The acute effects of sandalwood oil and Massage on physiological and psychological parameters

A randomised non-blinded study was conducted over 4 weeks using a two-step factorial design aimed at obtaining pilot data on the acute effect of essential oils alone and in combination with a back massage on a range of physiological and psychological parameters. The two factors were essential oil and massage. Four conditions were investigated in each participant: sandalwood oil applied with no massage, tea tree oil applied with no massage, sandalwood oil with massage, and tea tree oil with massage. In all cases 10mL of oil composed of 2.5mL active oil and 7.5mL almond oil were rubbed onto the participantÿ¢ÿ¿ÿ¿s back over a five-minute period. Participants then lay supine or were massaged for 30 minutes after the application of the oil. Waking state was maintained over the duration of the treatment. A convenience sample of 15 healthy subject volunteers between 18 and 65 years was recruited and each subject acted as their own control and was tested on all four conditions. Physiological and psychological outcome measurements were taken pre and post each treatment session. Physiological measurements included change in blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, oxygen saturation and galvanic skin response. Psychological outcome measurements comprised a self-assessment of well being using 11 parameters, 6 negative and 5 positive.