Aromatherapy Massage in Migraine Attacks

Overview

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of aromatherapy massage on the pain severity and quality of life in patients diagnosed with migraine in addition to medical treatment during an acute migraine attack. In addition to medical treatments, complementary and supportive therapies are commonly used to cope with pain during a migraine attack. In recent years, aromatherapy through massage has become more common to reduce the severity of pain, make the patient painless and improve the quality of life. Aromatherapy applications are the application of pain relief oil mixtures through massage. Lavender and peppermint essential oils are mostly used in aromatherapy applications to reduce pain. Therefore, a mixture of mint and lavender oil was used in the study.

The study was planned and conducted as a randomized controlled experiment. The sample of the randomized controlled trial consisted of 70 patients who applied to the emergency department with a migraine attack and met the study criteria. Data were collected via Patient Information Form, 24-Hour Migraine Quality of Life Scale, Visual Analogue Scale, Sphygmomanometer, and Pulse oximeter. Along with the medical treatment, patients of experimental group were massaged for 15 minutes with an aromatic oil mixture (lavender and peppermint) applied on the temple and root of the neck, and this application continued for three weeks. Control group patients, however, received only medical treatment. Descriptive statistics methods, Shapiro Wilks test, Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test, Mann Whitney U Test, Kruskal Wallis Test, Fisher's Exact Test and Chi-Square Test were used for data evaluation.