Lavender

Also called

English Lavender, True Lavender, Garden Lavender, Common Lavender

Older scientific names

Lavandula officinalis Chaix ex Vill., Lavandula vera DC.

Traditional use

These are traditional uses, not proven treatments.

• Since ancient times, the Greeks, Romans and Egyptians used lavender as a medicine and for its scent. They valued it for fighting germs, calming, and easing inflammation. These traditional uses continued in European herbal medicine through the Middle Ages, and lavender was historically used for conditions such as stomach ulcers and asthma.[4]Study

  Technical detail: traditionally described as antiseptic, calming, anti-inflammatory and antioxidative.

• Herbalists use lavender tea to lift the mood and ease grief and stress, and for gas, irritable bowel syndrome and nausea. It's a traditional headache remedy, drunk as tea or with the oil rubbed into the temples. On the skin, a strong lavender tea is used in sitz baths to help heal tears from childbirth, and the oil is dabbed on cleaned scrapes and cuts. Much of the ancient Greek use was of French lavender (Lavandula stoechas), not English lavender. These uses come from herbal practice and haven't been tested in clinical trials.[5]General reference

Laboratory & animal research

Lab and animal results show what might be worth studying in people. They don't show that the herb has these effects in humans.

• In mice under social stress, lavender essential oil reduced anxious behavior. Both the oil and linalool, its main natural compound, reversed the mice's tendency to avoid other mice, acting much like antidepressants. Neither had a calming effect on mice that weren't stressed. In lab tests on nerve cells, linalool blocked certain chemical signals inside the cells, which may help explain how it affects the brain.[6]Study

  Technical detail: social defeat stress model; Lavandula angustifolia essential oil 200 mg/kg intraperitoneal; linalool 100 mg/kg; in vitro linalool 100–200 µg/mL inhibited pERK and PKA signaling in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells.

Research in people

• Research suggests lavender oil taken by mouth, including a branded product called Silexan, might help with anxiety, including anxiety that comes with depression. But the studies have limitations, such as being small and not being independently funded. It's unclear whether breathing in lavender (aromatherapy) improves sleep or insomnia. Early findings suggest lavender capsules or tea may ease depression in some people, but these results should be treated with caution. One study found that putting lavender on the skin had no effect on depression.[3]Health agency

• Clinical trials have reported:

  • Less anxiety after breathing in lavender essential oil, in hospital patients having a bone marrow biopsy.
  • Less depression and anxiety in older adults who drank lavender tea.
  • Less anxiety before surgery with lavender aromatherapy, without the sleepiness caused by anti-anxiety medicines called benzodiazepines.

  Trials of lavender oil taken by mouth used about 80 mg a day (Silexan).[4]Study

• In a small pilot study, hand massage with lavender and bergamot oils reduced itching in older people in long-term care.[7]Study