WESTBOURNE AROMATHERAPY
REFLEXOLOGY CLINIC

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE USE OF ESSENTIAL OILS.

Essential oils were known and used 2000 years before Christ, by the Egyptians and Chinese. Aromatic plants and oils have been used for thousands of years as perfumes and cosmetics. The user spread to the Greeks and Romans, essential oils were used in many temples and monasteries. By the thirteenth century perfumers were using essential oils regularly. People used to wear perfumed gloves to disguise unpleasant body smells and it was interesting to note that

perfumers did not become ill with plague. This was thought to be due to the anti bacterial, anti-viral effects of the essential oils.

In 1652 Nicholas Culpepper wrote the first book on herbs. Herbs and essential oils were used until the nineteenth century when chemical copies of essential oils became cheaper to make. These were good as perfumes but had no medicinal value. The chemists then experimented with chemicals to copy the medicinal properties of plants and gradually these were so successful that plants and their therapeutic properties were in danger of becoming extinct. The first modern book on aromatherapy was written by Gattefosse in the twentieth century. He discovered the wonderful healing properties of lavender on burns after he seriously burnt his hand in a laboratory experiment. His hand healed in a very short time. He used the healing power of oils during the first world and discovered oils that greatly accelerated the healing process. He also discovered that essential oils penetrate into the bloodstream and can reach blood, lymph, and then the organs in half an hour to twelve hours and that skin penetration takes just a few minutes.

Dr JeanValnet a French physician also experimented with oils and treated many patients by this method; he also wrote a well-known book. His favorite method to use was essential oils. in compresses, this is highly effective due to the highly penetrative nature of essential oils.

Madam Maury came from France and she developed massage techniques using essential oils. She came to London and set up an Aromatherapy clinic where she taught Beauty Therapists These teachings eventually also spread to many Acupuncturists, Nurses, Osteopaths, Physiotherapists, Reflexologists, Medical Herbalists and Orthodox Doctors.