ESSENTIAL OILS AND ESSENTIAL OIL THERAPY
Essential Oil Therapy for Animals is the traditional use of essential oils to promote and maintain balance in all systems of the body. In the wild, animals seek out a natural remedy from various herbs and plants, instinctively picking out their own medication. In a domestic environment they are deprived of this choice. Essential Oil Therapy for Animals offers a natural choice of relief for many common physical and behavioural problems in animals, such as:
Allergies
Arthritis
Behavioural problems and vices
COPD
Digestive problems
Headshaking
Hoof and foot conditions
Laminitis
Mud Fever
Muscular problems
Navicular
Respiratory conditions
Sarcoids and warts
Sidebone
Skin conditions
Stress
Sweet-itch
Urinary disorders
Viruses
Wounds
Each remedy is specific to the condition of the individual animal and may change over the course of the treatment as the oils take effect.
SAFETY
Essential Oils need to be used with awareness due to the possibility of
contra-indications and adverse reactions. Thorough training in, and an
understanding of the nature of, essential oils are of paramount importance
before they can be used properly and safely. Always consult a properly
qualified essential oil therapist for animals before offering any essential
oils to your animal.
ESSENTIAL OILS
Essential Oils are volatile, lipophilic substances obtained from plant
materials by distillation, mechanical separation (expression) or solvent
extraction. They are secondary plant metabolites and are largely based
on mono and sesquiterpenes and phenylpropanoids.
The source of the essential oil chemicals varies from species to species,
but oils can be found in the flowers, buds, fruits, peel, leaves, bark,
wood, roots, seeds or oleoresins of plants. The composition of any essential
oil can vary widely season on season; location, plant cultivation techniques,
soil structure and climate also heavily influence the composition and
quality of essential oils.
The bitter orange tree, for example, yields orange oil from the fruit
peel, pettigrain from the leaves and twigs and neroli oil from the orange
blossoms. The clove tree produces different types of essential oil from
its buds, stalks and leaves whereas the Scotch pine yields distinct oils
from its needles, wood and resin.
The wide range of aromatic materials obtained from natural sources and
the art of their extraction and use has developed slowly over the course
of time, but its origins reach back to the very heart of the earliest
civilizations.
Adulteration of essential oils is widespread. This can range from blending
with other essential oils through the addition of organic solvents to
products that are solely based on synthetic fragrance chemicals. It has
been said that 'pure' synthetic oils with a predetermined composition
would be superior for the purposes of research, but this simplistic view
ignores the fact that natural essential oils are complex mixtures in which
all of the components have a part to play in the therapeutic action.
For example, the typical odour of rose oil is dominated by one component,
damascenone, present at around 0.14% (the major component is found at
levels of 38% and there another 273 known constituents).
Since an absolute guarantee of purity and composition is not readily obtainable
when purchasing essential oils, certain precautions have to be borne in
mind and these are included in the training programme developed by GEOTA.
The potential for direct psychological and physical effects becomes clear
when the anatomy of the olfactory system is examined. In the nasal mucosa,
chemoreceptors give rise to axons that synapse on the olfactory bulb.
Olfactory neurons then run through the olfactory tract to the olfactory
cortex. Behavioural reactions to scent are mediated by direct connections
to the limbic system.
The term 'aromatherapy' was first coined in 1928 by Gattefosse, a French chemist working in his family's perfumery business. He became fascinated with the therapeutic possibilities of the oils after discovering by accident that lavender was able to rapidly heal a severe burn on his hand and help prevent scarring. He also found that many essential oils were more effective in their totality than their synthetic substitutes or their isolated active ingredients. As early as 1904 Cuthbert Hall had shown that the antiseptic power of eucalyptus oil in its natural form was stronger than its isolated main active constituent, 'eucalyptol' or 'cineol'.
Apart from the scent, each essential oil has an individual combination
of constituents which interacts with the body's chemistry in a direct
manner, which then in turn affects certain organs or systems as a whole.
For example, when inhaled or applied topically, they are easily absorbed
either through the olfactory system or through the skin and transported
throughout the body. This can be demonstrated by rubbing a clove of garlic
on the soles of the feet; the volatile oil will be taken into the blood
and the odour will appear on the breath a little while later.
It is important to recognise that essential oils have three distinct modes
of action with regard to how they inter-relate with the body: pharmacological,
physiological and psychological.
The pharmacological effect is concerned with the chemical changes
which take place when an essential oil enters the bloodstream and reacts
with the hormones and enzymes etc;
The physiological mode is concerned with the way in which an essential oil affects the systems of the body, whether they are sedated or stimulated, etc;
The psychological effect takes place when an essence is inhaled.
With relation to the first two points, essential oil therapy has a great
deal in common with the tradition of medical herbalism - in other words,
it is not simply the aroma which is important but also the chemical interaction
between the oils and the body, and the physical changes which are brought
about.
It is not our aim to glorify natural remedies at the expense of scientific
progress, nor to uphold the principles of our present-day drug-orientated
culture, but simply to provide information about essential oils themselves
in their multifaceted nature.
The rich vasculature and large surface area of the nasal mucosa are well recognised, so drug absorption through the membrane has a great therapeutic potential, which must also be true for essential oils.
Drugs administered intranasally include vaccines such as canine infectious
tracheobronchitis and feline infectious peritonitis. Nebulisation as a
drug delivery vehicle is becoming increasingly popular in veterinary medicine
for a number of reasons. It is less stressful for some species, and the
vehicle itself allows for rapid drug absorption, with documented systemic
therapeutic blood levels. In situations where gastrointestinal complications
such as drug stability or hepatic first pass metabolism exist, intranasal
drug administration is an accepted alternative for certain drugs.
The antibacterial and antifungal properties of essential oils are well
established indeed, plants produce the oils to defend themselves against
invading microorganisms. There has been renewed interest in naturally
occurring, wide spectrum antimicrobial agents, especially given the resistance
of some microorganisms to single chemicals.
Tea Tree essential oil has attracted particular attention because it has
been found to be active against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
In both human and animal testing inhaled Lavender vapour has demonstrated
a sedative effect.
The use of essential oils to condition physiologic and behavioural responses in animals offers a very promising application. If conditional responses to odours allow a veterinary surgeon to reduce the dose or frequency of potentially toxic drugs (as doctors have been able to do with human patients), or a trainer to utilise harsh corrections less often, the value of essential oil therapy would be evident.