What is Rosemary essential oil good for? One of the most useful essential oils in the aromatherapist toolbox, it is mostly used for nerve pain, its antimicrobial properties, and its ability to focus the mind.
Rosemary’s fresh, sharp, herbaceous fragrance makes it one of the best essential oils to help you concentrate. It is loud, proud, and refuses to let your mind wander. It refreshes us, switches us on, and makes us more alert.
On a physical level, it is specifically useful for nerve pain and is often used in massage oils for sciatica, trigeminal neuralgia, migraines, and headaches.
What is Rosemary Essential Oil Good for?
Aids mental clarity, good for concentration and memory.
Recommended for all types of nerve pain, for example:
- Sciatica
- Neuralgia
- Headache
- Migraine
- Lowers cholesterol
- Invigorating and stimulating
- Indigestion and bloating
- Constipation
- Stimulates appetite
- Improves circulation
Hair care:
- Dandruff
- Stimulates the scalp
- Use as a final rinse for glassy dark hair
Further down the article, please check the safety data for using rosemary essential oil. A few people for whom using Rosemary essential oil can be problematic.
A Rose By Any Other Name
You’ll note the Latin name on our bottles: Rosmarinus officinalis
Interestingly, scientists recently discovered that it isn’t quite the plant they had originally thought it was. Plants are classified in families, and most of these classifications were made by an 18th-century botanist, Linneus.
When you look at the Latin name of the plant, it tells you a little bit about it. You’ll notice the first name has a capital letter and informs you of the family it belongs to, and then the second word, which has a small case letter, identifies the subspecies.
Rosmarinus officinalis.
Officinalis denotes it being an incredibly ancient plant and the oldest version of the plant we know. It appears on many species, Melissa officinalis, for example. It is the oldest of the Rosemary’s; then it must have been the first, agreed?
In 2019, scientists noticed something fascinating about the chemistry of the plant. It had always been thought rosemary was a plant in a class of its own, but when they looked at the chemical constituents, they could see that it belonged to a bigger family. Rosemary is a Salvia. It is a cousin of sage.
The Latin name for this plant has now been changed to Salvia Rosmarinus, but we at VINEVIDA, along with the rest of the aromatherapy world, will likely take some time to catch up with regards to labeling, etc.
Legend has it…
Surely rosemary must be the quintessential fragrance of Provence. Like other herbs, it adores the Mediterranean air and the blend of hours of warm sunlight. In addition, it enjoys living in gritty soil with very few nutrients.
One legend tells how its name means Rose of the Sea and alludes to the tales that Magdalena took to the waves to escape and settle in France. Other stories tell of how the flowers on the Rosemary bush were once white, and the plant grew outside Christ’s tomb. His mother sat outside and wept; as she did so, tears fell onto her mantle that brushed against its flowers and turned them the loveliest blue.
We can see that it has always been a treasured plant with romantic associations.
What is Rosemary Essential Oil Good For...Energy!
When someone starts to learn aromatherapy, they tend to want to know absolutely everything about what it does. I think a much more effective and easier process is to get a handle on what its energy is. How it makes you feel. That’s easier with some essential oils than others, and with rosemary essential oil, it’s very easy.
It invigorates you. Rosemary stimulates and refreshes. It makes you want to take a deep breath and…get cracking. It’s determined. Focused. Fast….
You can feel all of that just by smelling it. It has a strong fragrance and smacks you right between the eyes. There’s probably only one bossier oil, and that’s Sweet Basil. You wouldn’t want to pick arguments with either of them because you Just. Won’t. Win.
So, tell me…what time of day would we want to use her? What is rosemary essential oil good for…Mornings!
Great.
Now you are starting to feel how she moves through your body; you might get a sense of what we use her for.
What Do Boffins in White Coats Say Rosemary Essential Oil Is Good for?
Well, what do you know?!
The men in white coats agree with the aromatherapists, except they had many gadgets and wires to prove it. But, of course, they did. It’s always worth reminding ourselves that they do their experiments to see why the plant healers get such great results so that they can replicate and synthesize them for drugs.
Twenty healthy subjects were given an oxygen mask, and a 10% dilution of essential oil was pumped through. They were then assessed to report whether they felt the experience was refreshing, pleasant, etc. In addition, their skin temperature, heart and respiratory rates, and blood pressures were measured. Their mood was further evaluated, and electroencephalography (EEG) recordings were taken to examine the effects of the rosemary essential oil on brainwaves.
The testing was very thorough, with readings taken pre-, during treatment, and post-rosemary inhalation periods, and then these were compared with the results gained from the control conditions.
Their results showed that blood pressure, heart rate, and the respiratory rate rose significantly after inhaling rosemary oil. Then the subjects reported feeling more active and "fresher" after their treatments.
The EEG results were especially engaging.
They showed a reduction in the power of alpha1 (8-10.99 Hz) and alpha2 (11-12.99 Hz) waves and increments in the beta wave. Our brain makes brain waves when we are in a state of arousal, but it makes alpha when we are winding down. We have the most alpha waves when idling and not concentrating on anything particular. Alpha waves raise when we rest.
So unsurprisingly, but also satisfyingly, that’s exactly what the tests showed. Alpha went down; beta went up. The rosemary switched the brain on to concentrate more.
Digestion
Probably the traditional use that most of us are familiar with is for it being used in cooking and being paired with roast lamb. There is a sense in this medieval tradition. Lamb, being very fatty meat, is incredibly hard to digest. Rosemary helps to break down the grease and helps avoid indigestion. In that way, it's very similar to its cousin mint.
Traditional herbal medicine suggests making tea from the herb to drink if you suffer from constipation or bloating. In aromatherapy, we would use a couple of drops in massage oil and massage it into the belly to help things along.
The plant’s invigorating nature can be felt as digestion starts to speed up and peristalsis begins to shift things along.
The herb is often added to margarine and yogurts as a probiotic to leverage all the benefits science shows in lowering cholesterol and acting as an antioxidant.
In the same way, because it has this enlivening nature, traditionally, rosemary is great for encouraging someone’s appetite if it is waning. Perhaps they have been unwell or are suffering from depression. A drop of rosemary oil in a diffuser might start moving their energy.
See how this energetic process is starting to work?
Getting on Your Nerves
So, that might seem like a play on words, but actually, it’s part of a trick aromatherapists use to try to understand what might be causing someone’s pain.
There is a very clear connection between someone’s emotions and physical symptoms. The simplest example of when we are embarrassed, we blush, and how many of us get diarrhea when we’re nervous.
When we talk about our nervous system, we usually talk about mental health, aren’t we? We feel nervous; we feel anxious. But nerves are a physical messaging system, carrying messages back and forth from our brain to make the body do…well, everything.
Gaps between nerves and chemicals pass, like little carrier pigeons moving the messages along.
These neurotransmitters are what we experience as feelings and are directly involved with our emotions.
So, if someone presents with ongoing, chronic pain, and they keep telling us that such and such is “Really getting on my nerves…”, it gives us a clue into the emotions that may be holding onto that pain. This would be a great time to employ rosemary essential oil because it works on the emotional, mental, and physical bodies.
Nerve Pain
Rosemary essential oil is good for sharp stabbing pains instead of dull throbbing aches. Anyone with sciatica, trigeminal neuralgia, or migraine can identify that searing electrical charge. All these respond well to rosemary. So it makes sense to use a bit of lavender or chamomile essential oil to reduce pain and inflammation further.
For ease, we’ve added suggested recipes at the end of the article.
Circulation
You’ll often hear people talk about how safe essential oils are because they are natural and have no side effects. That is both simultaneously a falsehood and a truth. They are right; essential oils don’t have side effects but many main effects. Think about the experiment we read earlier, blood pressure changes, body temperature, brain waves…lots of things were going on.
While rosemary wouldn’t normally be an oil you’d think of for circulation - black pepper, geranium, or ginger might be better, for example. However, its refreshing action tones all aspects of the body. So when you use rosemary for something like sciatica, another one of the main effects of rosemary is how it heats circulation. It has a warming effect on the muscles, but simultaneously, if you put it on the skin, it cools.
Skin Care
Again, it's not traditionally considered a beautifying oil, but it is astringent. So, what is rosemary essential oil good for if we use it on the skin? Well, It tightens and cleanses the skin, which could be good for greasy skin or acne.
We could put it into a facial wash too, for example, and we can see how it would be great for morning time, refreshing, focusing, and recharging.
Hair care
Haircare is great, Rosemary, but not for all types of hair.
Rosemary essential oil is great for dandruff and hair growth because it stimulates and invigorates the scalp. If you have dark hair, it’s worth adding rosemary to make a final hair rinse. It makes it so glossy and ravens black. Remember that essential oils don’t mix with water, so dilute them into a tiny bit of alcohol or honey first.
Alternatively, make tea from rosemary needles and watch how incredibly your hair responds to that!
Safety of Using Rosemary Essential Oil
Rosemary essential oil is neither safe to use during pregnancy nor while breastfeeding.
As per the trial results, it is best avoided by people with high blood pressure.
Since it plays with brain waves, it is best avoided by people with epilepsy.
Similarly, it is high in a chemical group called ketones which can be neurotoxic. We suggest choosing different oils if you suffer from any kind of delusory complaint or have psychosis or schizophrenia.
Its high levels of 1,8 cineole slow respiration and can be problematic for children. Therefore, from a safety point of view, only use rosemary on a child’s back.
From an energetic point of view, imagine a two-year-old who has devoured 16 birthday cakes, fourteen bottles of coke, and three tabs of amphetamines… that’s a rosemary kid. Yeah….no….don’t…What’s rosemary essential oil good for kids?
Giving mom a nervous breakdown.
What Is Rosemary Good For? Recipe Ideas
Migraine
- 30ml Blank Aqueous cream (available from the pharmacy)
- 1 drop Rosemary Essential Oil (Salvia rosmarinus)
- 3 drops Yarrow Essential Oil (Achillea millefolium)
- 2 drops Roman Chamomile Essential Oil (Anthemis nobilis)
Method of use: Rub this cream into the back of the neck, forehead, and temples. This will give the oils fast access to the brain. Use every half an hour or so until the migraine attack passes.
Safety: Not suitable for use during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Do not use it if you have high blood pressure, epilepsy, psychotic, delusory, or schizophrenic episodes. Only apply children’s necks and not on their faces.
Sciatica
- 1tbs Grapeseed Carrier Oil (Vitis vinifera)
- 1 tsp Tamanu Carrier Oil (Calophyllum inophyllum)
- 1 drop Rosemary Essential Oil (Salvia rosmarinus)
- 3 drops Yarrow Essential Oil (Achillea millefolium)
- 2 drops Lavender Essential Oil (Lavandula angustifolia)
Method of Use: Sciatica does not respond well to being pummeled and massaged, so simply stroke the oils gently into the back, buttocks, and down the back of the legs.
Safety: Not suitable for use during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Do not use it if you have high blood pressure, epilepsy, psychotic, delusory, or schizophrenic episodes. Only apply children’s necks and not on their faces.
Conclusion
To sum up then. What is rosemary essential oil good for? Invigorating energy for helping us concentrate and focus better and makes our bodies feel less sluggish and more active. Rosemary is a specific tonic for nerve pain, particularly those with a sharp stabbing agony. It is good for digestion, circulation, and memory.
This essential oil should not be used in pregnancy or breastfeeding and is problematic to anyone with high blood pressure, epilepsy, or psychosis. Anything about rosemary better suits morning energy when we have to be up, fab better than evening energy when we need to wind down.
