Effect of Microwave Diathermy on Primary Dysmenorrhea: An Experimental Study

Abstract

Introduction: Primary dysmenorrhea is one of the leading causes of school and work absenteeism and reduced quality of life in women. Primary dysmenorrhea is characterized as cramp like pain in the lower abdomen or low back during the menstrual period in the absence of disease such as endometrioses. Primary dysmenorrhea occurs due to increased myometrial contractility and uterine ischemia. Females of reproductive age group 18-45 years are commonly affected. Microwave diathermy is a deep heating modality. Microwave radio frequency radiations are usually used clinically to heat deeply situated tissues in the body and coincidentally minimize the rise in the skin temperature seen in other forms of therapeutic heating. There are various studies suggesting the effect on microwave diathermy on numerous musculoskeletal conditions. As there is paucity of literature available on the use of microwave diathermy on primary dysmenorrhea, hence the present study is intended to evaluate the effect of microwave diathermy on primary dysmenorrhea. Materials and Methods:30 subjects between the age group 18-30 (21.50±1.04) years of age with primary dysmenorrhea were recruited from constituent units of KLE University Belagavi. Participants were randomly assigned to one group i.e. Group A (n=30) and were treated with microwave diathermy for 20 minutes. Outcome was measured in terms of pain using NRS (numeric rating scale) and quality of life was assessed using Moos menstrual distress questionnaire pre -treatment and post treatment session on the 1st or the 2nd day of their perimenstrual symptoms. To assess changes within the group before and after intervention period, the data was analyzed with the paired't' test.Results: NRS scores pre -treatment and post-treatment was 7.07±0.98 and 1.53±1.01 respectively, Moos menstrual distress questionnaire score reduced from 90.03±21.15 to 48.20±10.66 after treatment. Statistical analysis showed significant difference with p value = 0.0001. Conclusion:Microwave diathermy is effective in relieving pain and perimenstrual symptoms in primary dysmenorrhea thereby improving the quality of life in females.

Abdominal skeletal muscle activity precedes spontaneous menstrual cramping pain in primary dysmenorrhea

“…Several treatments proposed to treat dysmenorrhea (including hot water bottles, 5 heat wraps, 6 microwave diathermy, 7 massage, 8 transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, 9 and trigger point anesthesia 10 ) might plausibly target referred or primary abdominal muscle dysfunction. Despite this implied role, most prior research in dysmenorrhea has focused on prostaglandin-mediated increases in uterine contractility.…”