Thai Traditional Massage Presentation
1) Principle of Massage
Aromatherapy is a type of alternative medicine that uses essential oils and other aromatic plant compounds which are aimed at improving a person's health or mood. Many consider this type of treatment as unscientific and wishful thinking - however, scientific evidence of its effectiveness is growing. This study acknowledged that aromatherapy makes you feel good although there was no evidence that it makes you well. The essential oils used in aromatherapy have a different composition compared to other herbal products because the distillation used in aromatherapy recovers the lighter phytomolecules. Aromatherapy is a widely used term for a range of traditional therapies that use essential oils. These may include massaging oils, or any topical application that uses pure, essential oils - the essential oils are either absorbed through the skin or inhaled. We are not completely sure what the source of the benefit is - the massage, the smell or both.
The skin is relatively permeable to fat soluble substances and relatively impermeable to water soluble substances. Essential oil molecules are so minute that when they are applied to the skin; they are able to pass through the strateum corneum (the outer layer of the epidermis). From here the oil molecule passes through dermis, into the capillaries and into the bloodstream. Absorption also occurs through the hair follicles and sweat ducts. There are many factors that effect absorption of an oil molecule. Both rate of circulation and the warmth of the skin increase blood flow to the surface, therefore increasing the skin’s ability to absorb the oil. Circulation and warmth can be increased by massage.
Aromatherapy massage is massage therapy but with highly concentrated plant oils, called essential oils, added to the massage oil or lotion. The nostrils are attached to a part of the brain called the limbic system. The limbic system controls emotions and influences the nervous system and hormones. When you inhale essential oil molecules, messages are transmitted to the limbic system and affect heart rate, stress level, blood pressure, breathing, memory, digestion, and the immune system. Essential oils are also believed to be absorbed through the skin. Each essential oil has different healing properties.