Thyme Oil Beats Ibuprofen for Pain Management.

NSAIDs like ibuprofen and others relieve pain by inhibiting COX-2. Now we find Thyme oil not only inhibits COX-2, but beats out ibuprofen in relieving pain.

Photo by Alice Henneman

By Case Adams, Naturopath

Significant research has found thyme essential oil and its constituent thymol to be antiseptic. In fact, many mouth washes and antiseptic wipes often contain thymol.

New research is also finding that thyme oil also reduces pain. Who would have thought?

Well, traditional medicines have been thyme oil and other essential oils to help relieve pain for centuries.

Thyme constituent inhibits COX-2

In a study from Japan’s Nara Women’s University, researchers found that one of thyme oil’s constituents, carvacrol, actually inhibits the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme – part of the body’s inflammatory process that produces pain.

This strategy – of inhibiting COX-2 – has been utilized by pharmaceutical medications including NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Yet some of these…