Health Library

In the March 2008 issue of the scientific periodical, the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (JMPT), is a case series documenting specific chiropractic techniques helping women suffering from monthly menstrual pains. This study looked at the effect of specific chiropractic adjustments on women who suffered with monthly menstrual pains from dysmenorrhea.

The study was conducted on 13 women with an average age of 26 years, with the youngest being 20 and the oldest 45. The women included in this study all reported that they had symptoms of primary dysmenorrhea during all of their menstrual cycles during the previous year. All of the women suffered from low back pain, lower abdominal pain, and general abdominal pain each menstrual cycle.

The time period of the study covered 2 menstrual cycles for the women so the effects of care could be looked at for two consecutive cycles. Prior to care, all women were asked to rate their pains so that a baseline could be established. All subjects were asked to initially rate their pain from 0 to 10, with zero being no pain and ten being the “worst pain you could possibly imagine.”

The results of this study showed a considerable improvement for most all of the subjects in each of their two subsequent cycles after chiropractic adjustments. The results for the women showed that their lower abdominal pain decreased from an average rating of 8.3 before care, down to a rating of 5.0 and 3.6 for the subsequent two cycles. Likewise, their general abdominal pain decreased from an average of 7.0 before care to 3.2 and 2.1, and their lower back pain decreased from an average of 6.0 down to 3.2 and 2.7 for subsequent cycles.

In addition to the primary symptoms, the women in the study also noted improvements in secondary symptoms which included headaches, fatigue, diarrhea, and constipation.

The researchers concluded that menstrual pain associated with primary dysmenorrhea may be alleviated with the specific chiropractic care rendered in this study.