Is heat application as good as pain killers when suffering from dysmenorrhea ?
Date First Published:
May 9, 2012
Last Updated:
April 15, 2013
Report by:
Tessa Dieltjens, Staff member Centre of Expertise (Belgian Red Cross Flanders )
Search checked by:
Emmy De Buck, Belgian Red Cross Flanders
Three-Part Question:
In [woman with primary dysmenorrhea] is [heat application] a comparable alternative to [pain killers] at [decreasing pain]?
Clinical Scenario:
A 16 year old girl presents to her general practitioner, monthly she suffers from dysmenorrhea. Her dysmenorrhea is often associated with vomiting and therefore her mother does want to know if a non-pharmaceutical therapy can reduce the pain as well. You wonder if applied heat is as effective in providing menstrual pain relief and reduction of abdominal cramping as pain killers.
Search Strategy:
Medline 1966-1 April 2012 using the Pubmed interface: (\"Dysmenorrhea\" [Mesh] OR (\"Menstruation\"[Mesh] AND \"Pain\"[Mesh])) AND (\"Hot Temperature\"[Mesh] OR \"Heating\"[Mesh] OR Heat* OR Warm* OR \"Rewarming\"[Mesh])
LIMIT English and Humans
Embase and Medline 1947-1 April 2012 via the Embase.com interface: (\'dysmenorrhea\'/exp OR (\'menstruation\'/exp AND \'pain\'/exp)) AND (\'heat\'/exp OR \'heating\'/exp OR \'warming\'/exp OR Heat* OR Warm*)
LIMIT English and Humans
The Cochrane Library using the Wiley interface: (MeSH descriptor \"Menstruation\" explode all trees OR MeSH descriptor \"Dysmenorrhea\" explode all trees) AND (MeSH descriptor \"Hot Temperature\" explode all trees OR \"heat*\" OR \"warm\")
LIMIT English and Humans
Embase and Medline 1947-1 April 2012 via the Embase.com interface: (\'dysmenorrhea\'/exp OR (\'menstruation\'/exp AND \'pain\'/exp)) AND (\'heat\'/exp OR \'heating\'/exp OR \'warming\'/exp OR Heat* OR Warm*)
LIMIT English and Humans
The Cochrane Library using the Wiley interface: (MeSH descriptor \"Menstruation\" explode all trees OR MeSH descriptor \"Dysmenorrhea\" explode all trees) AND (MeSH descriptor \"Hot Temperature\" explode all trees OR \"heat*\" OR \"warm\")
Outcome:
Altogether 114 papers were found of which two were selected as providing the best evidence. The results of this paper are shown in the table.
Relevant Paper(s):
| Study Title | Patient Group | Study type (level of evidence) | Outcomes | Key results | Study Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Continuous low-level topical heat in the treatment of dysmenorrhea. Akin MD, Weingand KW, Hengehold DA, Goodale MB, Hinkle RT, Smith RP. 2001 USA | 79 woman with primary dysmenorrhea who received over 2 days (12h/day) a) an abdominal heated patch or b) an oral medication (ibuprofen 200mg) c) double placebo (patch and tablets) |
Randomised controlled trial (level of evidence 1b) | Mean pain relief during 2 days (score 0-5) | a) vs c) 3.27 vs 1.95 (p<0.001); b) vs c) 3.07 vs 1.95 | Small study population. |
| Continuous, low-level, topical heat wrap therapy as compared to acetaminophen for primary dysmenorrhea. Akin M, Price W, Rodriguez G Jr, Erasala G, Hurley G, Smith RP. 2004 USA | 344 healthy premenopausal adult woman with primary dysmenorrhea who received over 8 hours a) an abdominal heat wrap or b) oral medication(acetaminophen-1000 mg) |
Randomised controlled trial (level of evidence 1b) | Mean pain relief day 1 (0-8h) (score 0-5) | (2.48 ± 0.10 vs 2.17 ± 0.10; p= 0.015) | |
| Mean abdominal muscle tightness/cramping day 1 (0-8h) (0-100) | (40.4 ± 1.64 vs 44.5 ± 1.67; p=0.040) |
Author Commentary:
Evidence from one study showed that heat application as well as the use of pain killers resulted in a comparable statistically significantly higher pain relief during menstrual pain, when compared to placebo treatment (Akin M, 2001).
Evidence from another study showed that continuous topical heat application resulted in a statistically significantly higher pain relief and lower muscle tightness/cramping during menstrual pain, when compared to pain killers (Akin M, 2004).
Evidence from another study showed that continuous topical heat application resulted in a statistically significantly higher pain relief and lower muscle tightness/cramping during menstrual pain, when compared to pain killers (Akin M, 2004).
Bottom Line:
Heat application is a good alternative to pain killers in case of dysmenorrheal pain.
References:
- Akin MD, Weingand KW, Hengehold DA, Goodale MB, Hinkle RT, Smith RP.. Continuous low-level topical heat in the treatment of dysmenorrhea.
- Akin M, Price W, Rodriguez G Jr, Erasala G, Hurley G, Smith RP. . Continuous, low-level, topical heat wrap therapy as compared to acetaminophen for primary dysmenorrhea.