Reflexology Helps PMS (more than ibuprofen)!!

Ladies, there’s good news in the PMS department. A new study shows that reflexology significantly decreases both the intensity and duration of menstrual pain.  With all the new foot spas opening up that offer reflexology for $35/hour or less, natural PMS relief is possible!

In this study, 68 students ranging from ages 18-25 who suffered from PMS were randomly assigned to either the reflexology group or the ibuprofen group. Those in the reflexology group received 10 40-minute sessions of reflexology during two consecutive menstrual cycles, for a total of 20 reflexology sessions overall.

The reflexology intervention began approximately10 days before the probable start of each woman’s menstrual cycle. During the reflexology sessions, the student received 20 minutes of reflexology on each foot for a total of 40 minutes per session. No reflexology was administered during the participants’ third consecutive menstrual cycle, in order to determine whether the previous reflexology intervention had any long-lasting effects.

Subjects assigned to the ibuprofen group were given 10 400-milligram capsules of ibuprofen and instructed to take them once every eight hours for three days—one day before the start of their menstrual cycle and on the first two days of menstruation. This was repeated for three consecutive menstrual cycles.

While the results of the research showed that both ibuprofen and reflexology resulted in a significant reduction in pain intensity among the subjects for all three menstrual cycles, when comparing the reflexology group to the ibuprofen group, the reflexology group showed a greater reduction of pain intensity and duration, even though reflexology was not administered during the third menstrual cycle.

According to the study’s authors, “Comparing the two groups showed that reflexology was more effective than ibuprofen in reducing pain intensity and duration. Therefore, considering that reflexology is a noninvasive, easy and cheap technique, it seems that it can replace anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to avoid their adverse side effects.”

Authors: Mahboubeh Valiani, Elaheh Babaei, Reza Heshmat and Zahra Zare.

Sources: Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University School of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. Originally published in December 2010 in the Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research, 15, 371-378.