Know the Power of Aromatherapy: Exploring Essential Oils and Diffusers

Has aromatherapy caught your attention through its unique and fragrant approach to wellness? If yes, then you would have come across a variety of essential oils and diffusers, making it a bit tricky to choose the right ones for yourself.

In this article, we’ll cover the common essential oils and diffusers used in aromatherapy so that you can go for the one that suits you the best.

A complementary or alternative medicinal practice in which you inhale the scent of an essential oil for therapeutic purposes. Essential oil vapors are believed to affect your emotional health and reduce nausea and pain. The essential oil is placed in a device called the diffuser that does exactly what its name suggests—it diffuses or spreads the fragrance of that oil into the air so that you can inhale it.

Now let’s get to the main part, i.e., knowing about the different essential oils and diffusers. We’ll first start with the oils.

Here are some plants used for producing essential oils suitable for aromatherapy.

Jasmine essential oil is extracted from the flowers of the Jasminum officinale plant, originally a native of the Caucasus region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in western Asia. Jasmine flowers have a rich, sweet scent that makes them valuable for aromatic purposes.

It can have an uplifting effect on the mood when inhaled, according to a Thai study examining the effects of jasmine oil inhalation on the central nervous system.

Petals of the Rosa damascena and Rosa centifolia plants are used to produce rose essential oil through distillation or solvent extraction. Apart from aromatherapy, rose oil has a high demand in the perfume industry, and its labor-intensive extraction process and production in low quantities make it expensive.

Rose essential oil (Rosa damascena) can have a positive effect on stress, anxiety, and depression. A 2015 study on its use in aromatherapy in the case of 60 dialysis patients suggested this. Here, significant improvements in stress, anxiety, and depression scores were observed after inhalation of rose essential oil.

Lavender essential oil is extracted from the lavender plant’s flowers and stem and is used in aromatherapy, perfume manufacturing, and topical application.

Lavender oil aromatherapy may help improve stress and insomnia due to its sedative effect, as demonstrated through an experimental study on mice.

Lemon essential oil is extracted from the fruit peels of the lemon plant, which is native to India, Myanmar, and China. The lemon fruit is an excellent source of vitamin C and is used in various dishes and drinks.

According to a 2014 clinical trial involving 100 pregnant women, the scent of lemon may help prevent nausea and vomiting that occur during pregnancy. Due to this, lemon essential oil is a potential natural treatment for the widespread issue of nausea that affects 50% to 80% of pregnant women.

The ylang-ylang essential oil is extracted from the cananga tree found in southeast Asia, Queensland (Australia), New Guinea, and the Soloman Islands. It is widely used in the perfume industry and has a heavy, sweet, and fruity fragrance.

The scent of ylang-ylang essential oil can promote a sense of calmness and help with relaxation, according to a study focusing on the effect of ylang-ylang and peppermint oil on mood and cognitive performance.

Next, we’ll have a look at the types of diffusers available for aromatherapy to help you choose the best essential oil diffuser for yourself.

Though all aromatherapy diffusers serve the same purpose of turning an essential oil into an inhalable fragrance, their working principles may differ. Here, we’ll provide you with a brief overview of their functioning.

They are like a short, wide-mouthed vase divided into two parts, with the upper half acting as a water reservoir and the lower housing the candle. You add a few drops of the essential oil of your choice to the water in the upper half of the aromatherapy diffuser and light a small candle in its bottom half. As the candle’s flame heats the water, it evaporates, diffusing the fragrant vapors of the essential oil.

You may change the quantity of oil added to the aroma diffuser based on the room’s size and your preference for a strong or weak scent. It is also possible to use more than one kind of oil, but avoid mixing in too many of them.

Precaution: While candle diffusers do their job well, you will have to take certain precautions while using them. Keep them in a place that is out of the reach of children and pets and away from flammable materials.

A reed aromatherapy diffuser is a simple setup with a glass bottle and reeds made from rattan or a synthetic material. You will have to pour the essential oil into the bottle and then place the reeds in it, with a part of them sticking out. The oil is absorbed by the reeds and rises through them, eventually evaporating after coming into contact with the air.

Reed diffusers don’t use an external source of heat to promote diffusion; they have to be placed in a location with some air movement to help spread the fragrance. It can be a good idea to place them near the doorway for effective diffusion.

You can choose the number of reeds according to the size of the room and the desired strength of the fragrance, with more reeds leading to a stronger scent. You may need to invert the reeds in the bottle every week or so if the scent becomes weak.

An ultrasonic or electric aroma diffuser can be viewed as an advanced version of the candle diffuser, with the difference being that it doesn’t use heat for spreading the fragrance. Here, an in-built plate vibrates at ultrasonic frequencies and disperses a thin mist of water containing the essential oil droplets into the surrounding air.

It is recommended to place an ultrasonic aromatic diffuser at a central point in the room so that the fragrance can spread evenly in all directions. You may also need to place a towel under the diffuser to absorb the water spilling from it.

This type of aromatherapy diffuser operates with concentrated essential oils and thus doesn’t have a humidifying effect, unlike candle and ultrasonic diffusers. Here, a small air pump in the diffuser creates a vacuum that causes tiny particles of the fragrant oil to spread out into the surroundings.

Although they consume a higher quantity of oil compared to other water-operated diffusers, nebulizing diffusers provide a stronger scent and are meant to be used for shorter periods of time. Due to the running of the air pump, nebulizing diffusers aren’t entirely silent like their counterparts.

Having been introduced to their basic types, now it will be easier for you to choose a good oil diffuser according to your requirements. Let’s proceed to the final part: is aromatherapy safe?

Before you decide what would be best for you among the available options of essential oils and diffusers, it is crucial to confirm if they are going to be safe for you.

Essential oils can result in adverse side effects, although they are all natural. According to a scientific review of aromatherapy’s negative side effects, it may cause mild-to-severe adverse reactions, the most common of them being dermatitis. Here, ylang-ylang, peppermint, and tea tree oil were found to be most commonly linked with negative outcomes. However, further research is required to fully establish both the effectiveness and side effects of aromatherapy.

That said, consult a doctor before starting with aromatherapy and let them know your underlying medical conditions, if any. This will help ensure that you avail yourself of the benefits of this therapy without risking any possible negative outcomes.