Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Treatments: the Stress
Busters - Aromatherapy
"During the initial long-term US space flights the astronauts suffered from
olfactory deprivation. They had nothing pleasing to smell, except for
lemon-scented hand wipes, which became highly treasured items. Soon they were
not used at all for cleansing, but were saved up for sniffing sessions. Later
flights purposely carried a variety of fragrant articles, and sometimes
astronauts were given bottled reproductions of familiar smells from their own
homes, to help prevent homesickness. Surely smell is the most evocative and yet
abstract of all the senses; evocative because odours are able to conjure up
emotions or memories so effectively; abstract because we have not developed a
language capable of describing them. The only way we can adequately describe
them is by comparison: ‘It smells like a peach’ will convey something to
everyone."
Introduction to Aromatherapy for Everyone by Robert Tisserand).
AROMATHERAPY – The Use of Our Sense of Smell in the Prevention and
Treatment of Disorders by Vicki Alford
A great deal of importance is attached in aromatherapy to the relationship of mind and body,
particularly in psychosomatic or stress-related illness. Essential oils affect the
mind by balancing the right and left hemispheres of the brain. When both
hemispheres are in harmony with each other, we experience feelings of calm and
wellbeing. Experiments have shown that when people inhale essential oils, the
activity of the two sides of the brain come into close symmetry with each other.
Sending pleasing, relaxing messages to the brain reverses states of stress-related
illnesses.
Using essential oils, together with a fresh
organic diet of foods high in anti-oxidants, a few vitamin/herbal supplements
appropriate for my health problems & intermittent use of Bach’s Rescue Remedy in
flare-ups of pain and distress, my immune system has improved dramatically, and
finally after many years of colds, coughs, flu & various viral or
bacterial
infections, I finally can say my immune system is functioning well.
Flare-ups of pain subside more quickly with massages of appropriate essential
oils on the painful body area. And the absence of viruses (when most of my
work colleagues & workplace in general, have succumbed to winter “bugs”) has
really been quite noticeable this year.
Background
The therapeutic use of aromatic essences (otherwise known as plant essences,
essential oils or volatile oils) goes back as far as records began. Essential
oils used in aromatherapy are extracted from a variety of herbs, spices,
flowers, woods & resins. The oils are highly concentrated and need to be kept in
dark bottles to protect them from light
When we are talking or reading about essential oils, be aware that this
is a general term used in aromatherapy today. The scent of flowers and herbs is due to the essence content.
- Oils extracted by pressing are still the simple essences produced by the
plant.
- Those extracted by enfleurage or solvent extraction are called absolutes.
- Those extracted by distillation are called essential oils.
The essences are volatile (ie readily evaporate in air), oily, odorous
substances. If you feel essential oils with your fingers, you will find they do
not have the consistency of the fatty oils used in cooking, but feel a bit more
like water. In fact, eucalyptus oil is excellent for removing oil stains from
clothing and does not leave an oily mark itself.
They are soluable in alcohol, ether or fixed oils, but insoluable in water. If
you put them in water, you will find the water seems to absorb some of their
odour though. Most oils are clear but some are coloured. These coloured oils
often follow the theory of colour therapy eg red benzoin is warming and
stimulating, and blue chamomile is calming.
The whole natural essence is found to be more active and safer than the
isolated principle active constituent. eg Lemongrass oil. If the active
ingredient citral is extracted from the oil and applied to the skin, it
will cause an allergic reaction. However, lemongrass oil used as a whole, does
not cause such a reaction. The other constituents found in lemongrass oil
somehow buffer the potentially hazardous effects.
Of course sensitive people can be allergic to some essential oils anyway, and
can have severe allergic 
reactions.
Some oils can have a reverse effect than desired if used in too high a
concentration ie be stimulating instead of sedating.
Quality
The quality and yield of oil can be effected by soil conditions, climatic
conditions and cultivation methods eg lavender harvested by a sickle, yields a
far superior oil than that harvested by machine. Time of day, weather & season
of the year can also affect the level of active constituents.In general, herbs should be picked after the morning dew has evaporated, but
before the hot sun of midday.
Wild Thyme, for instance, is better harvested in late afternoon. Roses are picked when
they just start to bloom. Peppermint is best harvested before
flowering. Lavender and rosemary are best harvested during flowering.
As a result, essences that are pure and natural and from wild plants, and
distilled perfectly into essential oils are precious and hard to come by.
Synthetic Oils
There are many synthetic aromatic oils for sale which are used in oil burners or
room sprays and may even smell closer to the fragrance of the real flower (than
a pure essential oil extracted from the flower or herb). Synthetic oils,
however, have no therapeutic medicinal action whatsoever.
Vicki Alford is a person with Fibromyalgia who has used aromatherapy and
other natural remedies to markedly improve the quality of her life
Dig Deeper:
Part II - the Essential Essential Oils for ME/CFS /
Part III: Buying and Using Essential Oils
The Phoenix Rising website is compiled by a layman. It is not a substitute for a
physician and is for informational uses only. It does not present complete
information on this drug. Please discuss any treatments in these pages with your
physician.