Essential oil therapy in rheumatic diseases: A systematic review

Objectives: This paper aims to review articles that have evaluated the role of essential oil therapy in patients with rheumatic diseases. Methodology: Systematic review. No study design or language limitation was applied. Results: We have identified 13 articles, most of them were used in osteoarthritis (n = 4), rheumatoid arthritis (n = 3) and fibromyalgia (n = 3). Two studies included patients with RA and OA (n = 2). The number of people involved in the study varied from 9 to 162, where female sex was observed in 60-100%. The age of the patients ranged from 36 to 78.3 years old and disease duration 1-11.67 years. The lavender essential oil was the most used, and then Ginger oil, Rosemary oil, and Rosmarinus officinalis. Time of oil use varied from 2 to 12 weeks. Importantly, all studies but one (91.6%) have demonstrated the efficacy of aromatherapy. Conclusion: There are few reports on essential oils in rheumatic disease, mainly osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia. All but one study have showed the efficacy of this complementary therapy.