According to systematic reviews,manual acupuncture(MA) and high frequency transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation(TENS) had certain therapeutic effects on primary dysmenorrhea respectively.~In this trial, 84 patients with primary dysmenorrhea will be recruited and randomly allocated into MA group and TENS group. Patients in MA group will receive treatment at acupoints of Shiqizhui(EX-B8), Ciliao(BL 32),Diji(SP 8) and Sanyinjiao(SP 6) and those in TENS group will receive treatment at the area along the lower borders of the ribs and the upper borders of the hip crests on both sides. All patients, both in EA group and TENS group, will be treated in their first day of dysmenorrhea, once a day for three consecutive days. And the treatments will last for three consecutive menstrual cycles.
The trial aims to evaluate the effect of manual acupuncture versus transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation in treating primary dysmenorrhea.