Aromatherapy has effects on the body thanks to multiple methods of delivery. First, in the back of the nasal cavity, olfactory (smell) nerves, which carry over a thousand receptors, detect individual components of the volatile oil;[1] the olfactory system is connected directly to the limbic system[2] and to the hypothalamus,[3] which is involved in control of the autonomic nervous system and is part of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the body’s stress management system. Second, in the lungs, volatile oil molecules can diffuse directly into the body in the capillary blood vessels of the alveoli.[1] Finally, when volatile essential oils are applied topically, they can diffuse through the skin into subcutaneous tissue, and from there into the blood.[1]
References
- ^Watanabe E, Kuchta K, Kimura M, Rauwald HW, Kamei T, Imanishi JEffects of bergamot ( Citrus bergamia (Risso) Wright & Arn.) essential oil aromatherapy on mood states, parasympathetic nervous system activity, and salivary cortisol levels in 41 healthy females.Forsch Komplementmed.(2015)
- ^“Physiology, Olfactory,” In: StatPearls (Internet). USA: StatPearls Publishing(2023)
- ^Helwany, M et al“Neuroanatomy, Cranial Nerve 1 (Olfactory),” In: StatPearls (Internet). USA: StatPearls Publishing(2023)