Aromatherapy for Epilepsy

Epilepsy can be a devastating condition for millions of people worldwide. Often the seizures result in the patient needing to take large amounts of mind numbing drugs or in some cases they even require brain surgery to treat them and all of this doesn’t help 20-30% of Epileptics. For them, the seizures don’t respond to any treatment at all which can have a dramatic affect on their quality of life. Not knowing when the seizure is coming often means they can’t work, drive cars or in severe cases even leave the house or live on their own. But one study out of the UK has found a link between aromatherapy and treating this 20-30% of patients who don’t respond to anything else.

The study, conducted at the University of Birmingham found that patients who are taught a self-hypnosis technique (what many call meditation) and then combined that technique with aromatherapy massage greatly reduced, if not stopped altogether, the number of seizures that they had. The essential oil that was chosen was left up to the individual patient; they were allowed to choose whatever scent they found most relaxing. After a few brief exercises which created a conditional response to the oil, the patients were then instructed to smell the oil whenever they felt a seizure coming on. The results of the study showed that the patients who just learned the meditation technique showed no improvement, while those that used aromatherapy showed dramatic improvement.

The oil found most useful in this study was Jasmine. It was favored among the study participants and it worked the most effectively. There are several oils that were not allowed to be used in the study because they are known to be convulsants. Fennel, Camphor, Hyssop and Rosemary should never be used on anyone with a seizure condition for that reason. So if someone you love suffers from Epilepsy, no matter how severe, offer to give them a relaxing aromatherapy massage with some Jasmine oil. I doubt they will complain.

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