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Greg
Thank you for sharing your own personal experience with EO. I have to admit sometimes with alternative therapy I thought it was a placebo affect. I appreciate that a simple thing as peppermint oil can be as therapeutic as your migraine medication, plus you get to smell like candy cane.Jeff
I agree that many of our patients are sensitive to scents and EO options would not be a great therapy for them. I also, feel that ginger was always marketed to help with nausea and many home remedies also include ginger teas and soups.What great feedback.
Kelly, I think there are not many studies on the cooling cap because it is probably considered “cosmetic” and this is why insurance doesn’t cover it but they are working to make this happen. If insurance companies approve it I would hope more research is done on it.
Greg – I would agree with the ice on the hands and feet for some treatments. We use ice for Adriamycin to cut down on oral changes, so why not hands and feet. Not sure how you would get people in the trial to be the none ice people.
We also use peppermint candies when our pt have a gag reflex from flushing their mediports, so i wonder if this would just be an oral dose of EO?Stehanie & Kelly – maybe if insurance companies cover the cooling caps CTU will have a trial for other treatments.
Jeff – i couldn’t imagine the time slot for a patient that had to do the 4 hour post cooling cap. But then again maybe that would make someone develop a portable unit.
Knowledge gained from these articles:
I never thought of ginger as an essential oil for symptom management before. I’m familiar with peppermint oil or lavender to treat symptoms but never considered ginger so it very interesting to read that article.
I learned chemotherapy strips the protein of the hair follicle so when hair grows back it can be a different color. Patients often report to me that when their hair grows back that it is different. This must be why. Since scalp cooling protects the root maybe patients who use it are less likely to have these hair changes.
I also didn’t know that scalp cooling had been used since 1970’s! It’s amazing to me that people have been scalp cooling more than 50 years. From plastic bags of crushed ice to what we use today!Will the research gained in this article changed my practice?
There were not very clear cut recommendations in the scalp cooling article. The time and temperature varied widely. I am glad we use scalp cooling at the breast center. More research should be done to offer more precise recommendations.
I would like to see essential oils become more a part of our standard practice. I would use them if they were available and if they helped patients.Do I agree or disagree with the authors?
I agree with the authors of both articles that more research is needed in both of these areas.
I am glad that the ginger oil worked for anxiety and fatigue. I look forward to further research that will tell us more about EO’s.Greg it’s interesting you found peppermint oil recently helped your migraine. I have used it for years dabbed on the temples or on the side of your neck. Peppermint can also help with nausea if ingested. It just goes to show we need to research EO,s more. There are probably many other benefits we still don’t know about.
Megan I also found it curious that scalp cooling was not offered in more chemotherapy units. I wonder what they would do if a patient wanted it but was a 5 heme patient? Hmm 🤔
Hi! This is Holly Smith from Amb JCRU.
Congrats to our colleagues at Morehouse on the publication of their article!!Efficacy of Inhaled Essential Oil Use on Selected Symptoms Affecting Quality of Life in Patients with Cancer Receiving Infusion therapy.
1.knowledge gained from the article?
I had completely forgotten about essential oils and was reminded that for some people they can be quite effective. I remember years and years ago, Amy Rettig had a one hour class on essential oils that offered CE credit. I think complimentary and alternative medicines certainly could have a very beneficial place with our oncology patients, but definately needs more evidenced-based research.2. Will the research/information in this article change or influence your practice?
I am not sure if it will change my practice. My concern is that if I recommend certain essential oils and they don’t have the desired effect or maybe even the opposite effect, it could undermine the trust relationship I have established with the patient. I think since there is a big market for selling essential oils, I also would be concerned my patient might think I was setting them up to be my next customer. 🙂3.questions raised about current practice?
I feel like I still don’t know enough about essential oils to have a strong feeling about them one way or the other, so I need to read more and determine if this is something I would want to start incorportating into the education I provide or maybe even into my practice.
I worked with a lot of patients that have VCD and essential oils would be a big no no for those folks.4. Do you agree/disagree with the conclusions of the author, why?
I agree that essential oils can be helpful to some of our patients. More evidenced based research is needed.Effectiveness, Safety and Tolerance of Scalp Cooling for Chemotherapy-induced Alopecia
1. What was the knowledge gained from the article?
I was surprised to read the efficacy. I had previously “heard” the scalp cooling wasn’t all that effective.2.What other questions does the article raise about current practice?
I question the length of time needed for scalp cooling. The experiences I have had are 30-60min prior to the chemo infusion and 60-90 minutes after infusion is completed. That is a long time to occupy a chair in a busy chemo clinic.3.Do you agree/disagree with the conclusions of the author, why?
I agree that there aren’t enough guidelines established. It would be nice to have something to refer to when determining length of cooling and temperature-standardize it mor, tighten it up. Seems that would give more validity to the results of further studies.Michelle- I agree with you about how much meds are always pushed and alternatives would be awesome if they are effective. I also agree with you about the scalp cool range. That is crazy. I’m not sure how you could repeat results without some standardization. They do some scalp cooling at MR chemo.
Greg-Have you tried the peppermint oil trick since the first time? Was it as effective? I wonder if peppermint candy would help with migraines.
Megan-Maybe if insurance starts covering the cooling, more companies will jump on board, making it cheaper…and hopefully, studying it more to come up with standardized guidelines/times. I have concern the time needed for the cooling is going to end up becoming quite problematic should this become more commonplace with our patients.
Hello, this is Lee Ann. I work at Outpatient Care New Albany seeing primarily James GI/GU Oncology Surveillance patients.
Effectiveness, Safety, and Tolerance of Scalp Cooling. Prior to reading the article, I was aware that scalp cooling existed, but I knew no further details. I was surprised to learn there is no optimal temperature and no clarified cooling time. I was not too surprised to learn that most insurance would not pay for it. I found myself wondering if I found myself in a medical situation where it was an option, would I be willing to pay to try it? The information in this article will not directly influence my practice, however I am so glad to have learned this information that was new to me! I agree with the authors that there is a need for well-designed randomized controlled trials.
Efficacy of Inhaled Essential Oil Use on Selected Symptoms – I do not possess much prior knowledge regarding essential oils. I think around 2017, our unit on 17 James made essential oil diffusers available for use in patient rooms. From reading this article, I was interested to learn of the study result that the inhaled ginger was reported to have an effect on fatigue and anxiety in the patients studied. Based on my limited prior knowledge, I would have expected ginger to be effective on nausea as well. I believe that with further investigation, some of the information in the article could useful in my current practice. For example, complaints of fatigue or “increasing fatigue” are received often. I had learned in the past, that the only evidence-based treatment for fatigue is exercise. Maybe I need to update my research on fatigue to see if essential oils might be another option for patients battling fatigue. Based on the information included in the strength and limitations of this research, I have difficulty appreciating much in the way of reaching a conclusion. The researchers experienced some serious limitations. But, reading this study certainly raised my interest in the topic
Reply #833 Michelle
Thank you for finding these articles for us this month. In your post you mention the essential oils being administered by several drops on a cotton ball or by the patient inhaling the air from the squeeze of a bottle of the oil. That method of administration seems preferable to me, rather than the use of the diffuser method filling the entire room with a scent used inpatient several years ago. I found it interesting that the article did not list headache as an adverse effect of the oils, because I feel certain that in my experience, some of them cause headaches for me.Reply #838
Megan, I did not realize that at the James, the scalp cooling was only offered at the Breast Center. It did catch my eye that the authors of the article wrote, “Meanwhile, female patients focus more on their appearance than male patients. Therefore, individuals with breast cancer have become the group with the largest demand for scalp cooling to prevent CIA”. I really appreciate your explanation of how the patient is responsible for handling the cooling process. I am wondering, are the majority of the providers supportive of the cooling caps, gloves, and socks?1. What was the knowledge gained from the article? Honestly, I gained no new knowledge from these articles. I have been using and researching essential oils for quite some time now and these articles barely touch the surface of essential oils and the benefits of their use. Oils have side benefits and rarely an adverse reaction. How one responds can be completely different to how another does. The oils in the study are not the ones that I would have tried first for those specific symptoms studied so I wonder why those were chosen and if there would have been better outcomes with different oils.
2. Will the research/information in this article change or influence your practice? If so how? I wish it were able to change my practice. I would offer a lot more suggestions natural options rather than rely on prescription drugs to manage the symptoms.
3. What other questions does the article raise about current practice? Why have we not been using essential oils or any other non-pharmeceutical for the management of symptoms? There is more than enough research out there to support it but it is kept well hidden. I often hear md’s respond when patients ask for alternatives, “that is not what we do here.” They don’t even want to consider it. Clearly we will remain an allopathic medical system rather than a more functional one that uses less or no pharmeceuticals for management and health promotion.
4. Do you agree/disagree with the conclusions of the author, why? I wonder what the conclusions would be if only oils were used? Would it be better? Did the other premeds etc, have any effect on the response to the oils? If so, did it enhance the benefit or decrease it?Goodman-
I am glad you got to experience the benefits of CAM even if it was just 1 time. They do tend to work faster because they are all natural (if you have a quality product) and they work at the cellular level. Some cross the blood brain barrier and are amazing. Many oils are anti viral too AND they work intracellular. There is a lot of research on oils but it is not easily found. I am learning there are a lot of other ways to manage symptoms and be healthy than the allopathic medical model we were educated in and work in.
MR Infusion also offers scalp cooling. It is expensive and some don’t continue with it because they don’t feel it is working and they get some money refunded but it is a nice option.Vanmeter-
Isn’t if funny how scalp cooling has been around so long but not well known? I am noticing those things that are well known are usually funded by or mfg by those also funding the media which is where most often hear first about treatments. Just last week the local news happen to be on and they were interviewing an physician from the Spielman Breast Center about scalp cooling. They were so amazed and talking about it like it was just discovered.
I also would like for EO and other non pharm things available to our patients for symptom management. I think that would take a lot to make happen. Doterra EO is working with University of Cincinnati to incorporate oils but I would not trust just any mfg of oils. Some are not pure. If you can’t ingest them then they are not pure except for a few select that you should not ingest. We are living in a time where people are looking for alternatives to pharmeceuticals so maybe things will change sooner than we think.
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