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Diet, Nutrition, Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation

• Studies by Rossignol have demonstrated that severity of menstrual cramping and associated pain are exacerbated by foods and beverages high in sugar content.
• Studies by Abraham and by Goldsmith have demonstrated that magnesium has an antispasmodic effect, leading to a marked decrease in amplitude and frequency of uterine contractions,
• Abraham also showed that B₆ (pyridoxine) supplementation increased the influx of magnesium into the myometrial cell, allowing an anti-spasmodic effect upon the uterus.
• Campbell et al conducted a study to determine which type of treatment was perceived by women as most helpful for menstruation-associated pain and symptoms. Women reported the most effective treatments included dietary changes, evening primrose oil, and vitamins (including B₆ ).

Acupuncture

• Helms conducted a randomized, prospective study to test the efficacy of acupuncture for the management of dysmenorrhea.  Of the group who received true acupuncture, 91% showed improvement in pain, whereas the placebo acupuncture (received acupuncture, but not in the established acupoints) group only showed 36% improvement in pain, and the control group (no medical/acupuncture therapy) showed only an 18% improvement in pain.  Furthermore, the true acupuncture group had a 41% decrease in analgesic medication usage, whereas there were no changes seen in the placebo or control groups.
• There are countless studies in the Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine (by authors such as Zhou, Zhao, Zhang, Qian to name a few), who have provided evidence as to the efficacy of acupuncture in relieving dysmenorrhea.

Herbal Therapy

• According to an article in the Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association, pooled results from a study of more than 4,500 patients, 29% of the women reported complete relief of symptoms when taking chaste tree berry, and nearly 50% reported marked improvement.
• A study by Kotani, et al demonstrated that women who used dong quai for pain management had significantly less (P=0.05) dysmenorrhea than the placebo group.
• 61% of women had complete relief of their dysmenorrhea symptoms, and 23% had partial relief after at least 3 months of treatment with evening primrose oil according to a study by Brush.  

Interferential Electro-Therapy

•      Research by Noble et al demonstrated that interferential therapy did increase cutaneous blood flow to the stimulated area.  However, there is no research related to its use in treating endometriosis pain or associated symptoms.  In fact, in some of the patient information literature, it warns against using interferential electro-therapy over a menstruating uterus.