Lavender Essential Oil is currently the most commonly used aromatherapy product (extracted from flowers, stems, and leaves) in the world. It is a light yellow viscous liquid with a special sweetness and is often used in perfumes. , cosmetics and bath products, has a history of 2500 years.
Do you know lavender essential oil benefits and side effects?
In aromatherapy, lavender is regarded as a generation that improves mood and anxiety. Others such as sedatives, antispasmodics, antihypertensives, antibacterial, and antiseptic functions are also often mentioned.
What are the benefits of lavender essential oil?
1. Sleep quality
Sleep problems are becoming more and more serious in this day and night society. It is estimated that about 25%–65% of children, adolescents, and adults have various levels of sleep disturbances (difficulty falling asleep, sudden wakefulness at night, or daytime sleepiness).
Sleep is responsible for the repair, detoxification, and growth. Health problems related to sleep disorders include fatigue, anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, inflammation, obesity, and diabetes.
A controlled study pointed out that (for 5 days, for 79 students with sleep problems), lavender essential oil (inhalation method) can help improve the sleep quality, energy, and vitality of the subjects (measured by self-assessment questionnaire).
Another controlled study also found that women’s postpartum pain, hormonal changes, and childcare stress often reduce sleep quality, and lavender essential oil (inhalation) can help improve sleep quality (including waiting time before falling asleep and sleep duration).
2. Anxiety/depression before and after surgery
For novice mothers, pregnancy and childbirth are the most important life experiences, and welcoming the arrival of a new life has an indescribable sense of accomplishment.
However, the dramatic physical and emotional changes accompanying this period are also invisible pressure. It is estimated that more than 13% of postpartum women have suffered from postpartum depression (with anxiety).
Postpartum depression mainly manifests as sadness, fatigue, irritability, anxiety, and lack of interest in the surrounding events. Serious or even self-mutilating or hurting children.
A controlled study pointed out (for 90 patients undergoing cardiac surgery) that the use of lavender essential oil (inhalation method) before surgery has the effect of reducing the average anxiety score and cortisol levels, and may be used as an alternative treatment option to reduce anxiety before surgery.
Another controlled study also found (targeting 140 postpartum women) that lavender essential oil (inhalation method) has the effect of reducing stress, anxiety, and postpartum depression scores.
3. Restless Leg Syndrome
Restless legs syndrome mainly describes a spontaneous urge to move the legs (usually caused by leg discomfort or tingling) when sitting or lying down and most often occurs at night. It is estimated that the prevalence rate is between 2% and 15%, and hemodialysis (dialysis) patients are as high as 20%-80%.
And because the pathological cause of this disease has not been fully understood, so far there is no clear prescription for reducing symptoms.
A controlled study pointed out (for a period of 3 weeks, the subject is 70 hemodialysis patients), compared with the control group, lavender essential oil (massage) has the effect of improving restless legs syndrome, may be allowed to join routine care, as no side effects and Simple, low-cost adjuvant therapy.
4. Labor and surgical pain
Pain sensation is caused by actual or potential tissue damage. Pain after birth and surgery often causes great discomfort. Pain in childbirth is one of the highest pain levels.
The unrelieved pain after surgery not only makes the patient feel afraid but also often causes many acute and chronic symptoms, such as easy to produce blood clots, postoperative immunosuppression, and delayed wound healing.
A controlled study pointed out (target 120 pregnant women) that lavender essential oil (inhalation method) can help reduce the pain caused by childbirth (but there is no significant difference between the active period and the duration of the second stage of labor).
*Active phase is the period when the uterine contraction speed is gradually accelerated (expansion 3 cm to full opening).
*Second stage/second stage refers to the full opening of the cervix to the delivery of the fetus.
Another controlled study also found (targeting 60 women who had undergone cesarean section) that lavender essential oil (inhalation method) helped reduce the pain after cesarean section (4, 8, 12 hours after the first analgesic administration).
5. Migraine
Migraine is a complex neurological disease. The prevalence rate is about 18% for women and about 6% for men. The main clinical manifestation is a headache, and at least meets one or two of the following phenomena, such as unilateral, pulsating pain, increased movement, and fear of light or sound.
Common external triggering factors for migraine include light, temperature, exercise, loud noise, or ingestion of tyramine-containing food and alcohol; internal factors include stress, sleep disturbance, and estrogen decline.
A controlled study showed that in addition to reducing the severity of headaches, lavender essential oil (inhalation method) can also reduce related peripheral symptoms (such as photophobia, sound phobia, nausea, and vomiting) and the probability of transferring to the other side.
The author believes that lavender essential oil may be an effective and safe method for the acute management of migraine.
Are there any side effects of lavender essential oil?
For most people, the lavender essential oil is very safe and has no side effects when used correctly, but some adverse reactions have been reported (by inhalation or skin absorption), including nausea, vomiting, headache, chills, and skin irritation.
Unless under professional guidance, oral essential oils are generally not recommended, and possible adverse reactions include constipation, headache, and increased appetite.
Safety Precautions
Breastfeeding and pregnant women, especially during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, it is generally not recommended to inhale or apply essential oil products or confirm with a medical personnel before use.
There have been reports of cases (targeted at 3 boys). Lavender essential oils in shampoo, soap, and lotion have caused gynecomastia. Although the evidence is still weak, for safety, you must be cautious before using it.
Do not use it in combination with sleeping pills and sedatives. Patients undergoing surgery or anesthesia should also stop using it two weeks ago because lavender essential oil has a stimulating and relaxing effect, it may interfere with or worsen the drug response.
Where to buy the highest quality lavender essential oil?
In recent years, food safety problems in various countries have exploded, and it is not healthy but black-hearted products that everyone spends on. Therefore, European and American products with relatively strict quality control have become popular products.
And iHerb.com is a large-scale medical cosmetics e-commerce company in the United States. It has a high satisfaction rate of 97% in the evaluation of Google customers. It provides global home delivery so that you can buy it without risking buying fakes through purchasing high-quality health products.
