The use of Aromatherapy actually predates written history. Combinations of resins, oils and fragrant plants were used in some form - for ceremonial, medicinal, or pleasurable reasons in most ancient civilizations. Perfumes and aromatic plants were the basis for many of the early trade routes established. Some of the earliest documented uses of Aromatherapy were in Ancient Egypt. Many methods of application are similar to the ones used in Aromatherapy today. The Ancient Egyptians used aromatic plants and their essential oils to create massage oils, medicines, embalming preparations, and skin care products, fragrant perfumes and cosmetics.

What is an Essential Oil?
Essential oils are the vital life essence of aromatic plants and flowers in a condensed form. Essential oils have been revered for their fragrance and their restorative effects on the body, mind, and spirit for thousands of years. Scientists agree that essential oils may perform more than one function in living plants. In some cases they seem to be a part of the plant's immune system. In other cases they may simply be end products of metabolism. Essential oils can contain hundreds of organic constituents, including hormones, vitamins and other natural elements that work on many levels. They are 75 to 100 times more concentrated than the oils in dried herbs

Aromatherapy
Scents evoke strong emotional responses. A scent associated with a good experience can bring joy. Scent likes and dislikes are often based on emotional associations. Such associations can be powerful. Unlike the nerves involved in touch and hearing, the olfactory nerves are directly connected to the brain. Smell is registered in one of the oldest areas of the brain, the limbic system. This limbic area of the brain is concerned with many activities vital to survival: sleep, sexual response, hunger, thirst, memory and smell. Aromatherapy helps the brain to reverse this process by sending pleasing, relaxing messages. The hypothalamus receives impulses that signal safety so it helps to maintain body systems in a balanced state in which all organs and processes can function efficiently.

Massage
Massage stimulates the circulation of lymph and blood, reduces muscular tension, stimulates the immune system and reduces swelling and relieves pain in muscles and joints. Some people feel more refreshed after a good massage than after a night's sleep. Muscular tension is often directly related to psychological tension and repressed emotion. For the majority of people, their need to be touched is greater when stressed or seriously ill. Touch is a need that we all share.

Benefits of Aromatherapy for Cancer Patients
Gentle massage using essential oils helps patients to relax, which often eases their physical pain. Although essential oils are not thought to be strong painkillers, there are many conditions involving pain in which massage using aromatherapy has brought relief. Pain and stress are related. Massage works by stimulating the release of the body's own natural analgesics. Aromatherapy is one of the most popular therapies, quite simply because it makes us feel good, and can play a crucial role in reestablishing the mind-body relationship. The reasons for this are complex, but it is in part due to the release of certain mood-enhancing neurochemicals in the brain and body.