SP 6 Acupuncture Point Effect on Dysmenorrhea (Menstrual Pain/Cramps)

There are an increasing number of studies with acupuncture looking at the functions of a single point.  While technically acupuncture is not a point to condition modality, these studies are helpful to understand certain functional mechanisms.  These studies help to create a dialog between eastern and western viewpoints.

A team from Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine looked at the effects of two points on primary dysmenorrhea (menstrual pain) - SP 6 and GB 39.  Their study involved 66 patients with primary dysmenorrhea.  One group needled SP 6 for 5 minutes while the patient was experiencing menstrual pain and the control group used GB 39 which generally would not be used for menstrual pain

Within the SP 6 treatment group the patients experienced quick and significant pain reduction using a variety of menstrual pain scores.  This simple study helps to illustrate that needling of SP 6 during dysmenorrhea will have an immediate impaact on uterine arterial blood flow. 

While this study did not look into this, acupressure at SP 6 can be recommended to help control symptoms.