Aromatherapy massage confers immunological and psychological benefits

Massage that includes the application of fragrant essential oils reduces anxiety and stress and is beneficial to the immune system, according to recent research.

“Immunological and Psychological Benefits of Aromatherapy Massage” was conducted by staff at the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan.

The study group comprised 11 volunteers who were healthy and did not take any daily medication. To establish baselines, the subjects first completed psychological assessment forms and gave blood and saliva samples. Physiological conditions were measured through palmar Galvanic skin response (GSR), finger skin temperature and finger plethysmogram amplitude using a biofeedback system.

With baselines established, subjects were then placed in reclining seats and allowed to rest for two minutes. Then they performed a serial subtraction task for two minutes, and rested again for two minutes while experimenters monitored their physiological response.

After that, the subjects took a footbath at 42 C (107.6 F) for 5 minutes with one drop of tea tree oil and received a 30-minute aromatherapy massage or control massage. The psychological and physiological conditions were then remeasured. Blood was drawn and saliva was collected again.

All subjects received both an aromatherapy massage and a carrier-oil control massage at an interval of at least two weeks. The first five subjects received the aromatherapy massage before the carrier oil massage. The other six subjects received the carrier oil massage first.

Each subject received the same standardized massage of the back, shoulders, arms, hands, lower legs and feet with or without essential oils for 30 minutes by the same therapist. For the aromatherapy massage, 10–15 ml of sweet almond oil containing 0.15 ml of lavender oil, 0.1 ml of sweet marjoram oil and 0.05 ml of cypress oil was used. For the control massage, only sweet almond oil was used.

Psychological responses to treatment were assessed as changes in anxiety and depression according to State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) results. State anxiety scores from the STAI were significantly reduced after both aromatherapy massage and control massage compared with the baseline obtained before the massage. Although both STAI and SDS showed a significant reduction after treatment with aromatherapy and carrier massage, no difference between the aromatherapy and control massage was observed for STAI and SDS.

Peripheral blood-cell counts were compared.

Aromatherapy, in contrast to control massage, did not significantly reduce red blood cell count or hematocrit. However, aromatherapy massage showed a significant increase in peripheral blood lymphocytes.

“In our preliminary study, both aromatherapy massage and control massage decreased state anxiety significantly, and only aromatherapy massage increased peripheral blood lymphocytes,” state the study’s authors. “These results suggest that aromatherapy massage is a valuable relaxation technique for reducing anxiety and stress, and beneficial to the immune system.”

— Source: Department of Microbiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Japan, Department of Psychiatry, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Japan, Department of Epidemiology for Community Health and Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Japan, Graduate School of Science for Human Services, Ritsumeikan University Japan, and Department of Research and Development, Hyper Plants Co., Ltd Japan. Originally published in Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2005 Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 179–184.

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