ĭysmenorrhea is conventionally treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or oral contraceptive pills (OCPs), the efficacy of which are supported by research evidence. Better management of dysmenorrhea may not only improve women's quality of life, but also reduce their risk of developing future pain. Scholars suggest that such increased pain sensitivity may predispose women to developing pain later in life. Such increased pain sensitivity and other shared mechanisms of pain (e.g., inflammation) may explain why dysmenorrhea commonly cooccurs with other chronic pain conditions (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome, low back pain, and chronic headache). The impact of dysmenorrhea can even extend beyond the time of menstruation in that dysmenorrhea leads to increased pain sensitivity among affected women. As the leading cause of absenteeism from work or school among women, dysmenorrhea negatively affects individual women and society as a whole. Dysmenorrhea is highly prevalent among women of reproductive age, with an estimated prevalence between 16% and 91%. In addition to pelvic pain, some women with dysmenorrhea may also experience low back pain, nausea, vomiting, and changes in bowel habits. It can be either primary (in the absence of an identifiable pathological condition) or secondary (due to organic pathology such as endometriosis or fibroids). The review highlights the need for future trials with high methodological quality.ĭysmenorrhea is characterized by low abdominal or pelvic pain occurring before or during menstruation. Findings, however, need to be interpreted with caution because of the small number of studies, poor methodological quality of the studies, and high heterogeneity across trials. Available data suggest that oral ginger could be an effective treatment for menstrual pain in dysmenorrhea.
The standardized mean difference was 0 (95% CI −0.40 to 0.41). No significant difference was found between ginger and mefenamic acid (an NSAID). The weighted mean difference on a 10 cm visual analogue scale was 1.55 cm (favoring ginger) (95% CI 0.68 to 2.43). Ginger appeared more effective for reducing pain severity than placebo. We completed a narrative synthesis of all six studies and exploratory meta-analyses of three studies comparing ginger with placebo and two studies comparing ginger with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Discrepancies were resolved by consensus with a third reviewer. Two authors independently reviewed the articles, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. We included randomized controlled trials comparing oral ginger against placebo or active treatment in women with dysmenorrhea. Key biomedical databases and grey literature were searched. This systematic review examines the efficacy of oral ginger for dysmenorrhea.
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