Abstract
Dysmenorrhea is a prevalent problem in menstruating women. As a nonpharmacologic and free of relevant side effects intervention, moxibustion is considered as a safe treatment and has long been recommended for dysmenorrhea in China. However, the exact effects of moxibustion in PD have not been fully understood. Therefore we designed this random clinical trial aiming to (1) investigate whether moxibustion is safe and effective for pain relief in primary dysmenorrhea when compared to conventional pain-killers and (2) assess the acceptability and side effects associated with moxibustion. The results of this trial will contribute to a better understanding of the different effects of moxibustion in pain relief in primary dysmenorrhea when compared to conventional pharmacologic pain treatment.
Highlights
Dysmenorrhea is the leading cause of recurrent short-term school absenteeism among adolescent girls and a prevalent problem in menstruating women [1]
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication is the main treatment for Primary dysmenorrhea (PD), which is accompanied with oral contraceptive pill (COCP) when necessary [4], though with a number of side effects [5]
There is an urgent need for clinical trials with sound methodological design to assess the effects of moxibustion. We designed this random clinical trial aiming to (1) investigate whether moxibustion is safe and effective for pain relief in primary dysmenorrhea when compared to conventional pain-killers and (2) assess the acceptability and side effects associated with moxibustion
Summary
Dysmenorrhea is the leading cause of recurrent short-term school absenteeism among adolescent girls and a prevalent problem in menstruating women [1]. It usually occurs before or during menstruation, emanating from lower abdominal or pelvic pain and radiating to the back and inner thighs. Though many studies have proposed plausible mechanisms, a recent systematic review on clinical trials assessing the effects of acupuncture-related therapies (including moxibustion) indicated no convincing outcomes after these treatments for PD [10]. We designed this random clinical trial aiming to (1) investigate whether moxibustion is safe and effective for pain relief in primary dysmenorrhea when compared to conventional pain-killers and (2) assess the acceptability and side effects associated with moxibustion
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