Acupuncture treatment of PMS (premenstrual syndrome) and Dysmenorrhea
- Albert Liao
- Apr 29, 2021
- 3 min read
Dysmenorrhea is painful abdominal cramping and/or low back pain at the start of or during a woman’s menstrual cycle.
PMS or Premenstrual Syndrome is a group of symptoms associated with a woman’s menstrual cycle that includes, anxiety, mood swings, food cravings, irritability, insomnia and changes in libido. Physical symptoms include headache, fatigue, weight gain or fluid retention, bloating, breast tenderness and acne.
80% of menstruating females experience dysmenorrhea or some combination of PMS symptoms during their lifetime. Many women suffer these symptoms beginning in adolescence.
Common treatments for dysmenorrhea and PMS include NSAIDS and hormonal contraceptives. Self treatment includes aerobic exercise and heating pads.
When seeking treatment for dysmenorrhea and PMS, one should consider acupuncture. In many cases it is a longer lasting, corrective treatment that eliminates monthly medication use and disruptions to daily activities. Common remedies only address the pain (and sometimes not fully), acupuncture treatment helps regulate and normalize the menstrual cycle, contributing to improved gynecological health.
Most of my dysmenorrhea patients initially come for headaches. Headache is a common symptom with PMS. While taking history, they report that the headaches occur at the beginning of their period; or if headaches happen throughout the month, are worse at the start of their period. Many of these women are between ages 20 and 45 and have had headaches since adolescence or early adulthood. They then report that they suffer from PMS as well. As the headaches are often rooted in menstrual dysfunction, acupuncture treatments to regulate the menstrual cycle end up resolving or improving the headaches, as well.
Early in my career, I had a patient in her late 20s who sought treatment for headaches. I didn’t ask about her menstrual cycle. Within a few weeks she reported that her headaches had improved, but she’d also noticed something, ‘odd.’ She said that the lower abdominal cramping, irritability and increased appetite that she experienced at the start of her period were gone. She suffered with undiagnosed dysmenorrhea and I told her that acupuncture helps with that as well. She had been under the impression that these symptoms were normal, but were glad to be rid of them.
One of my patients brought her daughter to see me several years ago for dysmenorrhea. She was 16 at the time. She would occasionally stay home from school and more frequently, miss sports practice due to severe cramping and headaches which were worst at the start of her cycle. She would sleep to avoid the pain and over the counter analgesics would only help for a few hours.
She started acupuncture treatment and during her next cycle, symptoms were less. At the end of our treatment course she had no pain or headaches during her cycle. She is in college now and has not had acupuncture treatment for several years, but reports minimal to no pain during her cycle.
In Chinese medicine, disruption to the flow of qi and blood to the uterus causes dysmenorrhea and associated symptoms. It is further differentiated into excess and deficiency types. Acupuncture treatment aims to alleviate the stagnation of qi or support the deficient qi and blood. When the normal function of the body is restored, symptoms subside. In Chinese medicine, the Kidneys are the organs related to reproduction while the Liver and Spleen regulate and control the blood. Meridians associated with those organs are most commonly accessed in treatment.
Most of my patients see improvements in PMS and dysmenorrhea with acupuncture treatment. about 10% do not respond and another 15% only see moderate improvement, but the majority experience significant reduction in their symptoms and no longer have disruptions to daily activities.