Chinese Herbal Medicine Helps Reduce Menstrual Pain

Chinese herbal medicine has been used in the treatment of gynecological conditions such as dysmenorrhea and endometriosis for over two thousand years. A Cochrane Database Review of 39 randomized controlled trials involving a total of 3475 women completed in 2008 by Zhu et al found "promising evidence for the use of Chinese herbal medicine in reducing menstrual pain in the treatment of primary dysmenorrhoea," confirming what herbalists have known for centuries. These results were compared to the use of conventional medicine such as NSAIDs and the oral contraceptive pill. While the traditional Chinese formulations worked better than conventional treatment, no significant adverse effects were identified with the use of the herbal medicine. Conventional treatments, on the other hand, often have very serious side-effects that have been well documented.