Does aromatherapy work for better sleep and less anxiety? This is what research says

‘But what does science say?’ It’s a question we ask ourselves at moonbird every day. Especially our postdoctoral researcher, Elisabeth Honinx, as it’s her focus to investigate and gather scientific grounding for everything that we do at moonbird.

Elisabeth continuously assembles the most interesting studies on breathing and related topics. Here, we’d like to give you a monthly overview of the latest research, news, and developments in the World of Breathing. Be inspired.

1. The effect of rose aromatherapy on anxiety and sleep quality in burn patients

Sleep disorders and anxiety are common problems in burn patients, and aromatherapy is a common complementary treatment in medicine. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of aromatherapy with the inhalation of rose essential oil on anxiety and sleep quality in burn patients.

Sixty burn patients were randomly divided into the intervention group (aromatherapy: five drops of 40 % rose essential oil + routine care for three nights) or the control group (five drops of distilled water). Anxiety and sleep quality were assessed using questionnaires before and after the intervention.

Rose essential oil aromatherapy seem to reduce anxiety and improve sleep quality in burn patients

The sleep quality scores showed a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05). The results also showed a statistically significant difference in the anxiety score between the intervention and control groups after aromatherapy (P < 0.05).

The study concluded that rose essential oil aromatherapy reduced anxiety and improved sleep quality in burn patients, suggesting this approach as a useful complementary method along with other therapeutic measures in these patients.

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

2. Effects of aromatherapy on fatigue, quality of sleep and quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

Fatigue, poor sleep quality and poor quality of life (QoL) are recognised as common problems for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This study aimed to evaluate feasibility and effect of aromatherapy on these problems in patients with IBD.

Seventy IBD patients from a hospital in China were randomly assigned to an intervention group and a control group. During the 8-week intervention, the intervention group received aromatherapy through the skin and by inhalation, and the control group received routine nursing care. They completed three questionnaires: Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory, the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index before and after the intervention.

Aromatherapy may be an effective complementary treatment method to relieve fatigue and sleep problems and improve the quality of life in IBD patients.

Post-intervention fatigue and sleep problems were relieved in the intervention group compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Moreover, QoL scores improved significantly in the intervention group (P < 0.05). These results suggested that aromatherapy may be an effective complementary treatment method to relieve fatigue and sleep problems and improve the quality of life in IBD patients.

Source: www.sciencedirect.com