Case Study: Mango Myrtle for Relaxation and Sleep

Aromatherapist: Helen Nagle-Smith, BA MIFPA

Case study published in the International Journal of Professional Holistic Aromatherapy, 12 (4), p9-14

Client information

Cathy is a 50-year-old female. She has seen me every two weeks for a holistic Aromatherapy massage for several years. We assess her needs each time I see her, depending on what happened that week and how she feels; I then blend accordingly.

Cathy is generally in good health. She usually eats and drinks well, but can rely on takeaway food when busy. She is a single parent to a 10-year-old boy and works full-time. Cathy often struggles with the feeling that she does not have enough time, money, or support to do everything she thinks she should be able to do. Life can feel overwhelming at times, and she does not have a partner to support her. She has received support in previous years from a mental health practitioner for her anxiety.

Treatment protocol

One day in 2022, Cathy arrived for her evening Aromatherapy massage session. She had recently changed jobs and told me she was anxious about work and needed a good night’s sleep. Work worries and parenting issues had been keeping her awake during the week. She was tired, and her mind was often racing.

I asked her where she wanted me to massage, and she asked for focused work on her neck, back, and shoulders, saying that was where she felt most uncomfortable. As Cathy walked into the room that evening, I could see that her shoulders were hunched more than usual, so I was not surprised to hear this.

Cathy’s Aromatherapy massage blend and treatment

10 ml Sweet Almond (Prunus dulcis) oil

2 drops (1%) Mango Myrtle (Syzygium oleosum)

1 drop (0.5%) Mandarin (Citrus reticulata)

1 drop (0.5%) Frankincense CO2 extract (Boswellia serrata)

I chose Mandarin for its usefulness in insomnia (Battaglia, 2018), stress, and nervous tension (Purchon and Cantele, 2014). From our previous sessions, I knew she favours blends with a citrus or green note.

I selected the Frankincense CO2 extract (Boswellia serrata) to help her open out, expand her chest, still her mind, calm her breathing, and help her feel grounded. We had used this in several blends previously. Kerkhof states that the extract “helps to inspire mindfulness and balance” (Kerkhof, 2018).

Finally, I included Mango Myrtle. I had researched this essential oil in depth in my clinical work and found that it was good for anxiety and stress, aiding restful sleep. Its chemistry backs up this result. For example, studies (mostly in rodents) suggest that terpinolene has sedative effects, b-myrcene is a mild sedative, and a-pinene is thought to be beneficial for anxiety and stress, as well as for promoting sleep (Rhind, 2020). Terpinolene also has antiviral benefits (Rhind, 2020), and I believed this would be useful, as Cathy would occasionally get a cough, cold, or migraine when she was exceptionally stressed. At the time, many local people seemed to be getting coughs and colds, so I felt it offered an extra layer of protection. This was the first time I used Mango myrtle essential oil with Cathy.

Client response to treatment

Cathy typically can relax into her massage very quickly, perhaps because she is familiar with me; this session was no different. By the end of the session, her shoulders were lower, and her breathing had slowed and deepened. Her eyes seemed bright, her face more relaxed, and her posture was more upright. She yawned and said she felt ready for bed. With the usual aftercare advice (e.g., to drink water, go home, and relax), Cathy left.

Follow-up

She returned two weeks later, reporting she had experienced a good night’s sleep and felt calmer about going to work the following morning. Although subsequent blends were different, looking back at her client notes, I noticed we had used the same blend four times over the last ten months. We still use it when she worries about work and feels she needs rest.

Evaluation

Mango Myrtle has been an important essential oil in the blends I have used with Cathy. She always has a positive outcome when we use this blend, reporting at her next session (or via a text message the next day) that it helped her feel rested and sleep well. It may be argued that Cathy is simply reporting what she thinks her Aromatherapist wants to hear. However, I have found her to be very honest about what does and doesn’t work for her before, so I doubt this would be the case. She has likely developed a positive olfactory association with the blend, and it would be helpful for Cathy to have either an Aromatherapy pulse point rollerball or an aromastick of this blend for times between sessions when she feels overwhelmed, anxious, or unable to sleep. I will recommend this at her next visit. While the effects of massage and the experience of seeing an Aromatherapist may have therapeutic value, the blend’s components have helped produce a positive outcome for Cathy.

Bibliography

Battaglia S. (2018). The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy – Volume 3, 3rd ed. Brisbane, Australia: Black Pepper Creative.

Kerkhof M. (2018). C02 Extracts in Aromatherapy. Whernhout, Netherlands: Kicozo. p84.

Purchon N and Cantele L. (2014). The Complete Aromatherapy and Essential Oils Handbook for Everyday Wellness. Toronto, Canada: Robert Rose, Inc.

Rhind J P. (2020). Essential Oils. London, England: Singing Dragon.

Tisserand R andYoung R. (2014). Essential Oil Safety, 3rd ed. London, England: Churchill Livingstone

About the therapist

Helen Nagle-Smith trained as a Clinical Aromatherapist under Gabriel Mojay at the Institute for Traditional Herbal Medicine and Aromatherapy and qualified in 2006. She runs an Aromatherapy massage practice in the UK and teaches CPD courses in aromatherapy. She is the author of Working with Unusual Oils – An Aromatic Journey with Lesser Known Essential Oils, Volume 1. Volume 2 is due out in 2024. www.aromatherapywithhelen.com info@aromatherapywithhelen.com