Therapeutic and Medicinal Lavender Uses

Therapeutic uses

Lavender oil, which has long been used in the production of perfume, can also be used in aromatherapy. The scent has a calming effect which may aid in relaxation and the reduction of anxiety. Kashmir Lavender oil is also very famous as it is produced from the foothills of Himalayas.

It may also help to relieve pain from tension headache when breathed in as vapor or diluted and rubbed on the skin. When added to avaporizer, lavender oil may aid in the treatment of cough and respiratory infection.

Lavender oil may also be used as a mosquito repellent when worn as perfume or when added to lotions or hair products.

Medicinal uses

According to advocates of alternative medicine, lavender oil can be used as an antiseptic and pain reliever to be applied to minor burns and insect bites and stings. It is also said to treat a variety of common ailments, such as sunburn and sunstroke.^[1] It can also be used in massage oil mixtures, which may be effective in the relief of jointand muscle pain, or in chest rub mixtures for the relief of asthmatic and bronchitic spasm. It is also said to treat head lice when used in a hair rinse mixture, or on a fine comb to eliminate nits. Some say lavender oil may have played a role in the reduction of advanced mammary tumors in lab rats.

In vitro, lavender oil is cytotoxic as well as photosensitizing. A study demonstrated that lavender oil is cytotoxic to human skin cells in vitro (endothelial cells and fibroblasts) at a concentration of 0.25%. Linalool, a component of lavender oil, reflected the activity of the whole oil, indicating that linalool may be the active component of lavender oil.^[2] The result of ano#mce_temp_url#ther study showed that aqueous extracts reduced mitotic index, but induced chromosome aberrations and mitotic aberrations in comparison with control, significantly. Aqueous extracts induced breaks, stickiness, pole deviations and micronuclei. Furthermore, these effects were related to extract concentrations.^[3]

However, according to a 2005 study "although it was recently reported that lavender oil, and its major constituent linalyl acetate, are toxic to human skin cells in vitro, contact dermatitis to lavender oil appears to occur at only a very low frequency. The relevance of this in vitro toxicity to dermatological application of Lavandula oils remains unclear."^[4]

In terms of photoxicity, a 2007 investigative report from European researchers stated that, "Lavender oil and sandalwood oil did not induce photohaemolysis in our test system. However, a few reports on photosensitivity reactions due to these substances have been published, e.g. one patient with persistent light reaction and a positive photo-patch test to sandalwood oil.

source: wikipedia