Peppermint oil aromatherapy may ease pain

Several the study Some studies suggest that aromatherapy may be an effective way to reduce postoperative pain. For example, study Aromatherapy using peppermint oil has been found to reduce pain associated with intravenous catheterization (the insertion of a long, thin, flexible tube called a catheter into a blood vessel in parts of the body such as the arm or neck).

Research has shown that peppermint oil Sleep quality Heart disease patients assistance Recovery after surgery.

Further research into how aromatherapy with peppermint oil affects patients after cardiac surgery could aid in the development of treatments for pain.

Recently, researchers published the results of a double-blind, randomized clinical trial investigating the effects of peppermint oil aromatherapy on pain assessment and sleep quality after cardiac surgery. Researchers found that aromatherapy reduced pain and improved sleep quality after open-heart surgery.

They found that BMJ Supportive and Palliative Care.

For the study, the researchers recruited 64 patients with an average age of 61 who underwent open-heart surgery.

The most common procedure is heart bypass surgery, which involves removing a section of a blood vessel from another part of the body and transplanting it into the heart to allow blood to bypass the clogged artery.

The researchers divided the patients into two groups, one of which received 0.1 milliliters (ml) of 10% essential peppermint oil aromatherapy and 10 mL of distilled water, and the other group received a placebo consisting of 10 mL of distilled water.

Both treatments were administered 30 minutes before the patients’ breathing tubes were removed after surgery, and then administered three times a day via nebulizer for two days. Patients received a total of seven doses.

The researchers used the Numeric Pain Rating Scale and the St. Mary’s Hospital Sleep Questionnaire to assess changes in pain severity and sleep quality.

Ultimately, patients in the aromatherapy group were found to have significantly less pain than those in the placebo group: Patients who received aromatherapy had an average pain score of 3.22, compared to 4.56 for those who received the placebo.

The aromatherapy group had significantly better sleep quality scores than the group given a placebo: on day 1, the aromatherapy and comparison groups had sleep scores of 20.1 and 25.76, respectively, but by day 2, these scores had dropped to 18.63 and 22.62, respectively. Lower scores indicate better sleep quality.

The researchers also noted that patients who received peppermint oil aromatherapy required less pain medication than those in the placebo group.

The researchers concluded that their findings indicate that peppermint aromatherapy can reduce pain intensity and improve sleep quality after open-heart surgery.

“Considering the effect of inhaling peppermint essential oil on pain and sleep quality in patients after open-heart surgery, we conclude that this herbal product can be safely used as a complementary treatment to relieve pain and improve patient comfort after cardiac surgery,” the authors wrote in their study.

In aromatherapy, inhaled particles are absorbed through the nasal mucosa and lungs. show As soon as you inhale the scent of peppermint, its molecules are present in your blood and then in your brain and nervous system, where they trigger physiological and behavioral changes.

It’s still unclear exactly how peppermint oil relieves pain, but the researchers note that components of the oil, including menthol, carvone and limonene, may play a role, adding that peppermint is known to have antispasmodic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anticongestive and antioxidant properties.

“It’s a very interesting study,” said Dr. J. Wes Ulm, a bioinformatics scientific resource analyst and biomedical data expert at the National Institutes of Health, who was not involved in the study. Today’s medical news:

“Peppermint oil is actually one of the oldest folk remedies known to society, dating back at least to Ancient Greece and mentioned in several relevant texts. Evidence regarding its effectiveness in treating modern ailments is mixed and still unclear, but there is some indication that it may be useful for managing tension, headaches and irritable bowel syndrome, for example. [IBS]. Might be useful [in easing nausea and vomiting]This is especially true for certain patient groups, such as those post-surgery and hospitalized patients.”

“The actual use of peppermint oil will vary in each case, such as applying it topically for headaches or localized pain, or providing it as a dietary aid for conditions such as indigestion and IBS,” he added.

“While the primary effect of peppermint oil used as aromatherapy is its anti-nausea effect, this study suggests that this method of administration may also help exert the oil’s analgesic effects and enhance sleep quality,” Dr. Ulm explained.

Ulm said the findings are limited by the study’s small sample size, adding that patients were not told whether they were in the aromatherapy or peppermint group, but because the placebo was water-based, they likely guessed which group they were in. This could have biased the results, he said.

He noted that if the findings are supported by further research, aromatherapy may be able to be used in post-operative settings as a relatively low-cost, easy-to-administer pain reliever with sleep-promoting effects.

“The mechanism by which peppermint oil acts as an analgesic is unclear, but it may have similar properties to capsaicin, the main component of chilli peppers, which is also known to be effective as an analgesic; however, further research is needed to confirm this,” he concluded.