The effect of lavender aromatherapy on the pain severity of primary dysmenorrhea: A triple-blind randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Background:Primary dysmenorrhea is the most common complaint in adolescents and adult young women that disturbs their daily life performance.Aim:The current study investigated the effect of lavender aromatherapy on pain severity in primary dysmenorrhea.Subjects and Methods:This triple-blind randomized clinical trial was conducted on 200 students of Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Subjects were allocated randomly into intervention (lavender) and control (placebo) groups. The researcher assistant asked the participants to smell the lavender in the first 3 days of menstruation, 30 min in a day in two menstrual cycles. Control group was also administered placebo (diluted milk) to be used as lavender in treatment group. Pain severity was scored by visual analog scale in the first 3 days of menstruation before intervention and 2 months after intervention. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and independent and paired samples t-tests.Results:There was a significant difference in average pain severity between treatment and control groups after intervention. However, students in the treatment group reported significantly less pain severity 2 months after intervention (P < 0.01).Conclusion:Using lavender aromatherapy for 2 months may be effective in decreasing the pain severity of primary dysmenorrhea.

Aromatherapy for Managing Pain in Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Systematic Review of Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials

“…The key data are summarized in Table 1 [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. Seven RCTs tested inhalation aromatherapy [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ], 11 RCTs assessed aromatherapy with massage [ 19 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ] (one RCT compared massage and inhalation [ 19 ]), and the other two studies investigated oral aromatherapy [ 33 , 34 ]. Eleven trials originated from Iran [ 17 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 29 , 33 , 34 ], 3 from Korea [ 19 , 30 , 31 ], 2 from Tu...…”

“…Seven RCTs tested inhalation aromatherapy [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ], 11 RCTs assessed aromatherapy with massage [ 19 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ] (one RCT compared massage and inhalation [ 19 ]), and the other two studies investigated oral aromatherapy [ 33 , 34 ]. Eleven trials originated from Iran [ 17 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 29 , 33 , 34 ], 3 from Korea [ 19 , 30 , 31 ], 2 from Turkey [ 16 , 24 ], 2 from Egypt [ 27 , 28 ], and 1 from Taiwan [ 32 ]. Fifteen of the included trials used a parallel design [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , …”

“…Eleven trials originated from Iran [ 17 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 29 , 33 , 34 ], 3 from Korea [ 19 , 30 , 31 ], 2 from Turkey [ 16 , 24 ], 2 from Egypt [ 27 , 28 ], and 1 from Taiwan [ 32 ]. Fifteen of the included trials used a parallel design [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 34 ], whereas four RCTs employed a crossover design [ 23 , 24 , 28 , 33 ]. Aromatherapy was used once in 4 trials [ 16 , 26 , 30 , 33 ] and more than twice in the remaining trials [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 ...…”

“…Fifteen of the included trials used a parallel design [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 34 ], whereas four RCTs employed a crossover design [ 23 , 24 , 28 , 33 ]. Aromatherapy was used once in 4 trials [ 16 , 26 , 30 , 33 ] and more than twice in the remaining trials [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 34 ]. Seven RCTs were registered in the trial registration in Iran [ 17 , 18 , 22 , 25 , 26 , 29 , 34 ].…”

“…Aromatherapy was used once in 4 trials [ 16 , 26 , 30 , 33 ] and more than twice in the remaining trials [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 34 ]. Seven RCTs were registered in the trial registration in Iran [ 17 , 18 , 22 , 25 , 26 , 29 , 34 ]. Three of these studies were registered during recruiting [ 18 , 22 , 26 ], whereas four were registered retrospectively [ 17 , 25 , 29 , 34 ].…”