Survey study, 2021
What traditional and complementary medicine practices do women with PMS use?
Most women with PMS use heat treatments (hot applications to the abdomen and hot showers) and many also walk, do yoga, or get massage. Some reported benefits from fennel tea and music, but without a control group we cannot confirm these practices work.
What they did
Descriptive cross-sectional study at a university gynecology clinic in Turkey. 357 women who came for gynecology care completed a questionnaire about PMS symptoms and which traditional or complementary medicine practices they used.
What they found
82.9% of the women had PMS. Of those with PMS, 83.8% used traditional or complementary medicine. Most common practices were hot application to the abdomen (90.7%), hot showers (85.1%), fennel tea (26.2%), walking (23.8%), massage (21.8%), yoga (11.7%), and music (10.5%). Of women who used music, 80% reported benefits. Of women who drank fennel tea, 60% reported benefits.
What it means for you
Heat is the most popular home remedy for PMS among these women. Some reported benefits from music and fennel tea, but without a control group it is unclear whether these practices truly help or if reported benefits are from placebo effect. This is from one clinic in Turkey.
82.9%
of women had PMS
90.7%
used hot application to abdomen
83.8%
of women with PMS used complementary medicine
About the study
- Original title
- Traditional and Complementary Medicine Practices Used by Women with Premenstrual Syndrome
- Authors
- Hanife UÇAK, Filiz SÜZER ÖZKAN
- Journal
- Konuralp Tıp Dergisi
- Year
- 2021
- Study design
- Survey study
- Participants
- 357
- What was tested
- Observation of traditional and complementary medicine use
- Open access
- Yes
- Read the paper
- doi.org/10.18521/ktd.778758
Topics
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