Acupuncture can ‘significantly’ reduce period pain for up to a year, new research suggests.
The ancient Chinese medicine was found to reduce both intensity and duration of symptoms.
More than half the women in the study receiving acupuncture had at least a 50 percent reduction in their severity of their pain over the three months of treatment. Some still felt the benefits 12 months later.
It could spell good news for millions of women, as up to four in five suffer from menstrual pain at some stage during their reproductive years.
Researchers said pain relief was greatest for those having the ‘manual’ type of therapy compared to electro-acupuncture.
Earlier research found that twisting the needles raises nitric oxide levels in the skin, which releases painkilling chemicals.
Researchers have found the ancient Chinese treatment of accupuncture can reduce period pain by at least 50% (stock photo)
Period pain, or primary dysmenorrhea as it’s medically knows as, usually starts when your bleeding begins, although some women have pain several days before the start of their period.
The pain normally lasts 48 to 72 hours, although it can last longer. It’s usually at its worst when your bleeding is heaviest.
Key findings
The pilot study involved 74 women aged 18-45 years with suspected or confirmed period pain.
The participants kept a menstrual diary and were given individualized acupuncture treatments after being randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: manual acupuncture in high and low frequencies and electro-acupuncture, again in high and low frequencies.
Twelve treatments were performed over three menstrual cycles, either once a week (in the low frequency groups) or three times in the week prior to their period (in the high frequency groups).
All groups received a treatment in the first 48 hours of their period.
Potential for new guidelines
Dr Mike Armour, from the National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM) in Australia, who led the study, said the results are promising.
He said further larger trials may lead to the development of evidence-based guidelines for acupuncture in the treatment of period pain.
‘Pragmatic trials of acupuncture have shown a reduction in pain intensity and an improvement in quality of life in women with period pain, however evidence has been limited for how changing the “dosage” of acupuncture might affect the outcome.
‘Our pilot study found that using manual stimulation of the needles, rather than an electrical pulse, commonly used in many Chinese studies for period pain, resulted in reduced need for pain relieving medication and improvement in secondary symptoms such as headaches and nausea.
‘The latter was unexpected and will be explored further in future, larger trials.’
The research was published in the journal PLOS ONE.