17 Health Benefits of Essential Oil Diffusers

If you are interested in natural healing methods and holistic wellness techniques, then you already know the amazing benefits and properties of essential oils.

These plant compounds have been used for centuries to cure ailments and treat all types of mental and physical disorders.

Essential oils harness the power of botanicals to heal and support your body in many ways.

However, it was not until the introduction of the diffuser, that most people were introduced to this form of therapy.

Modern aromatherapy diffusers allow the plant’s properties to remain intact, while their essence is diffused into the air around your home.

These plant oils can aid in enhancing your mood, boosting your immune system, improving your energy level, reducing your pain and helping you sleep better, among many other benefits.

Learning to use an essential oil diffuser can help improve your health and overall well-being.

We share with you all the fantastic benefits of using a diffuser for aromatherapy in your home, including the properties of various essential oils that could improve your health and the many health benefits of using essential oils for aromatherapy.

We also discuss the potential risks and side effects of these compounds, so that you can make the most informed choices.

What is Aromatherapy?

Aromatherapy, which is also called essential oil therapy, is used in complementary, alternative and traditional medicine to treat many different physical and emotional problems.

Essential oils contain aromatic compounds that are excellent for medicinal use.

Aromatherapy releases those scents so that you can derive their full benefit.

Essential oils are all extracted from plant material, usually through a water or steam distillation process.

These potent oils have varying degrees of medicinal properties, including for use as an antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.

Aromatherapy is carried out through either topical application, massage or through inhalation, such as with a diffuser.

Using Inhalation Aromatherapy

The potent and medicinal properties of essential oils can boost your well-being and overall health.

While some essential oils can be used topically, most people prefer to use inhalation for their treatment with essential oils.

The inhalation of essential oils occurs when the oils evaporate into the air after being dispersed by a spray bottle, through oil droplets, via a steam bath or from a home diffuser.

Not only do essential oils smell wonderful and deodorize the air in your home, but inhaling the scents emitted by essential oils also stimulates your olfactory system.

This part of your brain connects certain smells for emotional and physical responses in your body.

Once you smell a certain aroma through your nose and mouth, messages are carried to your brain.

It then sends signals to other body systems.

Different fragrances have been shown to affect your hormone balance, stress level, memory, heart rate, and blood pressure, which are all regulated by your limbic system.

Essential oil aromas affect emotions, evoke memories and can calm your body and mind.

In addition, inhaling essential oils can influence your respiration, by disinfecting your airways, serving as a decongestant and helping you breathe better.

Benefits of Aromatherapy

While aromatherapy is not a cure for any specific ailment or disease, it is a complementary therapy that supports other forms of treatment.

In other parts of the world, aromatherapy is used in combination with either conventional or alternative therapies.

This is especially true of those oils that have antimicrobial properties, as well as those that enhance mood and cognitive function.

The following are some of the many benefits you can enjoy when using essential oils for aromatherapy.

While your reactions may differ, these are widely reported and studied in the research on essential oil use.

Relieve Headaches

If you have frequent headaches or suffer from migraines, this type of pain can really ruin your day.

In conjunction with other headache treatments, essential oils can lower pain and help you feel like yourself again.

The most effective essential oils to use for aromatherapy with headaches include peppermint, rosemary, sandalwood, and eucalyptus.

Enhance Cognitive Function

You can use aromatherapy to boost your concentration and improve your focus and mental clarity.

Oils such as helichrysum, cypress, basil, rosemary, and sandalwood are all known to help clear a foggy mind and improve overall cognitive function.

Sandalwood and frankincense, which are high in concentrations of sesquiterpenes, increase blood flow and oxygen to those parts of the brain that are responsible for mental acuity.

If you want to create a wonderful cognitive function blend to use regularly, combine six parts basil with four parts each of rosemary, sandalwood, and cardamom, and two parts of lemon essential oils.

Place a few drops of this blend into your diffuser and breathe in the mixture for half an hour.

This will also help with brain fuzziness and overall mental fatigue.

Fight a Cold or the Flu Better

Many essential oils can stimulate your immune system, by boosting the white blood cell counts.

Others are excellent for disinfecting the air, as well as your airways.

This can help you to get over an infection faster.

If you have sick people in your home, you want to kill airborne bacteria on a regular basis.

Diffusers also add a small amount of moisture into the air, which is helpful when you are coughing or have a dry nose due to a cold.

The best essential oils for treating colds and flu include cinnamon, clove, peppermint, eucalyptus, oregano, and orange.

If you have a cold, try adding a few drops of several of these into your diffuser.

You should then breathe in these aromas for 20 minutes every few hours.

This can help your cold go away sooner and help you feel better more quickly.

If others are sick in your home, this blend can also help you remain healthy, while they heal.

Breathe Easier

If you have a chronic or acute respiratory illness or disease, essential oils can help to open your airways and allow you to breathe easier.

Oils such as spearmint, peppermints, and eucalyptus, as well as pine and rosemary,  are effective in reducing airway inflammation and thinning mucus that is clogging your lungs.

If you have a cold or allergies, or if you have asthma, COPD, emphysema, or other chronic respiratory diseases, you should diffuse your favorite blend of these essential oils for at least 20 minutes every four hours.

Improve Your Sleep

If you want to quiet your mind and calm your body to get a better night’s sleep, using your diffuser and a few essential oils can really help.

The most calming oils include roman chamomile, lavender, sweet orange, and valerian.

These oils directly influence the limbic system, which helps to reduce the heart rate and blood pressure, which allows you to relax.

Try diffusing your favorite blend of these relaxing essential oils just before bed.

Place the diffuser next to your bed, climb in to read or just relax, and within a few minutes, you will be in a more relaxed state and ready to fall asleep.

The continued diffusing after you fall asleep will help you remain asleep and fall into a deeply restful state.

Boost Your Mood

Our daily lives include more stressors and distractions than ever before.

These can cause changes to your mood and overall mental and emotional health, including depression, anxiety, and irritability.

If you want a quick emotional boost to help you get through your day, you can use aromatherapy.

Diffusing essential oils can also help you create a positive atmosphere to keep you motivated, reduce stress levels or raise your energy level.

These oils all affect the emotional center of your brain, triggering physiological responses to help you feel better quickly.

The following are some of the most popular ways to use essential oils to boost your mood.

You can select from these options to create the right blend for your needs.

• Sweet orange can help boost feelings of peace and happiness.
• Lavender relaxes you, which can relieve stress and supply mental clarity.
• Spruce will help you feel more balanced and allow you to move past negative emotions.
• Balsam fir can give you energy and vitality.
• Tangerine is good for reducing anxiety and nervousness.
• Black pepper boosts energy throughout your body.
• Lemon instills cheer and positivity, helping you move past negative emotions.
• Grapefruit is good for relieving depression and counteracting negativity.
• Nutmeg boosts your energy levels.

Repel Insects

If you are looking for a safer alternative to keeping your home and patio free from bugs, aromatherapy can help.

Diffusing oils like lemongrass, citronella, geranium, rosemary, peppermint, or tea tree can keep annoying insects away.

This works well, if you have insects that sneak their way into your home or if you are enjoying time on your patio or deck.

For the best results outside, combine three drops of citronella, two drops of peppermint and one drop of tea tree oils into your diffuser.

Improve Healing

If you want to increase the rate of healing throughout your body, you can use aromatherapy to increase the flow of oxygen and blood to wounds or infected areas.

While many oils work best when applied topically, you can still enjoy many benefits by using them for aromatherapy.

Helichrysum, lavender, rosehip, and calendula are all excellent choices for boosting your body’s natural healing processes.

Other Benefits of Aromatherapy

You can also use essential oils in aromatherapy to treat several other disorders.

These include:

• Nausea
• Stiffness and body aches
• Fatigue
• Menstrual problems
• Hair loss due to alopecia
• Circulatory problems
• Psoriasis
• Digestive disorders

Which Essential Oils Should I Use?

Each essential oil has specific benefits and effects.

If you are interested in learning more, there are several definitive guides available online for learning more about the medicinal properties of each essential oil.

For the purposes of aromatherapy, there are a few that are most popular and widely used to get you started with a home diffuser.

• Basil- enhances concentration, reduces depression, treats headaches
• Rosemary- improves circulation, reduces anxiety
• Lavender- promotes relaxation, reduces stress
• Lemon- boosts energy and focus
• Eucalyptus- open airways, addresses respiratory problems
• Sandalwood- encourages relaxation and improves blood flow
• Thyme- reduces fatigue and nervousness
• Yarrow- stimulates immune system response

Are There Risks for Using Essential Oils?

Every essential oil has its own chemical properties and makeup.

You want to be sure you are using the right oil to treat the right condition.

In the US, the FDA does not monitor any aromatherapy products, so there are no guarantees regarding the purity, safety or efficacy of these oils.

Essential oils cause reactions in your body. While we want to harness the positive responses, negative ones can occur.

Certain medications can react to essential oils, and what works for someone else may work differently for you.

This is because each person’s body responds differently to these compounds.

Aromatherapy rarely results in side effects.

However, if they do occur, they are generally mild and resolve quickly.

These side effects include headache, nausea and allergic reactions.

If you notice any of these, stop using the oils immediately.

Some essential oils can make certain medical conditions worse.

For example, if you have high blood pressure, you should avoid all stimulant oils, like rosemary.

Those with certain types of breast or ovarian cancer should avoid aniseed, fennel, and sage.

In most cases, taking essential oils internally is not recommended.

Many oils can produce negative reactions in the body.

This is why you should store all essential oils safely away from children or pets.

If you have allergies, hay fever, asthma, or a skin condition, like psoriasis or eczema, you should start small and carefully increase your usage of essential oils, since you may experience a reaction to certain oils.

Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should talk with their doctor, before using essential oil in any form.

Always store your essential oils away from heat, oxygen, and light, since they can affect the integrity of the oil.

Conclusion

Aromatherapy is an excellent, natural way to boost conventional and alternative treatments and to heal your body more quickly and efficiently.

Diffusers offer a safe way to diffuse the natural botanical scents into your home so that you can enjoy the many health benefits in your own home.