Lavandula angustifolia or lavender is the most popular and topmost choice for aromatherapy due to its versatility, fragrance, and therapeutic effects that are well supported by research. It is also the most recommended essential oil for dozing concerns.
How does lavender promote drowsiness and hypnotism
Linalyl acetate and linalool are the major compounds in lavender essential oil. These are the chemical compounds that make lavender oil have hypnotic and anxiolytic effects. (2) Furthermore, inhalation of lavender essential oil makes you drowsy because it affects your autonomic nervous system along with the factors that facilitate sleep onset such as reduced blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, and cortisol levels. (2)
Lavender essential oil on dozing quality, latency, and duration
Lavender’s efficacy on sleep quality among postpartum women was reported in 2015. In the randomized clinical trial, 158 women who had recently given birth at Zanjan University Medical Health Center were recruited to participate in the study. These mothers were in their postpartum period. The subjects were divided into two groups, the control, and the intervention group. The control group received the placebo which was sesame carrier oil. The patients in the intervention group were treated with lavender fragrance every night before sleeping. The aromatherapy blend used for the intervention group was composed of 10% lavender essential oil and sesame carrier oil. (1)
The inhalation therapy was carried out by dropping 4 drops of lavender fragrance on the cotton ball. The participants had to inhale lavender’s aroma for 10 deep breaths. After which, the cotton ball was placed in a container beside the patient’s pillow until morning. The container was located at the patient’s disposal that’s 20 cm away from the patient. This setup enabled them to inhale lavender’s aroma from bedtime until the next morning. The inhalation procedure was carried out nightly before sleeping. It was repeatedly done 4 times a week for 8 weeks. For the participants in the control group, the same intervention procedure was performed except that they only used sesame carrier oil. (1)
Sleep quality evaluation was done after 3 – 5 days after birth, then after four weeks (4th week), and then after the second four weeks (8th week) after labor. After 4 weeks, the improvement difference was not yet much apparent between the two groups, though there were minimal improvements. The improvement in doze quality for the intervention group only appeared after 8 weeks. It was observed after 8 weeks that there was an increased sleep quality among the intervention group participants between their pre-intervention condition and after the interventions. Meanwhile, there was no change in the placebo group compared to the aroma group. Hence, it was confirmed that inhalation of lavender essential oil aroma has a positive effect on certain sleep quality aspects such as sleep latency and duration. (1)
Lavender essential oil’s efficacy on insomnia
Lavender essential oil’s effect among postmenopausal women with insomnia was studied in a double-blind, randomized controlled trial in 2021. The subjects in this study included 35 postmenopausal women aged 48–65. Participants in both groups are mostly aged around 56 years old and clinically diagnosed with insomnia. The subjects were divided into two groups – the aroma group and the placebo group. The subjects in the aroma group inhaled lavender essential oil while the control group took sunflower oil. (2)
Though the trial lasted for 36 days, the intervention period ran for 29 days. Each participant was given an aromatic kit that contained sleeping hygiene instruction sheets, a pack of cotton balls, and 29 amber bottles (1 bottle a day). For the aroma group, the bottles contain 2ml (40 drops) of sunflower oil and 0.12ml (2.4 drops)of Lavender essential oil. 6% essential oil dilution was followed to ensure that the aroma is pleasant and make the lavender’s aroma less apparent. (2)
The participants were instructed to self-administer the inhalation of the oil provided to them. They were advised to use one bottle per day at bedtime. They were instructed to do the inhalation by removing the bottle’s cap and while sitting, they should place the bottle at neck level while making circular movements. This procedure should be done for two minutes. They were advised to lightly smell the oil instead of deeply inhaling its fragrance to prevent headaches due to excessive effort. The interval between the first inhalation and the second inhalation should be 10 minutes. During the interval period, the participants should do their hygiene routines, to prepare for dozing. After the second inhalation, the participants should pour all of the oil onto a cotton ball. To ensure that they can sniff the odor through the dozing period it should remain close to their nose and must be placed beside their pillow in the position/direction in which they usually sleep. After performing all the procedures during and after the second inhalation, the participants should be ready to doze. Evaluations were performed before and after the intervention. Each participant had to attend three appointments for evaluation with an interval of one or two weeks. (2)
Most of the volunteers in both groups reported that they did not experience any adverse effects. Moreover, no differences were observed between groups after intervention because both groups presented better sleep quality over time. All participants had significant improvement in insomnia severity as well as sleep quality, sleep onset latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and daytime sleepiness. A possible reason why both groups had improvement despite that the placebo group only received carrier oil was because of the provided sleep hygiene guidelines, instructions, weekly reminders, and follow-ups, that were done before and during the intervention. These were helpful to improve the sleeping pattern and sleep quality of the participants as these assisted the participants to rethink their attitudes towards sleep. (2)
Meanwhile, researchers observed the tendency of improvement in wake-after-sleep onset (WASO) among the aroma group as it was seen that there was a decrease in WASO over time. Moreover, the aroma group had better overall sleep patterns and quality, a decrease in sleep onset latency, and increased sleep efficiency. (2)
The influence of lavender essential oil on drowsiness is without a doubt effective. However, based on the two presented researches above, we would see that to reap the efficacy of lavender, proper implementation must be ensured. Both the 2015 and 2021 randomized controlled and clinical trials have emphasized the importance of reminding the patients regarding the instructions, guidelines, procedures, and proper drowsing hygiene. These can be made possible by providing an information sheet, a checklist, and weekly reminders about the intervention through phone calls or text messages.
Remember your dozing hygiene routine
References:
- (1) Afshar M.K., Moghadam Z.B., Taghizadeh Z., Bekhradi R., Montazeri A., Mokhtari P. Lavender Fragrance Essential Oil and the Quality of Sleep in Postpartum Women. Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal. 2015; 17(4): e25880. DOI: 10.5812/ircmj.17(4)2015.25880
- (2) Lucena L.D.R., Dos Santos-junior J.G., Tufik T., Hachul H. Lavender essential oil on postmenopausal women with insomnia: Double-blind randomized trial. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 59 (2021) 102726. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2021.102726
Ciele 