Aromatherapy for better sleep

Are you tossing and turning at night? Do you have a hard time relaxing and calming yourself when it’s time for bed? If so, aromatherapy maybe the answer.

Aromatherapy is the practice of using certain fragrances and oils that have been reputed to have some type of therapeutic effect or medicinal properties, and it has been used as both a primary treatment and a secondary auxiliary therapy.

One of the benefits of aromatherapy that has been extensively studied is the effectiveness of this type of therapy in terms of improving the quality and duration of one’s sleep, particularly in patients who suffer from hyper-anxiety disorders or insomnia.

It has been widely concluded, even by those who are skeptical of these types of alternative treatments, that regardless of whether or not aromatherapy proves effective, it certainly does no harm or has the potential for any ill effects at all.

Consider the following facts concerning aromatherapy and sleep:
A 2015 study in Turkey that involved using lavender essential oil via inhalation method on 60 ICU patients (the study was prompted because the patients in the ICU were having really terrible sleep issues, and the researchers wanted to try whatever they could to alleviate the insomnia for these patients and ICU patients everywhere).

The clinical finding (based on the patient’s responses to two separate standardized tests that determine sleep quality) that the 2% lavender essential oil solution delivered via inhalation absolutely had a positive, measurable, and marked effect on these patient’s ability to rest adequately, and furthermore, many of these patients were experiencing simultaneous cardiac issues which the anxiolytic effect of the lavender oil seemed to depreciate as well. By relieving some of the anxiety and stress from which these patients were suffering, the lavender oil improved their ability to rest and their conditions in general.

Although aromatherapy would not be recommended as the primary treatment for severe, chronic, medical sleep disorders, it most certainly should be considered as an adjunct or auxiliary treatment, and if no serious sleep disorder exists, then aromatherapy likely will be adequate in terms of alleviating mild cases of stress induced insomnia.

Find more information about essential oils HERE

 

Infographic presented by: essentialoilsfactor.com