Aromatherapy
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Aromatherapy is a range of practices that have in common the use of volatile plant oils for therapeutic purposes.
Like most woo, aromatherapy starts with observable, real effects of smells on humans, and extrapolates and exaggerates into a whole range of treatments from the effective,[1] to the banal, to the outright ridiculous.
[edit] Traditional woo
Most traditional aromatherapies are based on the idea that different aromas are helpful for different moods and emotional or mental needs[2].
In the first type, a therapist will suggest different oils or oil blends to balance the body's natural rhythms.
According to Quackwatch, Health Foods Business estimated that the total of aromatherapy products sold through health-food stores was about $59 million in 1995 and $105 million in 1996. [3]
It may help with relaxation, and there's a reliable study linking it (bizarrely) to a reduction in claustrophobia, but little more.[citation needed]
It sells well because people like things that smell nice.