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Writer's pictureRitu Jain

Role of olfactory system in essential oils

Updated: Sep 9, 2023

Recently, essential oils have gained a lot of attention for their potential benefits in treating everything from headaches to restlessness to sore throats. As long as you use essential oils properly, they can improve your physical and mental well-being.


Interested in trying out essential oils? Learn how essential oils work with the olfactory system? Before going so far let's learn what the olfactory system and essential oils are?


Olfactory system in our body:


The olfactory system refers to the biological components that support the experience of smell. The system is made up of the nose and nasal cavities, which support the olfactory mucous membrane for smell detection and act as respiratory channels in their lower regions.


Role-of-olfactory-system in-essential-oils

The olfactory is a component of the limbic system. This system is responsible for the handling of our emotions, sense of survival, and memory retention, as well as connecting sensations like odours to our thoughts and feelings.


Understanding how your body functions as a result can be extremely helpful for boosting your limbic system, calming your emotions, and developing a positive attitude on life. As with anything, there is no quick fix and it will take time. However, utilising some strategies like aromatherapy can support the development of a new, constructive response to your "bad memories."


What are essential oils?


Essential oils are extracts of plants. They are prepared by steaming or pressing various plants and their components like flowers, bark, leaves, seeds or fruit in order to extract the compounds that give off scent. For one bottle of essential oil, several pounds of a plant may be required. Essential oils have additional uses for health benefits besides just producing aroma.



How essential oils work in aromatherapy?


The use of essential oils for medical treatment is known as aromatherapy. Since ancient times, people have taken advantage of aromatherapy. When essential oils are inhaled, the aroma molecules move directly from the olfactory nerves to the other part of the limbic system, focusing on the amygdala, the brain's emotional centre.


Essential oils communicate with your brain (the limbic system) through your nose (olfactory system).


The procedure is generally as follows:


The scent (esters) floats in the air which takes only 22 seconds and dissolves in the mucus which lies on the roof of each nostril. Olfactory receptor neurons sense odours beneath the mucus in the olfactory epithelium. These neurons have the ability to identify thousands of various scents.


Role-of-olfactory-system in-essential-oils

Then information is transmitted to the olfactory bulbs, which are located at the back of the nose. The olfactory bulbs contain sensory receptors that are essentially part of the brain and convey messages straight to the most primitive brain centres which will take only 15 to 20 minutes to dissolve in blood strings, where they influence emotions and memories, as well as higher brain centres, where they modify conscious thinking and assist us in distinguishing different scents, such as coffee from orange.


Numerous studies increase the usage of essential oils for a number of health advantages. Create mixture using different essential oils that trigger the body, enhance emotional and physical wellbeing, and have effects that science has shown. Essential oils are a potent, secure, and all-natural way to enhance your quality of life, whether you need a source of energy to get through the morning, assistance to improve your sleep, or support to get through stressful moments. It is necessary to use only certified essential oils otherwise you are just inhaling poison and toxins which affects your body badly.

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