Control Burn Pain with Aromatherapy!
Burns are physical injuries that are disturbing and often traumatic and result in physical pain. Patients who experience advanced burns describe this pain as the most severe pain they have ever experienced. Burn pain is usually caused by treatments performed to change the dressings on the damaged skin. Dressing changes are performed daily for most patients. Keeping the pain under control is very critical in these patients. There are various methods used for pain management. The most common of these is the use of narcotic and non-narcotic drugs. Morphine, which is found in these painkillers, can cause side effects such as nausea, vomiting, and dizziness. Therefore, there is a tendency towards complementary and non-pharmacological methods that have almost no side effects and can be used alone or in combination with other methods. It is also said that complementary treatments can reduce the amount of painkillers consumed. Today, aromatherapy, a complementary method for reducing pain, is used significantly in most countries compared to other methods.
One of the aromatic plants used in aromatherapy, "rosa damascena" (a type of rose), is one of the most famous plants in gardening history. Studies have shown that this plant has palliative, sleep-inducing, anticonvulsant and relaxation properties. However, since there are very few studies on the pain-relieving properties of R. damascena inhalation, a study conducted in Iran examined the effects of this plant on post-wound dressing pain in burn patients. Patients with second-degree or second and third-degree burn wounds who applied to the Burn Service of Besat Treatment and Training Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, participated in this study and were randomly divided into two. The intervention group received aromatherapy treatment while the control group did not.
The researchers used a two-stage questionnaire to collect data from the patients. The first part included general questions about age, gender, primary cause of burns, and depth and extent of burns, while the second stage assessed pain intensity using a visual analog (VAS). Patients in the intervention group inhaled rose essential oil for 20 minutes for 2 days. The same procedures were applied to the control group, but they only inhaled distilled water (placebo). The pain intensity of all patients was measured twice, once before dressing and once after dressing at 15 and 30 minutes. The findings from the analyses showed that there was a significant decrease in pain level in the aromatherapy group compared to the control group. Statistical tests showed significant differences between the pain intensity in the two groups at 15 and 30 minutes after treatment on the first and second days. This objectively demonstrated that inhalation aromatherapy using rose essential oil reduced pain in burn patients after wound dressing.
Usually, the treatment of burn-related pain comes after the skin damage is repaired in these patients and is insufficient. These uncontrollable burn-related pains are also associated with other long-term disorders such as anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. In another study conducted on this subject, they mention that one of the reasons why the aromatherapy group achieved positive results was memory, a factor related to the effect of smells. Smells trigger memories and allow the person to review the details of events and emotions. For example, in the study described here, the smell of rose essence may have prevented the increase in pain perception by causing the patients in the aromatherapy group not to focus on the pain. With this effect, smells and essences may be preferred for pain management. In all these aspects, the studies conducted define aromatherapy applications using "R. Damascena" essential oils as a moderately effective nursing intervention to relieve pain caused by burns!
SOURCE
The effect of inhalation aromatherapy with damask rose (Rosa damascena) essence on the pain intensity after dressing in patients with burns: A clinical randomized trial, Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res.
