Comparing the Effectiveness of Acupressure and Fish Oil Capsules and Ibuprofen on Pain Severity of Primary Dysmenorrhea

Dysmenorrhea is defined as cyclic pain directly related to menstruation and it is one of the common causes of sick leave and decline in women's quality of life. This study was conducted with the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of acupressure and fish oil capsules on pain severity of primary dysmenorrhea. This clinical trial study was carried out on students of Azad University of Sari branch in 2011. Students afflicted with primary dysmenorrhea were randomly divided into three groups. The first group (60 students) received 1000 mg of fish oil capsule every day for the duration of two successive cycles. In the second group (control group) 76 students were given 400 mg Ibuprofen pills, as soon as the pain started, for two months; and in the acupressure group (60 students), the Saninjao point was pressed, at the start of the pain with the thumb for 20 minutes. The data was analyzed with SPSS software and the ANOVA, Friedman, Wilcoxon, Kruskal-wallis and Man-Whitney tests. Results showed a significant difference with respect to pain severity before and after the first and the second months of the interventions. Moreover, all three groups needed the same quantity of extra painkillers during the treatment duration. Acupressure and fish oil capsules are suitable treatment on pain severity of primary dysmenorrhea.