Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Dysmenorrhea Caused by Endometriosis: A Review of Utilization and Mechanism

Ying Guo, Fang-Yuan Liu, Ying Shen, Jiayue Xu, Liang-Zhen Xie, Liangzhen Xie, Shi-Ying Li, Shiying Li, Dan-Ni Ding, Dan‐Ni Ding, Dan‐Qi Zhang, Feng‐Juan Han
Evidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2021 · vol. 2021 , pp. 1–14 · doi:10.1155/2021/6663602 · PMID:34306150 · PMC8272670 · W3180217876
review OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 13 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This review analyzes the efficacy and mechanisms of complementary and alternative medicine, including herbs, acupuncture, and enemas, for treating endometriosis-related dysmenorrhea.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Endometriosis (EM) is a common and benign estrogen-dependent gynecological disorder among women of reproductive age, and secondary dysmenorrhea is one of the more severe symptoms. However, the mechanism behind the development of dysmenorrhea is poorly understood, and there is a lack of effective methods for diagnosing and treating EM dysmenorrhea. In this regard, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has recently come into widespread use due to its limited adverse reactions and high efficiency. This review updates the progress of CAM in the treatment of EM dysmenorrhea and seeks to identify the therapeutic efficacy as well as the mechanisms behind these effects based on the available clinical and experimental studies. According to the literature, CAM therapy for EM dysmenorrhea, including herbs (herbal prescriptions, extracts, and patents), acupuncture, and Chinese herbal medicine enema (CHM enema), is effective for relieving dysmenorrhea with fewer unpleasant side effects when compared to hormonal and surgical treatments. In addition, we discuss and analyze the existing gaps in the literature. We hope to provide some instructive suggestions for clinical treatment and experimental research in the future.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosisdysmenorrhea

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (35)

Cited by (13)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-12T06:13:51.797165+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:24:26.422845+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK