Effectiveness of Pilates and TENS acupuncture in treating patients with primary dysmenorrhea: a randomized controlled trial

Objectives This study aimed to detect the effectiveness of Pilates and Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation acupuncture (TENS) on Primary Dysmenorrhea (PD) in female medical students.Methods Fifty-two patients with PD, aged from 18 to 24 years old were allocated randomly to two groups: group A (n = 26) and group B (n = 26). Group (A) performed Pilates exercises for 24 sessions 3 times per week and received TENS acupuncture (30 min per session) for 12 sessions, while group (B) received analgesic drugs in the first 3 days of the menstrual cycle for 2 consecutive menstrual cycles. Assessment of pain performed through the Visual Analogue scale (VAS) while the degree of functional ability through the Verbal Multidimensional Scoring System of dysmenorrhea (VMSS).Results Pain levels and functional abilities had improved in both groups, with a highly statistically significant difference in post treatment VAS and VMSS scores (p = 0.001 and p = 0.003, respectively) in favor of group (A).Conclusion The combination treatment of Pilates and TENS acupuncture is considered to be a safe and highly effective conservative means of relieving primary dysmenorrhea. The use of these approaches helps to alleviate the pain symptoms and increase the level of functionality.Clinical trial registration www.clinicaltrials.gov identifier is NCT06808529.