Meta-analysis of research on using acupuncture to treat primary dysmenorrhea.
Cat reacting to new of acupuncture using catgut
In this review of research papers they looked at people with primary dysmenorrhea (severe period pain). They looked at 120 papers with a combined 9571 patients. They looked at a bunch of different TCM acupuncture techniques combines with and compared to western medicine. Overall they found that the acupuncture worked better than western medicine for pain scores and with reducing prostaglandins associated with dysmenorrhea. These studies were done in Korea and China and the most interesting finding is that the most effective technique is acupuncture using the embedding of catgut just under the skin. Not a technique I use in my clinic:)