We’ve all had those nights when catching a good night’s sleep seems impossible. Some rely on sleeping pills to help them sleep, but thanks to a study by University of Minnesota School of Nursing student Angela Lillehei, there may be another option.
Inspired by her daughter who was having trouble sleeping at college, Lillehei combined her love for public health and the therapeutic potential of essential oils to conduct a study with lavender oil.
Lillehei studied University of Minnesota students who self-reported sleep problems with the idea that lavender could improve quality of sleep. Half of the students slept with a lavender patch, the other with a placebo patch. Those who slept with the lavender patch had increased sleep quality, compared to those who used the placebo. These students also showed improved sleep quality two weeks after the study was complete.
“The results at follow-up suggest that if a sleep cycle gets disrupted, it can be brought back to balance until something else disrupts it,” Lillehei said.
Lillehei advises those who want to improve sleep quality should put a few drops of Lavandula angustifolia, a type of soothing lavender, on their pillow before going to sleep.
“People need things in their toolbox to help them fall asleep,” Lillehei said. “Lavender is an easy one to have available when sleep gets disrupted.”
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