Abstract

Zafari, M.*, Tofighi, M, Aghamohammady, A, Behmanesh, F. and Rakhshaee, Z

Primary dysmenorrhea is one of the common causes of absence from workplace and decline in the quality of life of women. Because of the importance and prevalence of dysmenorrhea among women and girls of childbearing age, and due to the publication of reports concerning the effectiveness of fish oil and acupressure in curing primary dysmenorrhea, this study was conducted with the purpose of comparing the effectiveness of acupressure, fish oil capsules, and ibuprofen in treating primary dysmenorrheal. This empirical study was carried out on students of the University of Medical Sciences of Mazandaran in 2010. Students afflicted with primary dysmenorrhea were randomly divided into three groups. The first group (60 students) received 1000 mg of fish oil capsule every day for the duration of two successive cycles; the second group (76 students) was given 400 mg ibuprofen pills, as soon as the pain started, for two months; and in the acupressure group (60 students), the Saninjao point was pressed, at the start of the pain, with a thumb for 20 min. After the information was gathered, the SPSS software, Fisher s test, Duncan s test, Friedman s test, and analysis of variance ( + 0.05) were used to test the data. Results obtained showed that there was a significant difference with respect to pain before and after the use of the medicines and acupressure (P = 0.000). Moreover, all three groups needed the same quantity of extra painkillers during the treatment duration (P = 0.295); and participants were most satisfied with ibuprofen, with acupressure and fish oil ranking second and third, in this respect (P = 0.000). Acupressure, fish oil capsules, and ibuprofen had similar effects in curing dysmenorrheal.