alternative to taking pills or getting poked with needles. There are dozens of different oils available, each of which can have positive effects on your health.