An August 2023 study has illustrated the analgesic effects of lavender essential oil during the removal of surgical drains.
The patients were split into four groups – lavender oil, oxygen, cold application and control – and assessed for vital signs and pain levels before the drain removal procedure, as soon as it was removed and 15 minutes after it was withdrawn.
It was found that applying lavender and cold application to the patients before the drainage procedure was effective in controlling pain.
This isn’t really anything new. We’ve known for centuries that lavender is an effective analgesic and there’s a reason it’s recommended to relieve toothache, mild nerve pain, mild joint aches and pains, relieve headache and soothe insect bites.
We’ve also seen it studied time and again over the past few decades, with results indicating lower pain scores across a wide variety of concerns, from labour, episiotomies and PMS* to neck pain, migraines and dental surgery.**
Those of us who rely on it to support our family’s wellbeing have seen the effects first-hand.
The question is, why isn’t it more commonly recommended for pain relief? If we have all of the evidence to suggest that it works for lots of people in a variety of scenarios, why doesn’t it feature in household first aid kits every bit as often as paracetamol?
A 2021 study published in the Medical Journal of Australia found that the evidence is not clear that paracetamol medications are more effective than a placebo for many common illnesses or injuries. If that’s what the research says about paracetamol, it’s worth having lavender in your first aid kit as well.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37635603/ Effectiveness of cold application and lavender oil on pain during drain removal: A randomized clinical trial – C Celebi et al. Niger J Clin Pract. 2023 Aug.
* https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33066851/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22196577/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22435409/
** https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16401526/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22517298/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32030454/
