As part of Aromahead Institute's Aromatherapy Certification Program each student writes an 8-10 page paper.
I want to share some excerpts from Maya Brownfeild's paper, which focuses on essential oils and fibromyalgia.
Fibromyalgia is a syndrome whose cause is not well understood. The syndrome can include a wide variety of symptoms--the main ones are pain and tender spots (extreme sensitivity to pressure) throughout soft tissues of the body. Maybe given less acknowledgment--but of no less importance to the sufferer--are sleep disturbances, severe fatigue, anxiety and depression, joint stiffness, cognitive dysfunction, and digestive abnormalities.
How Aromatherapy can help
Because of the range of symptoms, fibromyalgia is a great case for the use of holistic treatments--such as Aromatherapy, which has many applications that could be of assistance for this complex syndrome. It is possible that an oil being used specifically with the intention of reducing fatigue, for example, could also be effective in relieving inflammation.