effects of aromatherapy and its application

effects of aromatherapy and its application bahraini s1, naji sa*2, mannani r3 received: 16 july, 2010 accepted: 25oct, 2010 abstract background & aims: clinical aromatherapy is the use of aromatic oils to treat or relieve some physical and mental disorders which has been accepted as holistic nursing care. we aimed to present some effects of aromatherapy that have been proven through various studies. materials & methods: this was a review study. in order to access relevant articles and studies, valid internet databases were searched and finally fifty six articles were selected for this paper. results: effects of aromatherapy are: reducing pregnancy complications, relieving pain, improving side effects of cancer’s treatments, wound healing, skin and hair problems, controlling epileptic attacks, reducing respiratory difficulties, antispasmodic effects, and reducing stress and agitation. conclusion: using complementary therapies such as aromatherapy is one of the goals of nursing. learning about the effects of aromatherapy, as one of the commonest and safest complementary therapies, leads to achieve holistic nursing care. although different studies have shown positive effects of aromatherapy in diverse clinical settings, however nursing society needs more researches in the field of aromatherapy. keywords: aromatherapy, essential oil, nursing address: nursing & midwifery faculty, islamic azad university, khorasgan branch, isfahan, iran tel: (+98 912) 869381 email: [email protected] 1 msc student, islamic azad university, khorasgan branch, isfahan, iran 2 phd of nursing & midwifery, islamic azad university, khorasgan branch, isfahan, iran (corresponding author) 3 assistant professor of pharmacology, nursing & midwifery faculty, islamic azad university, khorasgan branch, isfahan, iran