協助青少女及年輕女性認識原發性痛經及選擇適合個人的緩解策略

Helping Adolescent and Young Women Understanding Primary Dysmenorrhea and Choosing Appropriate Pain Relief Strategies for Dysmenorrhea

痛經被定義為月經週期中發生的疼痛，原發性痛經好發於青少女及年輕女性，發生率約50-90%之間，會對女性生活產生負面影響，包括身體不適、影響生活品質、睡眠品質、社交生活、個人工作及課業，因此協助年輕女性找到適合的緩解痛經措施是非常重要的。常見的緩解痛經策略包括自我照顧、食用黑巧克力、薑茶、補充維他命E及Omega食物補充。其他包括使用藥物，包括非類固醇抗炎止痛藥物（NSAID），避孕藥物，但因使用西醫藥物有其限制或副作用，越來越多人選用其他方式，包括使用中藥、耳穴貼壓及針灸、芳香療法、音樂療法、運動、瑜珈，經皮電刺激及局部熱療法，都可緩解痛經引發的不適。本文為綜論性文章，以常用的緩解痛經措施為主題，搜尋近期文獻回顧，分析其臨床應用及限制，建議有痛經困擾的女性們，應先尋求專業醫護人員的諮詢以排除繼發性痛經的可能，再依個人喜好做選擇，以緩解痛經不適，並希望本文可以提供對此議題有興趣者的參考。

Dysmenorrhea is defined as pain that occurs during the menstrual cycle. Primary dysmenorrhea is more common in teenage girls and young women, with an incidence rate of about 50-90%, and can have a negative impact on women’s lives. Those impacts include physical discomfort and affecting quality of life, sleep quality, social life, personal work and school. Therefore, it is very important to assist young women to find suitable measures to relieve dysmenorrhea. Common strategies to relieve dysmenorrhea including self care, diet supplement such as taking dark chocolate, drinking ginger tea, taking vitamin E and Omega rich food. Others methods including use of medications such as non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) and contraceptives. However, due to the limitations or side effects of using drugs, more and more people choose non-drug therapy including Chinese herbal medicine, using auricular point pressure and acupuncture, aromatherapy, music therapy, exercise, yoga, transcutaneous electrical stimulation and local heat therapy all show alleviate discomfort cause by dysmenorrhea. This brief review article focuses on common measures of dysmenorrhea relief by exploring recent literature reviews, and to analyzes its clinical application and limitations. It is recommended that women with dysmenorrhea should seek professional medical consultation to rule out the possibility of secondary dysmenorrhea and choose a method of relieving discomfort according to personal preference Hopefully, this article can provide a reference for those who are interested in this topic.