Effectiveness of Fresh Holy Basil Leaves for Management of Pain Associated with Oral Aphthous Ulcers—An Outcome Assessor Blinded Study

Background: Oral aphthous ulcers (OAUs) are common oral lesions that present with pain and discomfort, compromising oral function including speech, mastication and swallowing. Various modalities of treatment have been reported for management of pain associated with aphthous ulcer. Objectives: The present study assessed the effectiveness of fresh and raw holy basil leaves for management of pain associated with OAU. Materials and Methods: A unicentric outcome assessor blinded study with concurrent parallel design was conducted. Thirty female patients aged 18 years and above who presented with a single, untreated aphthous ulcer were recruited by consecutive sampling from College of Dentistry, King Khalid University. Subjects assigned to the Test group were instructed to chew fresh holy basil leaves and place them in the oral mucosa in contact with the OAU, while the Control group received sugarless chewing gum. Pain associated with OAU was recorded as a pain score using a visual analogue scale, while pain status was recorded as a dichotomous variable and functional pain severity was recorded on a four-point Likert scale. All measurements were made at baseline as well as during the follow-up visits on Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 following intervention. Non-parametric tests of significance were used for comparison. Results: The Test group performed better than the control group in terms of reduction in functional pain severity, pain status and pain score. Intergroup comparison showed statistically significant difference in pain score and functional pain severity between the Test group and the Control group on Day 3. However, the Test group experienced reduction in pain score by the end of Day 1. Conclusions: Holy basil leaves demonstrated a preliminary reduction in acute self-reported ulcer pain over a 3-day period compared to an active chewing gum control in the female cohort. These exploratory findings indicate potential short-term symptomatic relief, but definitive clinical efficacy warrants validation in larger, randomized trials.