Relief of primary Dysmenorrhea by Transcutaneous Electrical nerve Stimulation

Abstract. in this study we describe the use of high‐frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) (100 Hz) and low‐frequency TENS (lf‐TENS) (2 Hz trains) as compared with placebo‐TENS (p‐TENS) in a group of 21 patients suffering from primary dysmenorrhea. Naloxone, a relatively pure opiate antagonist, was an additional test administered to 6 volunteer patients who had experienced an alleviation of pain with TENS. As will be seen, 14 out of 21 patients receiving high‐frequency TENS (hf‐TENS) experienced a pain reduction exceeding 50% of its original intensity. During lf‐TENS or p‐TENS, only 7 and 5 patients, respectively, obtained pain relief exceeding 50%. in 4 out of 6 volunteer patients, the relief of pain obtained with lf‐TENS was counteracted by naloxone, whereas the relief experienced with hf‐TENS in the same patients was, in general, unaffected by naloxone.