The use of essential oils for daily care or for beauty rituals is now well known. Complementary medicine to allopathy,aromatherapy is indeed readily used for a whole host of small health concerns: skin problems, such as acne or eczema, digestion problems, small wounds, torticollis and hematomas can be treated or relieved by certain essential oils, provided they are used in the right dosage and wisely.
But what is less known is that aromatherapy is also used to fight against more severe pathologies, such as depression and addictions. How does it work and is it really effective?
Active ingredients and odors to reduce our dependence
Essential oils are made up of a large number of active subtances (molecules): alcohols, ethers, terpenes, aldehydes, ketones, phenols, coumarins, esters… sometimes up to 200 per essential oil, whereas for comparison a drug generally only has one or two. In the case of addictions, this is particularly the terpene that will have a beneficial action on our brain.
The smell itself of the essential oil (we then speak of theolfacotherapy), by appealing to the senses, will play on the emotions and cause soothing effects, which certainly vary from one individual to another depending on their history: a smell will act more or less positively depending on the memory it brings back to us.
Aromatherapy as a complement to treatments to fight against addictions
Dr Francoise Couic-Marinierpharmacist and specialist in aromatherapy, author of numerous works devoted to essential oils, explains that aromatherapy is thus increasingly used in hospital departmentsand in particular in certain addictology services where patients are given certain essential oils to breathe to help them with tobacco, alcohol or drug withdrawal.
The essential oils will allow both to short-circuit the impulses and desires, and to calm the stress and the anxiety related to the lack.
For the tobacco and alcohol addictionsFrançoise Couic-Marinier recommends theangelica essential oil (Angelica Archangelica), which is very effective, especially for alcohol. It can be used alone (by olfaction or massage) or in synergy with other essential oils with anxiolytic properties such as shell marjoram, mandarin, true lavender, bigarade petitgrain, or noble laurel essential oils. . Black pepper essential oil is also used for smoking cessation.
In any case, this complementary therapy does not replace the treatments of your doctor, but it can undeniably help to improve them and increase their effects tenfold.
Essential oils to resist snacking
Even if we are not talking about addiction in the case of snacking, essential oils can still be very valuable if we are trying to fight against our annoying tendency to rush towards sweets or sweets, at the slightest annoyance. or at the end of the day.
In this case, Dr. Françoise Couic-Marinier recommends thegeranium essential oil, very effective in cutting us off the desire to eat sugar. We put two drops on a handkerchief, which we will breathe: “Breathing geranium disgusts with sugar”, says Françoise Couic-Marinier.
So to our handkerchiefs to never crack on a chocolate mousse again after a marathon day!
Françoise Couic-Marinier was the guest of Hello doctor
on France Bleu.
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