Peppermint oil aromatherapy may help with pain severity after heart surgery

The use of essential peppermint oil aromatherapy may ease pain severity after open heart surgery and enhance sleep quality as well, suggest the results of a small comparative clinical trial, published online in the journal BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. The researchers wanted to investigate the potential of peppermint essential oil as an alternative therapy to reduce pain and improve the sleep quality of patients after open heart surgery.

Sixty-four adults were therefore randomly assigned either to treatment with 0.1ml of 10% essential peppermint oil or 10 ml distilled water administered 30 minutes before their breathing tube was removed and then 3 times daily via nebulizer until the second night following their procedure—7 doses in all. The final analysis included 59 patients: 30 in the aromatherapy group and 29 in the comparison group.

After 2 days, the average pain severity score was 3.22 in the aromatherapy group and 4.56 in the comparison group, a statistically significant difference, say the researchers. Average sleep scores on day 1 were 20.10 and 25.76 in the aromatherapy and comparison groups, respectively, falling to 18.63 and 22.62, respectively, on day 2, a statistically significant difference between the two groups. The higher the score, the poorer the sleep quality.

By way of an explanation for their findings, the researchers suggest that the main components of peppermint oil—carvone, limonene, and menthol—may be key to its pain-relieving qualities, particularly menthol.

Reference: Pain and sleep after open-heart surgery—inhalation peppermint essence: double-blind randomized clinical trial, 10.1136/spcare-2023-004214