In a release of the results of a recent clinical study on the efficacy of acupuncture for dysmenorrheal pain relief in the Complementary and Alternative Medicine, the beneficial effects of this age-old Chinese alternative treatment were affirmed.
The high level of efficacy was demonstrated with the positive response of patients who were suffering from menstrual pain and were administered with the acupuncture treatment.
Dysmenorrhea is characterized by the occurrence of painful menstrual cramps.
This condition can be either primary or secondary.
The primary type of dysmenorrhea is not attributable to any established pelvic causation while the secondary type of dysmenorrhea is attributable to a particular pelvic pathology.
The typical symptom of both types of dysmenorrhea is the presence of pain which does not usually respond to common NSAID medication in 1 in every 4 cases.
The patients that participated in the clinical study on the efficacy of acupuncture for the alleviation of pain associated to moderate to severe cases of dysmenorrhea have had this condition for at least a year from the start of the study and have not attained positive results from NSAID medications.
All the participants were administered 8 weekly acupuncture treatments for a period of 2 months.
Acupuncture needles were inserted in applicable acupuncture points and a session lasted for 30 minutes.
Of the 15 patients who participated in the study, 13 manifested high level of response to the acupuncture treatment and reported significant reduction in the pain associated with dysmonerrhea.
The participants also reported reduction in the consumption of NSAID drugs following positive response to the alternative treatment.
Greater reduction in the pain was reported by patients that are suffering from the primary type of dysmenorrheal.
Out of the 15 participants, 7 completely suspended their NSAID medication and relied solely on the acupuncture treatment.
These patients remained asymptomatic when follow-up was made 6 months after the NSAID medication was ended.
The National Institute of Health or NIH has officially recognized acupuncture as a therapeutic modality with demonstrable pain-relieving characteristic.
The NIH has endorsed this alternative treatment for several medical conditions, including dysmenorrhea.
One of major advantages of this alternative is that it is practically free from any adverse events or reactions.
It is also considered by medical professionals and practitioners as an extremely safe and non-invasive treatment procedure.
In fact, experts believe that the insertion of needles on specific point locations promote normal blood flow, particularly in the affected parts of the body.