Effect of Acupressure at Sanyinjiao Point 6 on pain in primary dysmenorrhea among medical students at a private institute in Karachi
Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Clinical Trial
Abstract: Objective: This study aimed to determine the difference in pain intensity before and after acupressure at Sanyinjiao Point 6 (SP6) in medical students with Primary Dysmenorrhea (PD). Methods: The research design was quasi-experimental adopting a single group comparing pre and post-intervention data. The study was conducted in a private medical institute in Karachi, Pakistan, from September 2022 to April 2023. To select participants, a modified menstrual symptom questionnaire was used, and to measure the pain, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used during the four months of the study. A convenient sample of 50 healthy medical students were included who suffered from PD and were not using analgesics. After taking informed written consent, in the first month, VAS scoring was done without intervention on the first three days of the menstrual cycle (MC). In the subsequent three MCs, acupressure was self-applied (after being taught by a qualified acupressurist) three times a day at acupoint SP6 for two to five minutes on both legs one by one during the first three days of each intervention MC and VAS pain scoring was done. Results: A statistically significant reduction in pain intensity (p<0.01) was observed in post-acupressure VAS scores during the first three days of each intervention menstrual cycle. Conclusion: Acupressure at the SP6 point has been shown to effectively reduce pain intensity in medical students with primary dysmenorrhea. As a result, this alternative therapy can be recommended as a non-pharmacological option for pain management. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.41.4.10818 How to cite this: Amjad S, Aziz Q, Nangrejo R, Samina M. Effect of Acupressure at Sanyinjiao Point 6 on pain in primary dysmenorrhea among medical students at a private institute in Karachi. Pak J Med Sci. 2025;41(4):1121-1125. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.41.4.10818 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Authors: Samira Amjad, Qamer Aziz, Ruqaya Nangrejo, Mubushra Samina
Institution: Baqai Medical University
Language: English
Subfield: Complementary and alternative medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $400
OpenAlex ID: W4408966234