Put simply aromatherapy is the use of essential oils which have been extracted from plants for their therapeutic properties. People commonly believe that aromatherapy is a relatively modern phenomenon as the term ‘aromatherapy’; was only coined in the twentieth century, liquid herbal incense but the roots of aromatherapy go back many centuries.

It is thought that the Chinese were the first civilisation to use aromatic plants for health related reasons, such as burning incense for harmony. However it was the Egyptians who invented the first distillation techniques, thus allowing the extraction of essential oils. Their distillation methods were crude, but allowed them to use the oils of cedarwood, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg and myrrh to embalm their dead. Tombs opened by archaeologists in the early twentieth century revealed traces of herbs and a faint herbal scent.

The Egyptians also used essential oils and infused oils for spiritual, แทงบอลโลก medicinal and cosmetic purposes. They started creating aromatic infusions over 5,000 years ago and many believe they developed the term perfume, originating from the Latin “per fumum”, meaning through the smoke.

Aromatic scents were the focus of Greek aromatherapy, used medically, in food preservation, cosmetics, cooking as well as religion. Aromatherapeutic ideas also played a part in the design and layout of towns, with large spaces allocated to the burning of herbs to keep the air germ free. Ancient Egyptian rulers imported exotic scents from countries they had conquered as a symbol of their power, cityliv both economically and politically.

The Greeks learnt a lot from the Egyptians. After visiting the Nile Valley in 500 B.C. they set up a medical school on the Island of Cos, of which the most famous graduate was Hippocrates, “the father of medicine”. He recommended a daily bath and massage with essential oils for a healthy life.

The Romans really took the use of aromatic scents to a new level. For example spice filled pipes perfumed Nero’s guests in his palace, perfumed cups were very popular, doll18 and there were fragrant watering spots around the city.

Distillation techniques were furthered in the eleventh century by a Persian physician, Avicenna who invented a coiled pipe allowing more efficient and effective cooling of plant vapour and steam. In the thirteenth century the pharmaceutical industry started encouraging greater distillation of essential oils. This created a sound basis of knowledge regarding the use of essential oils for the Black Death of the fourteenth century, which killed 80 million people across Europe. Aromatic herbs and scented candles were burned to combat the stench and help disinfect the air. It is thought that some perfumers avoided the plague due to their constant contact with the natural aromatics.

Aromatic herbs were similarly used during the Bubonic Plague in the sixteenth century when doctors wore big hats with huge beaks filled with aromatic herbs to disinfect the air. At this stage a concrete link between aromatics and health was established, as perfumed air was recognised as antiseptic as well as pleasant. By 1700, essential oils were being used more in mainstream medicine.

It wasn’t until the beginning of the twentieth century that essential oils and aromatics regained their popularity. A French chemist called Renee Maurice Gattefosse studied essential oils for their aromatic use. However, his focus changed to their medicinal properties after an accident at work. He badly burnt his arm and in reflex plunged it into the closest liquid which happened to be lavender essential oil. His arm healed very quickly and did not scar, for more info please visit these websites:-https://www.elektricienwijzer.nl/ https://wefirst.fr https://mitmunk.com/ which prompted his study of the medicinal uses of essential oils. Gattefosse coined the term “aromatherapy”; in 1928, and in 1937 he wrote a book called “Gattefosse’s Aromatherapy”, which is still in print and widely read.

In the late 1950’s Madam Marguerite Maury studied how essential oils could be used to penetrate the skin for health and beauty reasons. She developed massage methods that are still used by aromatherapists today. In her book “The Secret of Life and Youth”; she develops the concept of individual prescription, a blend specific to the individual patient.