Benefits and uses of lavender essential oil as a complementary and alternative therapy - a short review

Abstract

The use of natural extracts as complementary and alternative therapies in human medicine to treat various ailments is presently growing, as many specialists all over the world have showcased an heightened interest in the therapeutic potential of plants. A variety of therapeutic methods are known to use essential oils extracted from various plants and herbs. Essential oils are complex mixtures of volatile compounds that are abundant in herbs and result from secondary plant metabolism. Due to their chemical composition, essential oils have many biological activities of great interest in the fields of health, food, and cosmetics.Lavender essential oil is one of the most used natural products for its antiinflammatory, antimicrobial, relaxing, calming, anxiolytic, antioxidant, anticonvulsant, etc. therapeutic effects.In veterinary medicine, the therapeutic potential of lavender essential oil is not fully known and, therefore, is only used experimentally or sometimes as a supplement in animal feed for animals of economic interest. This has led us to publicize its beneficial effects in wound healing by presenting information from the scientific literature in order to expand the current repertoire of cost-effective wound healing options available to physicians and animal owners, especially in the current context of imposing a rational use of antibiotics in dogs and cats.