Yip YB, Tse SH
Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 2006
ABSTRACT:
OBJECTIVES:
To assess the efficacy of acupressure using an aromatic essential oil (lavender) as an add-on treatment for pain relief and enhancing physical functional activities among adults with sub-acute non-specific neck pain.
DESIGN:
Experimental study design.
SETTING:
A course of 8-session manual acupressure with lavender oil over a 3 week period.
INTERVENTION:
A course of 8-session manual acupressure with lavender oil over a 3 week period.
OUTCOME MEASURES:
Changes from baseline to the end of treatment were assessed on neck pain intensity [by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)]; stiffness level; stress level; neck lateral flexion, forward flexion and extension in cm, and interference with daily activities.
RESULTS:
The baseline VAS score for the intervention and control groups were 5.12 and 4.91 out of 10, respectively (P = 0.72). One month after the end of treatment, compared to the control group, the manual acupressure group had 23% reduced pain intensity (P = 0.02), 23% reduced neck stiffness (P = 0.001), 39% reduced stress level (P = 0.0001), improved neck flexion (P = 0.02), neck lateral flexion (P = 0.02), and neck extension (P = 0.01). However, improvements in functional disability level were found in both the manual acupressure group (P = 0.001) and control group (P = 0.02).
CONCLUSIONS:
Our results show that eight sessions of acupressure with aromatic lavender oil were an effective method for short-term neck pain relief.
CITATION:
Yip YB, Tse SH. An experimental study on the effectiveness of acupressure with aromatic lavender essential oil for sub-acute, non-specific neck pain in Hong Kong. Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2006;12(1):18-26.
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