The effect of self-aromatherapy massage of the abdomen on the primary dysmenorrhoea

Abstract

Primary dysmenorrhoea (PD) is the most common gynaecological complaint that occurs in women. This study was a randomised controlled trial. The subjects were 75 students whose severity of pain was measured by visual analogue scale (VAS). Subjects were randomly divided into three groups: massage group with rose oil (n = 25) who applied self-massage with Rose damascene; a placebo group (n = 25) who performed self-massage with unscented almond oil and a no treatment control group (n = 25) who applied just self-massage. All three groups received the intervention in the first day of menstruation in two subsequent cycles. The severity of pain was self-reported by the students before and after intervention. All three groups were matched in demographic characteristics. The baseline pain reduced in the first cycle but this reduction was not significant in the groups (p > 0.05). In the second cycle, the menstrual pain was significantly lower in the rose oil group than in the other two groups after intervention (between massage with rose oil, almond oil p = 0.003 and massage with rose oil and just massage p = 0.000). Massage with aromatherapy reduces the severity of primary dysmenorrhoea, in comparison with massage therapy alone.

Keywords::

• Aromatherapy
• massage
• primary dysmenorrhoea
• visual analogue scale

Acknowledgements

The authors kindly acknowledge all students who participated in this study.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

This study was funded and supported by Tehran University of Medical Sciences. This study was approved by the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials, registration number: IRCT2012081310182N2.