Aromatherapy Massage Benefits Clients and Your Business

Just how important is personalization in the client experience? The 2024 Forbes State of Customer Service and CX Survey found that 81% of customers prefer companies that offer personalized experiences. [1] By providing your clients with a personalized experience, you satisfy their needs, and you also build trust and loyalty. Here’s where aromatherapy massage can fit the bill and help add revenue.

With a wide range of pure and natural oils for use in aromatherapy massage, you should be able to find one that fits your clients’ preferences and addresses their needs to improve emotional well-being or ease pain. You can even create your own ‘signature’ blend for a highly individualized aromatherapy and massage treatment. The combination of lemongrass, orange, basil and rosemary, for example, is known to inspire, uplift and create a feeling of happiness. If you don’t want to create your own, you can find 100% essential oil blends on the market.

How does aromatherapy work?

From your own experience, you know that certain scents or smells can produce certain responses or conjure up memories. When essential oils are inhaled, the scent molecules in essential oils travel from the olfactory nerves directly to the brain and especially affect the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain.[2]

Aromatherapy uses these responses to improve mental and physical well-being, such as reducing anxiety, relieving stress, increasing energy and reducing fatigue. This is why the use of essential oils for aromatherapy massage is so promising.

Jade Shutes, founder and director of education for The School of Aromatic Studies, in an interview with the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) last year, said that recently several studies have started to confirm some of the very real benefits of aromatherapy. Among the benefits Shutes noted are reducing fatigue and increasing energy, reducing nausea, relieving symptoms of anxiety and depression, improving sleep quality, and decreasing stress.[3] For an aromatherapy massage, the essential oils are diluted in a carrier oil or lotion and absorbed through the skin.

While in general there is a need for more research on the health effects of aromatherapy, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), some studies have indicated the effectiveness of stimulating oils, among them lemon, orange and tangerine to boost mood. [4]

Another study from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) looked at the effectiveness of chamomile and massage therapy to relieve anxiety.  The study showed a greater decrease in anxiety symptoms after massages with chamomile versus massage without aromatherapy.[5]

Introduce clients to the aromatherapy massage benefits

You have options when it comes to introducing clients to aromatherapy massage benefits. The American Institute of Alternative Medicine (AIAM) points to the beneficial use of aromatherapy in the following types of massage:[6]

Swedish massage: The use of aromatherapy in Swedish massage enhances the benefits of the treatment by relieving muscle tension and improving circulation while also promoting relaxation. AIAM says that some of the most popular essential oils used in conjunction with Swedish massage are sweet orange, geranium, lavender, patchouli, cedarwood, chamomile, and rosemary. 

Deep tissue massage:  Aromatherapy enhances the therapeutic effects of deep tissue massage for pain relief, soothing sore muscles and aiding muscle relaxation. Specific essential oils suitable for deep tissue massage to reduce pain, swelling, or inflammation are chamomile, marjoram, peppermint, rosemary, eucalyptus, and ginger.

Hot stone massage: You can enhance the sensory experience of hot stone massage through a custom blend of essential oils. The aromatherapy massage benefits include helping release muscle tension, combating nervous fatigue, and promoting positivity. Some of the essential oils used for hot stone aromatherapy massage are ylang-ylang, chamomile, palmarosa, lavender, and eucalyptus.

Find out client preferences

You always want to get to know your client’s likes and dislikes before offering them any one of the essential oils for an aromatherapy massage.  Because the sense of smell is closely tied to memory and moods, different scents will trigger different responses among clients.  Someone may love the smell of lavender, which is widely recognized to help relaxation. However, another client may associate lavender with an unpleasant experience somewhere in their past.

Also ask clients about any allergies they have. If a client is not sure if a scent will have an adverse reaction, let them smell the oil before you use it.  Pregnancy is one contraindication of aromatherapy since there is no clear data the safety of essential oils on pregnant women.

Extend aromatherapy benefits

Continue the benefits of aromatherapy massage after the session. To enable self-care, send clients home with a small jar of the blend you used. Provide instructions for self-massage and bathing.  And aromatherapy also can help boost revenue when you feature retail selections for use at home for self-massage or the bath. Essential oil candles and room sprays can be used in various rooms in the house to energize and lift mood.

Aromatherapy massage has several benefits. Clients will appreciate the customized experience the use of essential oils in massage provides. They also will value your effort to find ways to improve the experience. The bond you build with clients will result in repeat visits to your spa or massage practice. Aromatherapy massage might just be the “sweet smell of success.”

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