Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation in the Relief of Primary Dysmenorrhea

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to replicate a previous study to determine the effectiveness of acupuncture-like transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in treating primary dysmenorrhea. Twenty-one women with dysmenorrhea received a placebo pill or 30 minutes of acupuncture-like TENS. All subjects completed two pain questionnaires before treatment; immediately posttreatment; 30, 60, 120, and 180 minutes posttreatment; and the next morning upon awakening. Each woman also participated in a separate study measuring electrical resistance at four auricular acupuncture points before and immediately after treatment. The data were analyzed with a two-factor repeated-measures analysis of variance, which revealed statistical significance over time but not for group or interaction between group and time. Results revealed an average pain relief of at least 50% immediately posttreatment, indicating that acupuncture-like TENS may be useful for dysmenorrheic pain. This study also suggests that auriculotherapy via acupressure may relieve the pain of primary dysmenorrhea.

Increase of success rate for women undergoing embryo transfer by transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation: a prospective randomized placebo-controlled study

“…To ensure an electrical nerve stimulation without pain and fear, transcutaneous delivery of the stimulation is often adopted in clinical research and application, including obstetrics and gynecology for pain relief during labor (12) or dysmenorrhea (13). To our knowledge, TEAS has not been reported to be used to improve the clinical efficacy of ET.…”

The Self-Care Strategies of Girls with Primary Dysmenorrhea: A Focus Group Study in Taiwan

“…In an early study, Klein and Litt (1981) found that only 14.5% American adolescents had ever consulted their physicians for help with their cramps. Current treatments for dysmenorrhea include analgesic medication (Campbell & McGrath, 1997;Lethaby, Augood, & Duckett, 1999), oral contraceptives (Milsom, Hedner, & Mannheimer, 1994), topical heat patches (Akin et al, 2001), acupressure (Chang & Jun, 2003;Chen & Chen, 2004), acupuncture (Helms, 1987), spinal manipulation (Kokjohn, Schmid, Triano, & Brennan,1992), transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) (Kaplan, Rabinerson, Lurie, Peled, Royburt, & Neri, 1997;Lewers, Clelland, Jackson, Varner, & Bergman, 1998), herbal medicine (Kotani et al, 1997), and exercise (Golomb et al, 1998).…”

Physiological rationales of physical therapy interventions in the management of primary dysmenorrhea: a critical review

“…28 Six RCTs offered no discernible physiologic rationale. [23][24][25]31,35,38 The number of rationales in the included trials is summarized in Table 3.…”