In 2014, we assessed the effectiveness of Medical Taping Concept (MTC) in Primary Dysmenorrhoea (PD) with a single-blind, two-armed clinical trial (NCT02114723, ClinicalTrials.gov) with a follow-up of 4 menstrual cycles (pre-intervention: 2 months; post-intervention: 2 months) in a sample formed by 129 Spanish women aged 18–30 years with PD. We had two groups: intervention group (75), MTC covering T-11 and T-12 dermatomes; control group (54), another taping in both greater trochanter areas. Our main outcome measures were: pre-intervention and post-intervention increase in pain difference measured 2 hours after commencement (2-h pain — 0-h pain); difference between the number of tablets ingested post-intervention and pre-intervention; and associated symptoms in post-intervention (fatigue, vomiting, diarrhoea, nausea and others). Pain was assessed in: abdomen, legs, head and lower back. We found significant differences (p < 0.05) for number of tablets, abdominal and leg pain. In conclusion, the intervention group had less abdominal and leg pain when pharmacological therapy was not started. Furthermore, the intervention resulted in a lower intake of tablets. Nevertheless, more studies are needed to corroborate our results and to analyze the MTC effectiveness if women do not take any tablets during the entire menstrual period.
Chronic pain is a significant and costly problem all over the world that negatively impacts the quality of life of sufferers. There are clear discrepancies between the prevalence of chronic pain in society and the low priority assigned to educating future physicians about the complexities of pain. This condition also occurs in other undergraduate health science students, although research in this area has not been studied as much as in medical schools. Based on the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Pain Curriculum Outline, a systematic search of the available literature, and the authors’ own experiences, we highlight some relevant tips to educate health science trainees in the management of patients with chronic pain. These tips highlight current international recommendations for a comprehensive approach to this prevalent problem in society, which should be learnt during the university training of health professionals.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.