Hemorrhoids Relief and Treatment with Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy currently enjoys steadily increasing popularity as a method of treatment for hemorrhoids these days, but aromatherapy can often be confusing to the average person. What is it? How does it work? Does it even work at all? These are valid questions that should be asked of any regimen of treatment. When properly used and understood, aromatherapy offers beneficial, at home treatment of hemorrhoids.

First, it is helpful to understand precisely what aromatherapy is and is not. Aromatherapy is not magic. It does not imply that merely by sniffing a particular scent your ills will be cured. In point of fact, aromatherapy is a bit of a misleading term. Properly speaking, it should be labeled as plant-based medication that is taken either by inhalation, according to the same principle by which asthma inhalers work, or topically through the skin, just as ointments and creams work. The essential oils used in aromatherapy are medications, and just as chemically complicated and potentially dangerous as any other medications.

In fact, essential oils are generally not oils at all. They are concentrated liquids that are extracted from plants by various means that include simmering, steaming, and condensation. Due to these methods, it generally takes quite a bit of plant matter to equal a proportionally tiny amount of essential oils. Fortunately for one's pocketbook, essential oils are used only in minute quantities due to their level of concentration. As an example, some studies have shown that essential oil of oregano is such a powerful antiseptic that 1 part oregano oil to 4000 parts water will sterilize the water. It would be impossible to use on a human being undiluted, it would be far too powerful. Therefore, essential oils are always diluted in a carrier oil or water before use. Also, due to the concentration level, essential oils should never be taken by mouth without the supervision of a qualified herbalist who is familiar specifically with aromatherapy.

Essential oils are also usually quite volatile, which means that the active, medicinal chemicals in them evaporate quickly when exposed to air. Therefore, essential oils are kept in tightly closed, dark glass bottles, in pure form, until right before they are to be used. Then, and only then, they are mixed with the carrier that dilutes them to their proper strength. If a prepared blend is left exposed to oxygen for even a day, the actual medication is probably gone. It may still smell nice, and can be used for that purpose, but don't expect to get the therapeutic effect anymore.

There are two different ways to treat hemorrhoids with essential oils, and these can be used together. The first method involves a shallow bath of hot water. This method should only be done in a bathtub, as the dosages given are not meant for a sitz-bath that fits over the toilet. Run a shallow, hot bath, and sprinkle twenty drops of lavender and twenty drops of juniper

essential oils. Swish through the water with your hand to make sure that they are well mixed in the water, and soak for twenty minutes. To use the other method, you'll also need a carrier oil of some kind. The most popular carrier oil for aromatherapy is sweet almond oil, but apricot oil also works
well. In a pinch, the vegetable oil that is used for baking can work, but this is not optimal as it is practically guaranteed to have some impurities. Blend two drops of lavender and one drop of geranium oil with one ounce of the carrier oil, and apply to the area as you would an ointment.

Always test yourself for allergies to essential oils by diluting one drop in a small amount of carrier oil and dabbing it on the inside of your elbow. Leave it there for twenty-four hours and check closely for a reaction. If you are allergic to an essential oil, it is important to know before applying it to such a sensitive and tender area of your body. In addition, should you start to have any skin reactions during treatment, immediately cease all aromatherapeutic treatments immediately, along with anything else you've been placing on your skin. Given these cautions, however, aromatherapy has offered relief and treatment to many people who are suffering from hemorrhoids. In combination with a diet and lifestyle change, these aromatherapy treatments should clear up the problem in no time.