Research shows the benefits of aromatherapy Aromatherapy Massage Relieves Menstrual Cramps.
Massaging an aromatherapy blend of lavender, clary sage and rose essential oils onto the abdomen just before and during a woman’s menstrual period provides relief from cramps, according to research from a South Korean school of nursing.
The data collected showed that menstrual pain decreased by more than 50 percent in the women who received aromatherapy massage. The authors concluded that “Aromatherapy can be regarded as a safe, simple, cost-effective and viable method of care.”
—MASSAGE Magazine, Issue 131, April 2006
Aromatherapy for Anxiety Reduction
This study offered preliminary results supporting the use of aromatherapy massage for reducing anxiety among patients at the end of life.
“Massage with sandalwood oil was the most effective and sustained treatment for reducing anxiety … The results generated by [the group that received massage with sandalwood via an aroma-stone] were better than those of [the control group], suggesting that sandalwood essential oil might be the key,” writes study author Gaye Kyle, a senior lecturer at Thames Valley University in Slough, England.
—MASSAGE Magazine, Issue 125, October 2006
Aromatherapy and Massage Improve Sleep in Advanced Cancer Patients
A study of the long-term effects of massage and aromatherapy on the physical and psychological symptoms of patients with advanced cancer showed that the intervention significantly improved subjects’ quality of sleep, but provided only short-term benefits for pain and anxiety.
Subjects in the massage groups received a 30-minute standardized back massage once a week for four weeks. Subjects in the control group completed the researchers’ questionnaires and assessments, but received no massage.
—MASSAGE Magazine, Issue 111,
September/October 2004Aromatherapy Eases Agitation in Severe Dementia
This study showed that aromatherapy reduced agitation and increased constructive activity in people with severe dementia.
The placebo was sunflower oil added to a base lotion; the active treatment was Melissa essential oil added to a base lotion. The lotion was applied to the subject's face and arms twice a day. “Aromatherapy with essential balm oil was well tolerated and resulted in a 35% improvement in agitation compared with an 11% improvement with placebo treatment,” state the study's authors.
—MASSAGE Magazine, Issue 102, March/April 2003
Aromatherapy’s effect on moods and minds
This study's researchers assessed the effect of lavender and rosemary on alertness, mood and the brain's electrical activity, and on subjects' ability to perform math computations.
Results indicated that both the lavender and rosemary groups experienced lower levels of anxiety and felt more relaxed after the aromatherapy. Only the lavender group reported a significantly better mood. The rosemary group reported feeling more alert.
Math test results showed that the lavender group experienced an increase in drowsiness, while the rosemary group showed EEG patterns that reflected a greater state of alertness.
Aromatherapy massage confers health benefits.
“Immunological and Psychological Benefits of Aromatherapy Massage” was conducted by staff at the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine.
The study group comprised eleven volunteers who were healthy and did not take any daily medication. Baselines were established using psychological assessments, blood and saliva samples, and palmar Galvanic skin response (GSR), finger skin temperature and finger plethysmogram amplitude using a biofeedback system. Subjects were then placed in reclining seats and allowed to rest.
Then they performed a serial subtraction task, and rested again while experimenters monitored their physiological response. After that, the subjects took a footbath with one drop of tea tree oil and received an aromatherapy massage or control massage. Psychological and physiological conditions were then measured again.
All subjects received both an aromatherapy massage and a carrier oil control massage at an interval of at least 2 weeks. The first five subjects received the aromatherapy massage before the carrier oil massage. The other six subjects received the carrier oil massage first.
Each subject received the same massage with or without essential oils by the same skilled therapist. For the aromatherapy massage, sweet almond, lavender, sweet marjoram and cypress oils were used. For the control massage, only sweet almond oil was used.
Psychological responses to treatment were assessed in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) results. State anxiety scores from the STAI were significantly reduced after both aromatherapy massage and control massage compared with the baseline. Though both STAI and SDS showed a significant reduction after treatment with aromatherapy and carrier massage, no difference between the aromatherapy and control massage was observed for STAI and SDS.
Peripheral blood cell counts were compared.
Aromatherapy, in contrast to control massage, did not significantly reduce red blood cell count or hematocrit. However, aromatherapy massage showed a significant increase in peripheral blood lymphocytes.
The study’s authors state, “These results suggest that aromatherapy massage is a valuable relaxation technique for reducing anxiety and stress, and beneficial to the immune system.”— Source: Department of Microbiology, Department of Psychiatry andDepartment of Epidemiology for Community Health and Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Japan; Graduate School of Science for Human Services, Ritsumeikan University Japan; and Department of Research and Development, Hyper Plants Co., Ltd Japan. Originally published in Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2005 Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 179–184.
Aromatherapy massage confers health benefits
The study group comprised eleven volunteers who were healthy and did not take any daily medication. Baselines were established using psychological assessments, blood and saliva samples, and palmar Galvanic skin response (GSR), finger skin temperature and finger plethysmogram amplitude using a biofeedback system. Subjects were then placed in reclining seats and allowed to rest. Then they performed a serial subtraction task, and rested again while experimenters monitored their physiological response.
After that, the subjects took a footbath with one drop of tea tree oil and received an aromatherapy massage or control massage. Psychological and physiological conditions were then measured again.
All subjects received both an aromatherapy massage and a carrier oil control massage at an interval of at least 2 weeks. The first five subjects received the aromatherapy massage before the carrier oil massage. The other six subjects received the carrier oil massage first.
Each subject received the same massage with or without essential oils by the same skilled therapist. For the aromatherapy massage, sweet almond, lavender, sweet marjoram and cypress oils were used. For the control massage, only sweet almond oil was used.
Psychological responses to treatment were assessed in State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) results. State anxiety scores from the STAI were significantly reduced after both aromatherapy massage and control massage compared with the baseline. Though both STAI and SDS showed a significant reduction after treatment with aromatherapy and carrier massage, no difference between the aromatherapy and control massage was observed for STAI and SDS. Peripheral blood cell counts were compared. Aromatherapy, in contrast to control massage, did not significantly reduce red blood cell count or hematocrit. However, aromatherapy massage showed a significant increase in peripheral blood lymphocytes.The study’s authors state, “These results suggest that aromatherapy massage is a valuable relaxation technique for reducing anxiety and stress, and beneficial to the immune system.”— Source: Department of Microbiology, Department of Psychiatry andDepartment of Epidemiology for Community Health and Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Japan; Graduate School of Science for Human Services, Ritsumeikan University Japan; and Department of Research and Development, Hyper Plants Co., Ltd Japan. Originally published in Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2005 Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 179–184.