Aromatherapy massage is a style of relaxation massage. Essential oils are added to the treatment for health benefits. Studies have found the health benefits of aromatherapy massage to include reducing stress, menopause and symptoms of other conditions.
During the massage essential oil properties are inhaled or absorbed. They promote changes in your mind and body, by affecting the region of the brain known to influence the nervous system.
Who can benefit from aromatherapy massage?
Aromatherapy massage can help ease symptoms of colds and flu, congestion, and coughs. Also menstrual and menopause symptoms like mood swings, cramps, headaches and lethargy. Anxiety, stress and mood disorders. Muscle and joint pain. Insomnia, stress and also stress related to pregnancy.
A 2015 study from the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology suggests that aromatherapy massage appears to reduce the pain and discomfort of menstrual cramps. Participants did a self-massage with rose essential oil, an unscented almond oil, or no oil on the first day of menstruation for two menstrual cycles. By the second cycle, aromatherapy massage had reduced the severity of pain compared to massage with almond oil or no oil.
Massage with aromatherapy may also ease menopausal symptoms. In a study published in Menopause, researchers compared 30-minute aromatherapy massage (twice a week for four weeks) to massage with plain oil or no treatment. They found that both massage and aromatherapy massage were effective in reducing menopausal symptoms. With aromatherapy massage being more effective than massage only. [1]
What happens in the treatment?
You will fill in a questionnaire. Then you will chose from three essential oil blends best suited to you. This blend is then added to your massage oil or diffused in the room.
The massage is a 45 minute relaxation massage. This includes the back, neck and shoulders.
You can book an aromatherapy massage along with a remedial massage or other treatment.
Read more: How to Safely Use Essential Oils at Home
