The Essential Oil Company: “Aromatherapy Bunkum” April Fools?

The press recently (April 1st, 2nd) printed articles following Dr. Neil Martin, a psychologist at Middlesex University – who claims he has proven that aromatherapy does not work. Here is the test.

60 men & women picked the most popular smell that was “pleasant” to them, this was lemon.  The participants then plunged their hands into a bucket of ice-cold water and remained there for 15 minutes.  A third were put into the room with wafts of the pleasant lemon odour, while another third were subjected to the smell of machine oil and the other third no odour.  They were then asked to rate their pain on a scale of 1 (no pain) to 11 (unbearable).  Quel surprise, there was no marked reduction in pain alleviation to the group exposed to lemon.  Had Dr. Neil Martin made a blend of oils known for their warming and analgesic properties and massaged them into the iced hands or even made up a solution to plunge their hands in afterwards (as massaged alone of course will help the circulation), it would have been a totally different  response.  No clinical aromatherapist worth their salt (or their diploma) would ever suggest that simply by wafting oils around that you get a physiological effect as to dull the pain receptors.  You may be able to increase concentration and productivity with certain oils and of course if you find a smell pleasant it may help to relax you.  Dr. Neil Martin is a “scientist” who studies the effects of smells on brain waves etc. (http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg15220612.600&print=true).  Perhaps if he had tested whether stimulating oils such as basil, lemon, peppermint and rosemary were effective in increasing concentration and looked at the brain wave patterns he may have found it works.  He has done a similar test on attentiveness using chocolate, coffee and synthetic chocolate. 

Aromatherapy is perhaps a misnomer and the healing properties of essential oils do not come from the odour of the oil (which is incidental) but rather from the naturally occurring chemical constituents contained in them (this is assuming you have a pure unadulterated oil of course).    25% of prescription pharmaceuticals are derived from plants. Essential Oils contain chemical constituents which have an affect upon the body.  It has been proven that plants & trees contain active ingredients that can kill cancer cells and help a host of medical conditions.  Aspirin was originally derived from willow bark.  Pharmaceutical manufacturers try to find the “active” ingredient, isolate it, then synthesise & patent it (to keep costs to a minimum, thus maximising profits). 

Application & dosage of the oils is all important.  If you have a cold, then burning eucalyptus oil may help to clear your stuffy nose.  If you have a stress headache and you find lavender oil relaxing, then sniffing lavender from a tissue, or again having it in a burner may help.  If you have pain, the best way of applying oils is firstly through massage using a carrier oil (a vegetable oil which helps carry the oils into the bloodstream) or by using them in the bath (please dilute in a teaspoon of milk first).    Tea Tree oils is proven to kill the superbug MRSA http://jac.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/45/5/639 but it won’t help someone with MRSA if they simply sniff it.   That is akin to saying sniffing an aspirin may alleviate your headache.

Aromatherapy is a vast subject and it has also been corrupted to a large degree and people are jumping on bandwagons and adding oils to things claiming therapeutic properties for very diluted quantities.   One end of the scale you have the New Age type application claiming to ward off evil spirits and cleanse the “aura” through to just using relaxing oils in massage for pampering and stress reduction. Using essential oils in burners, radiator humidifiers etc. is a good way to cleanse a room e.g. lemon oil (which is antiviral & antibacterial among other properties) helps to inhibit airborne bacteria plus the oils do not simply mask smells they actually engulf the odour. 

Despite thousands of clinical studies proving the effectiveness of essential oils, medical application of essential oils is not generally used as they are not licensed medicines and are not as profitable as plant oils cannot be patented unless put into a formulation with other ingredients.  Dare I say I find Dr. Martin’s test complete bunkum and a misrepresentation of what aromatherapy really is about.  I find it more incredible that nearly every newspaper reported on it.  It was April 1^st – who is the Fool?

Sue Foley copyright 2006 The Essential Oil Co Ltd