• Journal of Oriental Medical Thermology
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2003

Dysmenorrhea is one of the common gynecologic disorders of menstruation women. Primary dysmenorrhea is menstrual pain without pelvic pathology. whereas secondary one is painful mestruation with underlying pathology. The cause of primary dysmenorrhea is increased endometrial prostaglandin. The mechanisims underlying secondary dysmenorrhea are not eluciated. There are many blood vessels under the skin and they play a very important role in the thermal control of peripheral part. The control of blood circulation is mainly controlled by autonomic nervous system and it is known that D.I.T.I. (digital infra-red thermographic imaging) is an objective method showing the body temperature. I observed the abdominal themerature of 49 patients complaning of dysmenorrhea who visited the gynecologic department of Pundang Oriental Medical Hospital during 1997. In order to rule out thermal abnormality due to obesity. the causes whose obesity index were above I. were excluded in this study. The mean temperature of lower abdomen of the dysmenorrhea group was $35.22{\pm}1.33^{\circ}C$ and control group was $36.01{\pm}0.74^{\circ}C$.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.252-260
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• 2020

Objective: Disorder of the autonomic nervous system is considered to be the cause of primary dysmenorrhea. The spine has a close relationship with the autonomic nervous system, and the sacrum is mechanically and neurologically connected to the uterus through ligaments. Therefore, this study was conducted to check the effect on the autonomic nervous system through measurement of heart rate variability by applying manual therapy to the sacroiliac joints of subjects with primary dysmenorrhea and to suggest an effective treatment method for dysmenorrhea. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: Thirty females with dysmenorrhea were assigned to either the manual therapy group and sham treatment group according to the random treatment method. The manual therapy was applied to the sacroiliac joints, and the sham treatment was only treated with the hands placed in the same position of the intervention. Heart rate variability and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were measured on the day when menstruation began ±2. Interventions were performed between the groups, followed by a 5-minute break and then re-measurements were made. Results: There were significant differences in autonomic balance and VAS scores in the manual therapy group before and after the intervention between groups (p<0.05). In the sham treatment group, there were significant differences in low frequency, autonomic balance, and VAS scores (p<0.05). There were significant differences in autonomic balance between groups (p<0.05). Conclusions: In females with primary dysmenorrhea, manual therapy applied to the sacroiliac joint was found to be effective for a short time on autonomic activity.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.148-160
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• 2009

Purpose: We intended to observe the correlations between Primary dysmenorrhea severity and Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern. Methods: After initial approval by Kyung-Hee University Oriental Medical Hospital Institutional Review Board of Clinical Trials, volunteers for the clinical trial were recruited. We selected the 52 primary dysmenorrhea patients by the screening tests (clinical examination and inquiry). The severity of dysmenorrhea was evaluated by VAS (Visual Analog Scale), VRS (Verbal Rating Scale) & MVRS (Multidimensional Verbal Rating Scale). The severity of Blood Stasis was evaluated by Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern. For statistics, we used Spearman's rho correlations, SPSS 13.0 for windows. Results: In case of VAS, though two items (眼瞼下靑紫, 便黑) of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern were correlated, total score & discriminant function score of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern were not correlated. In case of VRS, though two items (小腹痛, 夜間痛) of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern were correlated, total score & discriminant function score of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern were not correlated. In case of MVRS, though one items (久痺症) of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern were correlated, total score & discriminant function score of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern were not correlated. Conclusion: Though the results showed partial correlation of Primary dysmenorrhea severity and Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern, we need further study after improvement and complementation of Questionnaires for Blood Stasis Pattern.

• CELLMED
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.10.1-10.8
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• 2014

Affecting more than half of menstruating women, dysmenorrhea is a cramp which causes abdominal or lower back pain just before or during a menstruation. In western medicine, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are normally used to treat primary dysmenorrheal symptoms. Despite their rapidity in relieving pain, NSAIDs have many serious side effects on the liver, kidney, and gastrointestinal tract. Thai traditional medicines comprise many preparations for treating dysmenorrhea, especially Prasaplai preparation which has been listed in the Thai traditional common household drug list since 2006. The use of Prasaplai was originated about 100 years ago and is still being used in the present time to treat dysmenorrhea. This review focuses on the history of the preparation, active ingredients, and biological activities especially on cyclooxygenase inhibitor, artifacts occurred in the preparation, quantitative analysis, and clinical trial of Prasaplai formulation.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.434-442
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• 2015

The purpose of this review was to survey the Korean Medicine related papers about women with primary dysmenorrhea in order to develop the clinical protocol of the diagnostic medical device. We searched the literature from 2000 through April 2015 using 5 online databases including Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated Sysptem (OASIS), Research Information Sharing Service (RISS), DataBase Periodical Information Academic (DBpia) and Korean Medical Database (KMBase). We selected papers to meet the following inclusion criteria: the papers involved dysmenorrhea (excluding secondary dysmenorrhea), published papers (excluding textbook, educational materials, conferences, etc.) and the papers matched search keywords or scope, but excluded papers to meet the following exclusion criteria: the duplicative papers, get out of the keywords and scope and not in english or korean language. Finally we found 17 papers and classified the papers according to the three search purposes which were diagnostic tools for evaluating the menstrual pain, dysmenorrhea' pattern identification and menstrual phase. Out of the 16 studies, 4 studies were focused on the diagnostic tools including Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Measurement of Menstrual Pain (MMP) and etc. Other 5 studies were aimed at menstrual phase, and the other 7 studies were studied for pattern identification. The VAS has been widely used in research and in clinical practice for the detection of the menstrual pain. Treatments for patients with primary dysmenorrhea can be prescribed in consideration of their patterns of sasang constitution or body constitution as following: Qi stagnation-Blood deficiency, cold dampness, Qi deficiency-blood deficiency and liver-kidney deficiency etc. This results of research will be used as a useful material during plan a clinical study of primary dysmenorrhea and acquisition of good clinical data.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.144-152
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• 2005

Purpose : The purpose of this study is to identify the clinical effects of acupuncture and herbal medication in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea during five or seven days before menstruation. Methods : This study was carried out to the 17 female students in kyungwon university without pelvic or other systemic disease and its history. We investigated general and menstrual characteristics through questionnaires and treated sample patients with crossover acupuncture treatment(Sojangjeonggyeok & $SP_6$) and herbal medication(Hyunburikyungtang-gagam) during five or seven days before menstruation two times. And the change of pain was measured by the method of VAS after menstration monthly two times. Results : The improvement frequency of pain after treatment according to VAS all got better after one, two months of treatment. Especially, the mean${\pm}$S.E. of VAS score after 2nd month treatment was decreased significantly compared with that of 1st month treatment(p<0.05). And Between acupuncture treatment and herbal medication groups had no significant differences on the efficacy of treatment. Conclusion : The acupuncture treatment or herbal medication during five or seven days before menstruation will be efficacious against primary dysmenorrhea.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.81-92
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• 2017

Objectives: This review aims to report the efficacy and safety of electroacupuncture in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea. Methods: We searched for randomized controlled studies (RCTs) using electroacupuncture on primary dysmenorrhea up to Dec 2016. The following databases were searched : OASIS, PubMED, EMBASE, CENTRAL. The results of the studies were analyzed and the risk of bias was assessed. Results: Five studies were included in this review. In most studies, the effect of electroacupuncture at Sameumgyo (SP6) was better than that of electroacupuncture at Hyeonjong (GB39), nonacupoint and no intervention about Visual analog scale (VAS), Verbal rating scale (VRS) and Retrospective symptom scale (RSS). But there were no significant effects on Resistance Index (RI) and S/D ratio (the ratio between peak systolic to end-diastolic flow velocity in uterine arteries). Serous adverse events were not reported. Conclusions: This review shows that electroacupuncture is effective on primary dysmenorrhea with no serious adverse events.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.128-141
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• 2019

Objectives: This study was performed to investigate the pain relief effect of lower abdomen warmer on primary dysmenorrhea patients taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and whether the using of warmer can supplement or replace the drugs. Methods: 30 women with primary dysmenorrhea were assigned to treatment group (n=15) and control group (n=15). At 1st visit, the treatment group was provided with a wirless multiuse warmer and trained to use at least three times per menstrual cycle. The control group was not provided with the warmer, and both groups were provided with a menstrual diary and instructed to record their pain intensity and dose of analgesic every menstrual period. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) were used to assess the intensity of overall pain and the most severe pain during the menstrual period. And the total number of analgesic taken during menstruation and the average number of analgesic taken during a single dose were measured. Results: There was significant pain relief in the treatment group compared to before baseline, and there was a significant difference from the control group. In addition, there was no significant difference in the frequency of taking analgesic during the menstrual period between the treatment group and the control group, but the dose of analgesic was significantly lower in the treatment group than in the control group. Conclusions: This clinical trial showed that lower abdomen warmer would helpful in relieving primary dysmenorrhea and could help reduce the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.16-28
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• 2017

Objectives: This study was performed to review the research trends in the periodic therapy of dysmenorrhea in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Methods: We searched articles in Chinese Academic journal (CAJ). Search key words were 'dysmenorrhea' and 'periodic therapy or cyclic treatment'. Results: We selected 6 studies except unrelated studies. According to study design, study was classified into 1 single group before after study and 5 randomized controlled trials. According to dysmenorrheal type, study was classified into 4 studies on primary dysmenorrhea and 2 studies on secondary dysmenorrhea. In the selected studies, there were four studies in which the menstrual cycle was divided into 2 periods, one study divided into 3 periods, and one study divided into 4 periods. The most used herb was "Angelicae Gigantis Radix", "Cinnamomi Cortex Spissus". All studies showed effective results on dysmenorrhea. Conclusions: In TCM, Research on periodic therapy of dysmenorrhea was being conducted more actively than Korean medicine. The periodic therapy seems to be effective on dysmenorrhea from this research. It would be necessary to fulfill further clinical study with periodic therapy on dysmenorrhea in Korean medicine to establish standard evidence of them.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.123-130
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• 2015

Objectives : Primary dysmenorrhea is one of the most common female gynecological diseases. Acupuncture and moxibustion therapy have been used to treat dysmenorrhea in Korea. The aim of this review was to examine the effectiveness of acupuncture and moxibustion therapy for primary dysmenorrhea as described in studies in Korea. Methods : A total of 8 databases were searched, with the search concluding February 15, 2015. These were the Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System, DBpia, Korean Studies Information Service System, National Digital Science Library, Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal, Research Information Sharing Service, and Pubmed. Randomized controlled Trails(RCTs) comparing acupuncture or moxibustion therapy with non acupoints stimulation or medication were selected. Data abstraction and assessment of methodology was conducted by authors and disagreements were resolved by discussion. Results : 7 trials were included in this review, with a total of 308 participants. 4 trials reported on acupuncture, 1 trial reported on acupress by magnet, 1 trial reported on pharmacopuncture, and the other trial reported on moxibustion. Quality of methodology was low. 2 trials showed that experimental therapy was effective for pain relief compared to the controlled group. However, 5 trials did not show a significant difference in pain relief. Conclusions : Acupuncture and moxibustion therapy may reduce period pain, however, it is needed for well designed RCTs in Korea.