Aromatherapy and a Better Night's Sleep

This review pooled randomised trials of aromatherapy for sleep, most using lavender, delivered by inhalation or massage, and measured with standard sleep-quality questionnaires. Across the studies, aromatherapy was associated with better sleep quality, and the approach is appealing because it is simple, low-cost and needs no equipment. The authors cautioned that the trials differed greatly in the oils, methods, doses and durations used, and that many were small, so the overall certainty is limited. Scent is thought to act on the parts of the brain that handle emotion and arousal, which may be how it helps the body settle. For a woman whose sleep frays under stress, it supports a few drops of lavender at bedtime as a pleasant, low-risk thing to try, while keeping expectations measured.