Lavender
Quick Facts
- What it is: A purple-flowered European shrub whose flowers and oil are used to ease anxiety and help people relax.
- Main uses: Anxiety and restlessness, Trouble falling asleep, Stress relief as a scent
- Active ingredients: Linalool, Linalyl acetate, Camphor, Cineole, Rosmarinic acid
- Forms: Standardised oil capsules, Dried flowers and tea, Essential oil for scent, Diluted massage and bath oils, Creams and sprays
- Time to effect: Scent within minutes; capsules about two to six weeks.
- Side effects: Usually mild: burping, nausea, drowsiness and skin rash from the oil.
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What is Lavender?
Lavender is a small grey-green shrub with purple flower spikes. The kind used as a remedy is Lavandula angustifolia, called Echter Lavendel in German. People use the dried flowers and the oil pressed from them.
It is sold as tea, dried flowers, pillow sachets, massage oils, bath drops and capsules. European folk healers reached for it for nerves, poor sleep, headaches and minor wounds.
Long use in folk medicine is not proof that a remedy works. It is also not proof that it is safe.
Here is the honest verdict. One standardised lavender oil capsule has fair trial support for easing anxiety. Other uses, such as sleep, mood and headache, rest on small or weak studies.
How does Lavender work?
No one has pinned down how lavender calms people. Most of what we know comes from animal and cell work.
In animal studies, the oil's main compounds reduce anxious behaviour. Lab work suggests the oil quiets calcium channels, which are tiny gates that help nerve cells fire. That has not been shown directly in people.
Lavender oil does not appear to act on the same brain site as benzodiazepines, which are strong prescription calming drugs. Trials so far report no habit-forming effect. The follow-up has been short, so this is not settled.
Breathed in, the scent reaches smell nerves that link to mood areas of the brain. Small studies report mild drops in heart rate and muscle tension. Expectation likely plays a part, since you know what you are smelling.
For skin, lab tests show the oil slows some bacteria and fungi. Whether that helps a real wound on a person is not established.
What forms does Lavender come in?
Lavender comes in a few main forms. Dried flowers are brewed as tea or sewn into sachets.
Capsules hold a measured dose of lavender oil. The best-studied one is a German product sold there as a licensed medicine.
Essential oil is sold for scent and for massage. It is very strong, so it is mixed into a carrier oil before skin use.
Creams, sprays, bath drops, candles and diffusers also carry the scent. These are cosmetic goods, not medicines.
Culinary lavender is sold as a cooking herb. It turns up in baking and in herbes de Provence blends.
Where it comes from:
Lavender has one of the longest records of any European garden herb. Romans added it to baths and laundry water. The name traces back to the Latin word for washing.
Medieval monastery gardens grew it for headaches, fainting and low spirits. Hildegard of Bingen wrote about it in the 12th century.
During plague years it was strewn on floors and carried in posies to mask bad air. Grave-robbers were said to wash in a vinegar that held lavender.
By the 1800s it was a standard nerve tonic in European pharmacies and household books. Folk use also covered burns, bites, moths and wound washes. These records describe custom, not tested results.
Who should avoid Lavender?
- Never swallow lavender essential oil from a dropper bottle, even diluted; only capsules made for swallowing are meant to be taken by mouth.
- Never leave essential oil bottles within reach of children; a small amount swallowed can poison a child.
- Do not put undiluted essential oil straight onto skin.
- Do not use lavender products if you have had a rash or swelling from lavender before.
- Avoid regular use of lavender oil creams, sprays or washes on young boys before puberty, as a few case reports link them to breast tissue growth.
- Do not take lavender oil capsules if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, since safety has not been shown.
- Do not drive or use machines if lavender makes you sleepy.
- Do not take lavender with sleeping pills, sedatives or alcohol unless your doctor agrees.
- Avoid lavender capsules in the days before surgery unless your surgeon has said it is fine.
- Do not use lavender instead of treatment your doctor has prescribed for anxiety or depression.
When should you see a doctor?
Get emergency help at once if anyone swallows essential oil. Warning signs include burning in the mouth or throat, vomiting, deep drowsiness and trouble breathing. Call your local poison centre or emergency number.
Stop use and see a doctor if you get a spreading rash, swollen lips or face, or wheezing.
See a doctor if anxiety or poor sleep lasts more than a few weeks. Get help the same day for panic attacks, thoughts of self-harm, or anxiety that stops you living your normal life.
Is Lavender legal where you live?
In Germany, a standardised lavender oil capsule is licensed as a medicine for anxiety. Elsewhere in the EU and the UK, lavender flowers, tea, oil and cosmetics are sold as ordinary foods, supplements or cosmetic goods.
In the United States it is sold as a dietary supplement. The FDA has not approved it to treat any disease.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
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