Severe menstrual cramps, otherwise known as primary dysmenorrhea, is one of the most common gynecological complaints. It can affect as many as half of young women.
A recent study in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology might have an answer for this painful disorder in the form of acupuncture treatments. A group of Korean researchers looked at 27 studies done on acupuncture for dysmenorrhea, which involved a total of 3,000 women.
By comparing findings, they determined “promising evidence” for the use of acupuncture to treat dysmenorrhea, as compared to either herbal or pharmacological medicine.
Reference
Cho S-H, Hwang E-W. Acupuncture for primary dysmenorrhoea: a systematic review. BJOG 2010 Feb 17 [Epub ahead of print].
