Aromatherapy With Peppermint Oil Beneficial After Heart Surgery
Medically reviewed by Drugs.com.
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, Aug. 7, 2023 -- Use of aromatherapy with peppermint oil after open-heart surgery attenuates pain and improves sleep quality, according to a study published online Aug. 3 in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care.
Mahla Maghami, from Kashan University of Medical Sciences in Iran, and colleagues conducted a double-blind trial involving 64 patients to examine the effect of inhaling peppermint essence on pain relief and sleep quality after open-heart surgery. Participants were randomly assigned to aromatherapy or placebo in a 1:1 ratio and received inhaled aromatherapy using peppermint essence or distilled water, respectively. The researchers utilized the Numeric Pain Rating Scale and the St. Mary’s Hospital Sleep Questionnaire (a 14-question tool with lower scores indicating better sleep quality).
The researchers found that the mean severity of pain was 3.22 ± 0.88 and 4.56 ± 0.90 in the aromatherapy and placebo groups, respectively, which represented a statistically significant difference. After the intervention, the mean sleep scores were 20.10 ± 4.90 and 25.76 ± 6.36 in the aromatherapy and placebo groups, respectively, on day 1 and 18.63 ± 5.56 and 22.62 ± 5.69, respectively, on day 2; the differences were statistically significant.
"Considering the effect of peppermint essential oil inhalation on pain and sleep quality of patients after open-heart surgery, it can be concluded that this herbal product can be safely used as a complementary treatment in relieving pain and making patients comfortable after heart surgery," the authors write.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted August 2023
Read this next
Self-Administered Acupressure Reduces Knee Pain With Suspected Osteoarthritis
WEDNESDAY, April 24, 2024 -- Self-administered acupressure (SAA) is an efficacious and cost-effective approach to relieve knee pain in middle-aged and older adults with probable...
Immersive Virtual Reality Beneficial for Pain Relief in Cancer
MONDAY, April 8, 2024 -- For hospitalized patients with cancer, immersive virtual reality (VR) distraction therapy is associated with a greater reduction in pain compared with an...
Stepped Collaborative Intervention Improves Quality of Life in Cancer
THURSDAY, March 28, 2024 -- A stepped collaborative care intervention can improve health-related quality of life for patients with cancer and depression, pain, or fatigue...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.