The effect of topical olive oil application on the symptoms of infantile colic: A randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Infantile colic is one of the most common disorders in the first months of infants' lives. This condition hurts parents' moods. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of the topical use of olive oil on infantile colic symptoms. METHODS: The study was carried out on 80 infants 1–3 months old, randomly allocated into two groups, receiving abdominal massage with olive oil thrice a day in the intervention group (n = 40) and the same procedure with liquid paraffin in the placebo group (n = 40), for 14 successive days. During this period, the parents recorded the episodes of colic, duration of colic, crying intensity, and episodes of defecation. These variables were assessed and compared at the beginning and on the 7th and 14th days. RESULTS: The mean crying duration changed from 4.05 ± 2.44 to 1.41 ± 1.03 h/day (65% decrease) in the olive oil group and from 3.85 ± 1.37 to 1.60 ± 1.32 h/day (58% decrease) in the paraffin group (p = 0.38). The episodes of crying were reduced from 5.79 ± 4.56 to 2.51 ± 4.93 episodes/day (↓57%) in the olive group and from 6.01 ± 3.40 to 3.01 ± 2.40 episodes/day (↓50%) in the paraffin oil group (p = 0.14). Furthermore, the intensity of crying was decreased from 9.04 ± 1.54 to 4.48 ± 2.17 (p < 0.001) in the olive oil group and from 9.0 ± 1.20 to 4.77 ± 1.68 (p < 0.001) in the paraffin oil group. On the 14th day, the crying intensity showed no significant difference between the two groups. CONCLUSION: Abdominal massage with olive oil has the same effect as massage with paraffin oil in reducing the symptoms of infantile colic.