Abstract
In 1910, Dr. P. Brooke Bland wrote, “Dysmenorrhea should never be regarded as a morbid process, but should always be looked upon as a manifestation of some systemic or local pelvic condition. It is unfortunate that many women are operated upon for dysmenorrhea without the cause first being determined” [1]. In the past, therapies used to treat dysmenorrhea have ranged from the plausible and somewhat effective, to the outlandish and useless. Everything from cauterizing the middle turbinate of the nose [2], exercise programs [3], and presacral sympathectomy [4, 5] to uterine relaxing factor [6], vasodilators [7, 8], tranquilizers [9], and hormones [10, 11] have been recommended to relieve dysmenorrhea. The use of electric current has even been advocated [12], employing an insulated chair, an intravaginal electrode, and a spark gap high-voltage generator. This treatment was to be administered for 20 min daily over a 4-week period. The treatment was reported to have had good effects, possibly do to a low return rate of patients treated in this way.
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Smith, R.P. (2018). Management Strategies for Primary Dysmenorrhea. In: Dysmenorrhea and Menorrhagia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71964-1_9
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