Coconut oil rubbing as an easy and safe way to improve symptoms in primary nocturnal enuresis: A randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled clinical trial

OBJECTIVE: Enuresis is a common pediatric problem for which, no unique therapy has been suggested. The conventional therapy is effective, but fails in some cases. So, many parents try complementary medicine. Therefore, this study attempted to find if rubbing coconut oil is effective on improving enuresis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This double-blinded randomized clinical was conducted on 120 children aged 6 to 14 years with mono symptomatic nocturnal enuresis, from 2018 to 2019 in Yazd, Iran. The drug and placebo groups applied 6 drops of the coconut and paraffin oil topically on the suprapubic, sacral and flanks areas one time per night, respectively. Urination pattern was daily recorded for a period of 8 weeks by parents, and after one year, they were asked for any improvement by phone call. RESULTS: The mean frequency of enuresis at the first, second, fourth, and eighth week was lower in the intervention group (p<0.001); this difference between the groups remained after one year. Moreover, there was no side effect requiring any medical attention. CONCLUSION: Rubbing coconut oil is effective on improving symptom of primary mono symptomatic enuresis if applied every night for 4 weeks on suprapubic, sacral and flanks areas. This may be related to anticholinergic effect of the oil but its persistent effect for longer time after the end of application period, needs to be investigated in other studies.