(1) – Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis ct. camphor)
To many essential oil users, rosemary is not strange to them. The common chemotypes that we encountered are camphor, 1,8 cineole, and verbenone. The latter two are good for respiratory issues, while camphor is renowned for being a stimulant. This article is a study on rosemary camphor with its ability to dry the wetness in the body, resulting in achieving mucolyptic equilibrium.
In Chinese Medicine terms, if the spleen cannot function well, the fluid of the body will accumulate. This leads to lethargy and causes nasal congestion. To tackle the problem, the first thing to do is to dry the extra fluid in the body by stimulating the circulation inside. This is especially true for those people who get cold and have cold limbs.
Rosemary essential oil is warming. Due to its vasodilating function (i.e. dilating blood vessels), it can stimulate circulation (by increasing circulation of blood and oxygen). Besides, it is also diuretic, which means that it can reduce fluid in the body. The astringent effect of rosemary camphor is vital in constricting and drying the fluid.
A case in point
A client with nasal congestion mixed 3 drops of rosemary camphor with a handful of body wash gel, massaged onto her body when she took a shower. After finishing her shower, she felt more relieved and her nasal congestion improved quite a lot. She continued using this method for three days until her nasal congestion was cleared. The client used to have dampness (wetness) accumulated in her body (diagnosed by a Chinese herbal doctor).
Although 1,8 cineole and verbenone are widely used by aromatherapy practitioners in healing respiratory ailments, camphor also accomplishes the same objective. It is works in an indirect fashion.
Another added benefit is that rosemary camphor helps to dry up the acne on the client’s back and heals the acne scars more quickly.
(2) – Ginger (Zingiber officinale)
Ginger is well known for its ability to heal motion sickness. More than that, it helps expelling the heat from the skin by its warming action. Thus, if you get fever, it should not be neglected in your blend. This is due to its rubifacient therapeutic property, and by generalizing localized increase in blood flow and circulation, heat can be released through the skin by means of perspiration. Though there are many functions of Ginger essential oils, these few make it stand out of the rest in healing ailments concerning fever.
A case in point
A client with mild fever came to ask for help, she had headache and running nose. The reason for her sickness was catching wind cold. To relieve her sickness, the following blend was made:
1 drop of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)
1 drop of geranium (Pelargonium roseum x asperum)
2 drops of ginger (Zingiber officinale)
1 tsp (5ml) of olive oil
This helped her relieve the symptoms and she slept well. She felt a lot better the other day after her first applications. Actually, in Chinese medicine, ginger is praised for its ability to relieve surface wind cold.
3 – Cardamon (Elettaria cardamomum)
Cardamon and ginger belong to the same family. In most cases, they can be used “interchangeably”. In my practice, ginger is used more to induce surface perspiration while cardamom is used for deeper action like tonifying and vitalizing the body, if any difference arises.
The 1,8 cineole of cardamom makes it a good choice for ailments related to nasal congestion. Since it is a decongestant, it helps reduce the mucous congestion and swelling. It is a rising star for stopping the spasmodic (bronchial) cough in my clinical experience.
A case in point
A client with nasal congestion and bronchial (spasmodic) cough was given an inhaler with the following blend to relieve the symptoms:
5 drops of Cardamon (Elettaria cardamomum)
5 drops of Eucalyptus Globulus (Eucalyptus globulus)
5 drops of Frankincense (Boswellia carterii)
This combination could benefit nasal congestion, but to my surprise, it was effective in stopping the client’s spasmodic cough whenever it happened. After three days of inhaling the blend, her spasmodic cough was healed completely. In fact, in my practice, I have used different decongestant oils to sooth the cough. But, it is only soothing without completely eradicate the problem. However, by adding cardamom essential oil, the problem got solved in a dramatic way.
Conclusion
The use of warming oils in these three case studies reveals to us that – by adding warming essential oils, the therapeutic properties of the whole blend are enhanced. Though rosemary camphor, ginger, and cardamom exhibit certain therapeutic effects or chemistry in healing, adding warming oils undoubtedly increase the synergistic effect of the whole blend. Though mystical, the facts show the powerful effects they can have. Undoubtedly, more clinical data are needed to prove that.