title: The effect of aromatherapy massage with lavender oil on severity of primary dysmenorrhea in Arsanjan students.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Presently, using complementary therapy such as lavender oil has specific application in medicine. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of aromatherapy massage on the severity of primary dysmenorrhea in nursing and midwifery students of Islamic Azad University of Arsanjan, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study was performed using clinical trial method on 80 eligible students whose level of pain was measured by visual analogue scale (VAS) before the intervention. Each participant, in the first days of menstruation, randomly received two types of massage with lavender and placebo oil in two consecutive cycles of menstruation. Their level of pain was measured before and 30 min after the intervention. In this study, each group was considered as their self-control group in the next cycle. The data were analyzed by SPSS software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A significant decrease in VAS score after lavender massage was detected in comparison with placebo massage. There was a statistically significant difference between VAS scores after and before placebo massage. In addition, statistically the effect of lavender massage on the severity of primary dysmenorrhea was higher than that of placebo massage (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings of this study showed that lavender oil massage decreases primary dysmenorrhea and it can be used as an effective herbal drug.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Arsanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arsanjan, Iran.
authors.forename: Froozan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bakhtshirin
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Arsanjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arsanjan, Iran.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abedi
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistic, Shiraz Technical Professional University, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Parisa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: YusefiZoj
authors.affiliation: Department of Agriculture, Behbahan Khatamolanbia Polytechnic University, Behbahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Damoon
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Razmjooee
keywords: Aromatherapy; Iran; dysmenorrhea; lavender oil; nursing