Heal pain using a massage oil therapy based on the use of essential (concentrated) plant oils. The oils are usually massaged into skin, put in a bath or inhaled. It's not known exactly how aromatherapy works, but there is some evidence to show that it does, and that it can be helpful as an alternative or complement to conventional medical treatment. The concentrated essential oils aromatherapists use to treat conditions are aromatic and volatile (ie which evaporate easily) elements from plants. The oils are not concentrated from whole plant parts - unlike herbal medicines - but are extracted, generally by steam distillation, from flowers, leaves, roots, grasses, peel, resin or bark.

Where are these essential oils used? A French chemist called René-Maurice Gattefossé coined the term aromatherapy to describe the process of using plant oils therapeutically. The story goes that, while working in a perfume factory in the early 20th century, he burnt his hand and instinctively grabbed some lavender oil and poured it onto the burn. He was so impressed by how quickly and cleanly the burn healed, he began studying the healing powers of plant oils.

How can essential oil help to heal pain? Essential oil is now used to treat a whole range of conditions and is believed to work on people both physically and psychologically. The first part of the theory is that when you smell an essential oil, it triggers your limbic system - the part of the brain that controls emotions and stores and retrieves learned memories - and relaxes you. The other part of the theory is that the essential oils are absorbed through the skin, and have medicinal properties which act on the cause of the problem.

Just some of the conditions essential oil is used to treat are:

Anxiety, stress or insomnia Muscular aches and pains Headaches Asthma Eczema Digestive problems Menstrual or menopausal problems You can choose to be treated by an aromatherapist, or you can buy certain essential oils over the counter at pharmacies and health shops, and treat yourself. If you visit an aromatherapist, he or she will probably massage oils into your skin. If you treat yourself, you can add them to your bath, or inhale them using steaming water, a diffuser or an incense burner. There is also a wide range of toiletries containing essential oils available, some of which may claim to increase wellbeing or have some healing properties.

Does essential oil therapy work? Despite a lack of good research proving that essential oils could work by either stimulating your sense of smell or being absorbed through your skin, in theory it is possible to predict the effects of the oils based on their chemical make up. However, there is no conclusive scientific evidence that the theories are true - or false - and there has been little research to try and prove them right or wrong. There have been good quality trials studying the effects of aromatherapy on groups of people including studies that compared aromatherapy with the effects of a placebo (a dummy treatment) and no treatment at all. A review of these suggests aromatherapy can help with some conditions.

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