Hospitals Using Essential Oils

There is ample evidence that plant materials have healing properties and have been used by human beings for healing for centuries. Numerous research studies prove that various essential oils from plants have significant antimicrobial properties. This being the case, why aren’t they being widely used by doctors and hospitals? The truth is that they are being used in other parts of the world, especially in France, where the use of essential oils is an accepted and established specialty in medical practice.

We could speculate about the reasons essential oils are rarely used in U.S. hospitals. Is it because we are so enamored with modern technology that we overlook the fact that synthetic medicines always produce negative side effects? Or does the close relationship among doctors, hospitals, and the multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry have something to do with it? Is it a choice, a group of choices made in the past, a widely held belief system, a conspiracy? Many people have opinions; however, it is likely that a combination of many factors has brought us to the point where we are today. In our rush to seek out new answers, and in our belief that current science and technology are always correct and that new is always best, we can overlook the simple solutions to many problems that are simply right under our noses.

Fortunately, there are some signs that attitudes are changing. More and more doctors are interested in integrated, complimentary, and alternative medicine. Some hospitals, hospices, and nursing homes are using essential oils to deodorize their facilities, calm their patients, reduce cross infections, reduce the use of psychotropic drugs, increase appetite, increase the will to live, and increase patient reports of overall wellbeing. The following are just a few examples.

Alegent Health Bergan Mercy Medical Center, Omaha, NE
Aurora Healthcare System, Foxpoint, WI
Banner Health, Mesa, AZ
Beth Israel Complementary Care Center, New York, NY
Children’s Healthcare, Roseville, MN
Elk Regional Health Hospital, PA
Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, AK
Florida Hospital Medical Center, Orlando, FL
Goshen General Hospital, Chardon, OH
Ingham Regional Medical Center, Lansing, MI
Kingston Hospital, Kingston, NY
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Oakland, CA
Manilaq Hospital, Kotzebue, AK
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
Mercy Holistic Health, Cincinnati, OH
Pinnacle Health, Harrisburg, PA
St. Barnabas Healthcare System, Toms River, NJ
St. Croix Valley Memorial, WI
St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford, CT
St. John’s Riverside Medical Center, Yonkers, NY
St. Luke’s Medical Center, New Bedford, MA
Sentara Healthcare, Wilmington, DE
The Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, NJ
University of Michigan Hospital, MI
Wishard Memorial Hospital, Indianapolis, IN

In Worchester Hospital in Hereford, England they did a six-month study in which they discovered that vaporizing lavender caused their patients to have more natural sleep patterns and made them less aggressive. Many patients were able to be weaned off tranquilizers altogether.

In Minneapolis, essential oils are used to reduce the wandering of elderly patients.

In Missouri, hospitals are using essential oils to prevent and eliminate mold from offices, surgeries, and intensive care units.

At Churchill Hospital in Oxford, England, many of the Alzheimers patents treated with essential oils have become more alert. Patients with dementia have become calmer.

St. Croix Valley Memorial Hospital in Wisconsin uses essential oils throughout the lobby, at the nurses’ stations, and the emergency waiting room. Anxiety relieving essential oils are used.

At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, they tested the anxiety level of patients going through MRI. Forty-two patients breathed normal air, and thirty-eight breathed air with essential oils; 63% of those exposed to the aromatic oils experienced reduced anxiety levels.

At St. John's and St. Elizabeth's Hospital in London, most of the midwives have become trained aromatherapists. They use essential oils from the beginning of pregnancy through the aftercare.

At Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, England, thirty-six patients in the intensive-care and coronary-care units were tested to determine whether there was any benefit to using essential oils combined with massage. The control group received nothing, a second group received massage without essential oils, and a third group received aromatherapy massage. The patients’ progress was followed over a five week period. Systolic blood pressure (the first number of a blood-pressure reading) dropped 50% for those who received aromatherapy with massage, 40% with massage alone, and 16% for the control group. Respiratory rates decreased by 75% for the aromatherapy group, 41% for massage alone, and 16% in the control group. Heart rate decreased by 91% for the aromatherapy group, 58% for those receiving massage alone, and 41% for the control group.

In Jersey City, New Jersey, two elder-care facilities diffused essential oils for 15-30 minutes twice a day in the lounge and in the common rooms and records indicated that the use of psychotropic drugs was reduced by nearly 50% over a three-month period.

RESOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

The Oil Story
Ancient History of Essential Oils
Modern History of Essential Oils
Hospitals Using Essential Oils
Quotes from Modern Science
Definitions of Essential Oil and Aromatherapy Terminology

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