Plant extracts have been used by humankind for cooking, medicines, perfumes and cosmetics for thousands of years. The Egyptians used aromatic gums and spices in the process of embalming. The ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates - born 460 BC, advised that scented herbs should be burn over his patients. We also know that the Indians have been practising the Ayurvedic system of medicine up to the present day. It is only during the scientific reolution of the early 19th century that the growth of the modern drug industry took over the use of herbal medicine and aromatic remedies. We started to depend on the oils' synthetic counterparts for medicine and the role of essential oils have been reduced to almost entirely to their employment in perfumes, cosmetics and food stuff.
In the early 20th century a French chemist, Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, introduced the term 'aromatherapy' for the first time. he was fascinated with the therapeutic possibilities of aromatic oils after accidentally plunge his burning hand into a bowl of lavender oil which he had thought was water. The oil was able to heal the severe burn on his hand quite rapidly and help prevent scarring. Studying other oils, he then wrote a book on the topic leading the way for further research of the benefits of aromatherapy.
Another French doctor, Jean Valnet, used essential oils as treatments for war wounds in the Indo China war (1948-1959) and then published his success stories in 1964 as Aromatherapie. Valnet's work was then studied by Madame Marguerite Maury, a French beautician, who later proposed the notion of massage as a means of administering the oils.
In short, Aromatherapy is an age old treatment which uses the pure extracts of aromatic plants (i.e. essential oils) to heal common ailments and restore emotional balance. The essential oils, which are extracted from the bark, roots, stalks, leaves, flowers and resins of trees and plants, can be applied through massage, inhalation or baths.