Essential oils have grown rapidly as a holistic solution for health ailments. Not only have I personally experienced patients and their families using them, but I have also seen more of them in local stores such as TJ Maxx. Granted I don’t shop very often, I have noticed essential oils on the uprise, especially within the special needs community. While I am not specialized in these whatsoever, I have been around them enough to gather which ones certain families use for calming, or what they use for nasal congestion, etc…
I recently came across a little bit older of an article on essential oils and brain injuries. Me being the nerd I am, I of course clicked to read. This article dives into how essential oils affect you physiologically. It states that when you inhale an essential oil, it goes immediately to your limbic system which is a huge center in your brain that controls physical, mental and emotional responses. It can control things such as your heart rate, blood pressure, stress, and even memory!
In a scientific article from 1992, researches found that “compounds found in oils of Sandalwood, Frankincense, Cedarwood, Vetiver, and Patchouli, can increase oxygen to your brain by up to 28%.” When suffering from a traumatic brain injury, we know that it is due to lack of oxygen to the brain. Cases of Cerebral Palsy can also be due to lack of oxygen to the brain which therefore affects your nervous system. If you are getting an increase in blood to your brain, you can have positive effects on your learning and nervous system.
The article also goes into how Frankincense specifically can aid in healing injured brain tissue by helping oxygen get to the brain but also helping it absorb into the brain. Interesting right? While this isn’t to say that purely essential oils can solve and heal people suffering from a brain injury, it does offer a unique outlook on a natural way to aid in the therapeutic process.
Something else I learned from this article is that there are specific “therapeutic grade quality essential oils”. If looking for an essential oil in the store, the label should have this written or it means the oil may not be 100% pure.
I personally have seen positive effects of essential oils working directly with some of my clients. One of my clients is constantly in a heightened state with tense muscles and over-active type movements. His mother has been using essential oils for years to help and will often apply it prior to therapy so that he can perform his best! While it has great affects for him, it may not have great affects for all. Not only are they limited to brain injuries but I have seen them used for other neurologic diagnoses such as Autism and seizures.
To sum it up…I am in no way advertising that you should go out and buy a diffuser and all of the essential oils you can find (nor would I ever promote anything I am not knowledgeable enough about), but rather make you aware that there are natural ways to heal!
Here’s the link to the article in case you’re interested:
http://healthycures.org/essential-oils-brain-injuries-heres-youre-told
Have you been using them? What positive or negative effects have you seen?
Be sure to comment and let me know what you think!
Christine 🙂
She discovered her passion for the neurologic pediatric and adult population during her clinical affiliation at a special services school in Cape May, New Jersey. She is an active member of the APTA and continues to take post-graduate course work related to treatment methods for neurological diagnoses.
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