Indigo Healing Essential Oils : Essential Oils Work by Virtue of Inhalation And Skin Penetration

Essential Oils are not just nice smelling oils. They work as a natural medicine. In fact, essential oils are now used in medical hospitals. Aromatherapy has a variety of health benefits and is used in various settings. It is a safe effective and non-invasive way to treat a variety of medical conditions and can be used safely in combination with many other therapies.

Mood Boosting Benefits

One of the many benefits of essential oils is that they boost your mood. A large number of essential oils have mood boosting properties. This is how it works.

Scent molecules travel to the limbic system after inhalation which causes neurotransmitters to be released. Some of the possible neurotransmitters released include endorphins, serotonin, enkephaline, and noradrenaline. Each of these neurotransmitters has its own function in the body.

Endorphins: Reduce pain. They also help you feel a sense of well-being and create sexual feelings.
Serotonin: Keeps you calm and collected.
Enkephalins: Similar to endorphins but they don’t create sexual feelings. Gives you a mental high, reduces pain and helps you feel a sense of well-being.
Noradrenaline: Keeps you wide awake.

When the noradrenaline neurotransmitter is released, it causes you to feel happiness, euphoria or a sense of well-being. If you are depressed or grieving, the noradrenaline can temporarily release a burst of happiness, which helps you to remember what it was like to feel happy. Although this is temporary, it's helpful to remind your body and mind how that happiness feels. Then you can decide whether or not you want to continue feeling happy and take further steps toward that aim. If you’re feeling tense and the serotonin neurotransmitter is released, this makes you feel calm and relaxed.

Essential Oils Enter the Bloodstream Through the Skin

Essential oils that penetrate the skin act differently than the ones that are inhaled. Here is the process of what happens after an essential oil penetrates the skin via a carrier oil:

1. The small essential oil molecules penetrate the skin.
2. They enter hair follicles and pores.
3. They reach the capillaries.
4. They travel through the bloodstream to the organs they have an affinity for.
5. They are filtered through to the cells and body fluids.

Any molecules that are absorbed into the lungs directly will travel to the alveoli (of the lungs). The blood then carries the molecules to the heart and other parts of the body. The kidney and lungs process the molecule to break it down and excrete it via urine or sweat.

Essential Oils Stimulate Different Systems in the Body

Listed below are the systems in the body for which essential oils are beneficial. There are at least a dozen essential oils that benefit each of the following systems:

Endocrine System/Genito-Urinary System
Digestive System
Immune System
Nervous System
Respiratory System
Musculoskeletal System/Circulation
Skin

Each of these bodily systems are benefited in different ways by certain essential oils. Each system is broken down into different categories. I will give you just one example to illustrate.