The effects of acupressure points in SP6 and SP8 on primary dysmenorrhea

Background: Dysmenorrhea is one of the most common disorders of women in reproductive age. In addition to physical and psychological disturbances, it may cause socioeconomic problems. The acupressure is a suggested treatments for dysmenorrhea. This study was conducted to identify and compare the effects of acupressure in Saninjo and DiJi points on pain severity of primary dysmenorrhea and systematic symptoms associated with it.

Methods: This study was a cross-over clinical trial. 50 girls aged between 18 and 30 years old referred to an urban health center in Sar-e-Pol-e-Zahab city were selected. Subjects randomly allocated into two equal groups (A and B) and were assessed over three consecutive menstrual cycles. A questionnaire was used for data collection. Validity and reliability determined by content validity and test retest methods respectively. Pain severity was assessed using McGill pain ruler. At the end, data from 42 women were used for analysis with SPSS package.

Results: The severity of primary dysmenorrhea was 6.65±1.05 in SP6 and 6.84 ±1.9 in SP8 before acupressure and significantly decreased to 2.89±1.36 and 2.03±0.94 respectively after acupressure (P<0.001).

Conclusion: We can conclude that dysmenorrhea pain decreased after acupressure and SP6 and SP8 points can be used as an urgent remedy to alleviate primary dysmenorrhea.