An experimental study on the effectiveness of acupressure with aromatic lavender essential oil for sub-acute, non-specific neck pain in Hong Kong

To assess the efficacy of acupressure using an aromatic essential oil (lavender) as an add-on treatment for pain relief and enhancing physical functional activities among adults with sub-acute non-specific neck pain.Experimental study design.The Telehealth clinic and the community centre, Hong Kong.A course of 8-session manual acupressure with lavender oil over a 3 week period.Changes from baseline to the end of treatment were assessed on neck pain intensity [by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)]; stiffness level; stress level; neck lateral flexion, forward flexion and extension in cm, and interference with daily activities.The baseline VAS score for the intervention and control groups were 5.12 and 4.91 out of 10, respectively (P = 0.72). One month after the end of treatment, compared to the control group, the manual acupressure group had 23% reduced pain intensity (P = 0.02), 23% reduced neck stiffness (P = 0.001), 39% reduced stress level (P = 0.0001), improved neck flexion (P = 0.02), neck lateral flexion (P = 0.02), and neck extension (P = 0.01). However, improvements in functional disability level were found in both the manual acupressure group (P = 0.001) and control group (P = 0.02).Our results show that eight sessions of acupressure with aromatic lavender oil were an effective method for short-term neck pain relief.