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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 22, 2026

Herbs-Partitioned Moxibustion on the Navel in a Rat Model of Primary Dysmenorrhea with Cold Coagulation and Blood Stasis

Herbs-Partitioned Moxibustion on the Navel in a Rat Model of Primary Dysmenorrhea with Cold Coagulation and Blood Stasis

Published on: October 4, 2024

Acupuncture for dysmenorrhoea.

Caroline A Smith¹, Mike Armour, Xiaoshu Zhu

¹National Institute of Complementary Medicine (NICM), Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2751.

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

|April 19, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Evidence for acupuncture and acupressure in treating period pain (primary dysmenorrhoea) is insufficient. More high-quality research is needed to confirm effectiveness and safety for this common condition.

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Area of Science:

Integrative Medicine
Pain Management
Women's Health

Background:

Primary dysmenorrhoea, the most common type of period pain, affects up to 75% of women.
It is characterized by cramping lower abdominal pain without an organic cause, occurring within 8 to 72 hours of menstruation.
This review evaluates evidence for acupuncture and acupressure in treating primary dysmenorrhoea.

Purpose of the Study:

To assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture and acupressure for primary dysmenorrhoea.
Comparisons were made against placebo, no treatment, or conventional medical treatments.

Main Methods:

A comprehensive search of multiple electronic databases was conducted, including Cochrane, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Chinese databases.
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving women with primary dysmenorrhoea, comparing acupuncture/acupressure with sham, placebo, usual care, medication, or no treatment, were included.
Primary outcome was pain; secondary outcomes included menstrual symptoms, quality of life, and adverse events. Data were analyzed using odds ratios and mean differences.

Main Results:

The review included 42 RCTs with 4640 women. Evidence quality was predominantly low or very low.
Acupuncture showed potential benefits in pain relief and fewer adverse events compared to NSAIDs, but findings were inconsistent and heterogeneous.
Acupressure showed mixed results, with some studies indicating pain reduction compared to placebo, but one study showed more pain compared to NSAIDs.

Conclusions:

Insufficient evidence currently supports the effectiveness of acupuncture or acupressure for primary dysmenorrhoea.
Significant limitations including risk of bias, poor reporting, and inconsistency were noted across studies.
Further high-quality research is required to establish the efficacy and safety of these interventions.