Lab study, 2017

Can stimulating the balance system help manage PMS symptoms?

After 2 months of vestibular stimulation using a swing, depression, stress, pain, and blood pressure clearly decreased. This is preliminary evidence and larger studies are needed.

Early or limited evidence 20 women aged 18-30

What they did

20 women aged 18-30 were given vestibular stimulation using a conventional swing. Depression, anxiety, stress, cortisol levels (a stress hormone), blood pressure, pain, memory, and quality of life were measured before and after 2 months of intervention.

What they found

After 2 months, depression scores clearly decreased, stress scores clearly decreased, cortisol levels clearly decreased, and pain scores clearly decreased. Systolic blood pressure clearly decreased. Anxiety scores decreased but not clearly. Quality of life overall did not change clearly, though psychological and social relationship domains increased. Memory scores improved.

What it means for you

This is a very small study with no control group, so results are preliminary. Vestibular stimulation might help some PMS symptoms, but much larger and properly controlled studies are needed. The authors themselves recommend further research before recommending this widely.

Women in the study

18-30

Age range in years

2 months

Duration of intervention

About the study

Original title: Vestibular stimulation for management of premenstrual syndrome
Authors: Johny M, Kumar SS, Rajagopalan A et al.
Journal: Journal of natural science, biology, and medicine
Year: 2017
Study design: Lab study
What was tested: Vestibular stimulation using a conventional swing for 2 months
Open access: Yes
Read the paper: doi.org/10.4103/0976-9668.198365

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