Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay
Robert from Washington, asks the following question:
Will Aromatherapy work on someone who has lost their sense of smell? And will it work on someone who never had a sense of smell?
Emma Fairbrass, Certified Aromatherapist, answered:
Good Question!
The official name for inability to smell is Anosmia. And it’s more common that you’d guess. Because there’s lots of reasons the olfactory system gets corrupted. And it can have some major impacts.
The therapeutic affect of the scent or aroma of an essential oils does have an impact. However, when essential oil is applied to the skin, it also has benefits. So, aromatherapy works with or without the sense of smell. Because it’s all down to the chemicals that naturally make the e/os. And of course, these are naturally occurring chemicals.
For example the French chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse used essential oils to make perfumes. After he suffered a bad burn to his arm, the chemist put his arm in the nearest liquid he could find. Which turned out to be essential oil of Lavender. This accident led him to study, research and write many books. Which have all been translated into many languages, including English.
The burn healed quickly and left little to no scarring. Gattefosse went on to be a leading light in the Aromatherapy healing profession.
Additionally, Tea Tree essential is a well documented as both anti-septic and anti-fungal. Also Geranium essential oil has been shown to help treat cold sores.
So, yes there are benefits to using Aromatherapy even if you’ve lost your sense of smell. Or damaged it. Or even feel it’s not up to snuff! Hah!
Many people have a poor olfactory system which can be trained to become stronger. Students will often talk of how their nose tuned in to more aroma awareness while studying. So, don’t give up on aromatherapy!
Bonus information:
SchoolofCT’s Aromatherapy Graduate, Barbara is engaged to a sommelier. We asked him for some input. And he suggested retraining the nose. To do this, simply start by sniffing wines. And then ask yourself
what does this remind me of?
The more you work your nose, the better it gets. (And I like the idea of learning about wines too!)
Anosmia doesn’t have to win.
