Alternative Medicine Faqs

The uses of essential oils were known to ancient Egyptians long before research began on their medicinal and aromatic qualities in the early nineteenth century. The sweet fragrance emitted by essential oils has had people going crazy on it for ages.

An essential oil is the extract of plant derived from flowers, stem, leaves, bark and other parts of a plant. The process is often complex and requires distillation through steam or water of the plant. The result is the pure essence of the plant, often in a highly concentrated form. In the following article we will list some of the common uses that essential oils are put to.

Diffusion
Diffusion means breathing the fragrance of essential oil. The oil is evaporated using accessories such as electric diffusers, lamp rings, aromalamps, scentballs etc. These accessories are available in various assortments in the market. They operate by continuously shooting out microscopic particles of essential oils into the air. To facilitate easy assimilation through the sense of smell, the oil is broken into fine invisible mist. Diffusion helps create a relaxing atmosphere and loosens tight muscles.

Massage
The therapeutic effects of essential oil when combined with the magical powers of touch, revives the anatomy and furthers overall well-being. When using essential oil for the purpose of massage, it is advisable that it be diluted with carrier oil. It is too concentrated to be used neat. Different proportions need to be devised for people of different ages, skin types, etc. For children, the advisable content of essential oils per ounce is 6 drops. When shopping for massage oil, a person will come across a large collection of readymade aromatherapy massage oils & lotions. These may be purchased only from reputable vendors after checking the contents well.

Baths
An essential oil bath can be quite relaxing. Moreover, this will help in combining the benefits of hydrotherapy as well. Just add a few drops of your desired essential oil to your bathtub or spa, and get that rich and nourishing feeling. Alternatively, the essential oil mixed with good carrier oil be applied to ones skin after the morning shower for that all day long refreshing sensation. This keeps skin soft, smooth and youthful.

Steam inhalation
Steam inhalation is another prevalent method of using essential oils. 5 to 8 drops of essential oil of one variety or more is mixed in a pot of hot water, and the user sits with his face close to the pot, eyes closed and about 10-12 inches above the pot. As vapour rises, it gets absorbed by the minute pores on ones face and through the nostrils. A humidifier too can be used by adding a few drops of essential oil in it.

Household uses
You may not know but the essential oils can be put to several household uses as well. Like when one is doing laundry, a few drops of essential oil will give the clothes a lovable smell all day long. Lemon or tea tree oils are best used for ones garbage cans from giving that stinking smell. Lavender has long been associated with romantic evenings. So, use it in your bathroom along with essential oils of chamomile and marjoram.

The uses of essential oils are many. One can experiment on his own to find new uses of the oils and thereby contribute to the already spilling research works on the subject.

What Is an Electric Nebulizer and How Does It Work?

An electric nebulizing diffuser is a small device that has a motor housing and a glass nebulizer. The motor housing and glass nebulizer piece are often connected by a small length of rubber tubing. One or more essential oils are dispensed into an opening near the base of the glass piece. When the diffuser is turned on, the essential oils are aspirated toward the top of the glass nebulizer, where a small stream of air micronizes the essential oils into extremely fine droplets. This fine mist is expelled out the top of the glass nebulizer into the room.

Why Is Nebulizer Diffusion More Effective Than Other Types of Diffusion?

Other methods of essential oil diffusion include using lamp rings, a candle to heat the oil, or passive diffusion with an aromatherapy stone or a cotton ball. Heat diffusion is less desirable because alters the molecular constituents of the essential oil. Passive diffusion is typically very slow, particularly with less volatile essential oils, providing inferior therapeutic benefit.

With a nebulizing diffuser, no heat is used, so the molecular make up of the essential oils remains in tact. In most cases, all molecular components of the essential oil are expelled into the air, as opposed to passive diffusion where the smallest molecules evaporate first, with heavier molecules evaporating more slowly or not at all.

3 Health Benefits of Essential Oil Diffusing With a Nebulizer

1. Therapeutic Effects of Essential Oil Inhalation
Because the nebulizer produces such a fine essential oil mist, oils are easily absorbed via the lungs through inhalation. Nebulizing essential oils that affect the breathing passages – nose, sinuses, throat, and lungs – can have dramatic therapeutic benefits, and may help alleviate conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, and sinusitis.

2. Antibacterial, Antifungal, Antiviral Effects
Essential oils are known to be effective against bacteria, molds, and viruses, and diffusion of essential oils has been shown to reduce surface and air microbes. This may be especially helpful for those with mold allergies. Electric nebulizers disperse essential oils into the room in such a way that can not be achieved by other diffusion methods.

3. Enhanced Emotional and Mood Effects of Aromatherapy
Specific essential oils are recognized for mood lifting, calming, relaxing, or mind focusing effects. With a more concentrated and complete dispersion of essential oils into the room, electric diffusion with a nebulizer enhances these effects.

Don’t forget to rotate the essential oils you use, to help avoid sensitization, and only diffuse for a few minutes at a time, with at least a half hour break in between.

Bottles, may it be of glass or plastic, are seen to be the best means to store products that exist in liquid form such as oil. Valuable and costly oils like essential oils are also stored in bottles but not any bottle can be used.

Essential oil bottle is not similar to other oil bottles. Essential oil is costly and needs to be stored with utmost care. To save essential oil from deteriorating and to retain its aromatic properties, they should ideally be kept in either amber or cobalt blue bottles. These are particularly used to keep essential oils because they are dark glass that stops sunlight from penetrating.

Glass amber and glass cobalt blue bottles are commonly used to store essential oil. Cobalt blue bottles are more expensive than amber colored bottle. Don’t go for clear glass bottles when you are searching for essential oil. You may find some lenders selling essential oil in aluminum bottles; they are also suitable if the interior of the bottle is lined.

Essential oil bottles are available in different sizes to meet the desired needs and requirements of the people. They usually come in 5ml, 10ml as well as 15ml. But, expensive essential oils are available in size as little as 2ml. Keeping essential oil bottle openly is risky as they may fall and break down. In such cases, wooden boxes are the best to store essential oils.

People put essential oil at work for different personal purposes. Essential oils are quite easy to use and have therapeutically benefits. They are commonly used for easy inhalation, steam inhalation that can help with cold and influenza, massage that helps in toning the body and activating dead cells, room freshening or bath.
Things you need to remember: -

• Essential oils should also be stored in a cool, dark place.
• Avoid buying essential oils in plastic bottles as the essential oil can dissolve the plastic
• Avoid buying essential oils that have a rubber eyedropper bulb in the top
• Wooden boxes can be used to store essential oils
• Avoid oils that are sold in clear glass bottles as the clear glass can allow light that can damage the essential oils.

Read the safety data for the essential oils you desire to use
Make sure to keep all the above-mentioned points in mind when you shop for essential oil bottles next time. If you are looking to buy wooden box for the essential oil bottles you have, you can buy suitable boxes economically from many craft stores. But, in case you don’t want to get into the trouble of going out of home. You can look for online lenders, just insert “essential oil bottle” in any of the search engine it could be goggle or yahoo and you can access infinite number of online lenders and then can choose the appropriate essential oil and can order for it, that too online.