Does dry cupping reduce premenstrual headaches?

BACKGROUND: Premenstrual syndrome or PMS are a group of psycho neuroendocrine condition whose cause is not known often experienced prior to menstruation. PMS symptoms are varied with prevalence of premenstrual headache of nearly 43%. Numerous evidences for management of PMS in general are available however literature on specific management of premenstrual headache is unavailable. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of dry cupping on physical symptom of headache in the premenstrual syndrome using Daily Record of Severity of Problems (DRSP), Headache Impact test (HIT-6) and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) METHODS: Females within 18-26 years who complained of premenstrual headache and were willing to participate were included. Subjects were recruited and randomly divided into two groups. Outcome measures used were Daily Record of Severity of Problems (DRSP) and Headache Impact test (HIT-6). Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used pre and post intervention. Group A was given cervical traction whereas group B was given dry cupping and cervical traction. DRSP and HIT-6 were recorded for four cycles. RESULTS: The mean of demographic data suggested that both the group were homogenous at the baseline in terms of age and BMI. HIT-6 mean scores when compared from baseline to 2nd follow up for both the groups demonstrated statistically significant outcome. This improvement was maintained for over a period f two cycles in group B. DRSP and VAS mean scores were compared from baseline to post intervention showed high statistically significant improvement (p=0.0001) CONCLUSION: The study concludes that dry cupping is an effective tool for immediate to long term reduction of premenstrual headache symptoms.

Reproduced under CC-BY-SA.