---
title: Is reflexology or acupressure more helpful for period symptoms?
description: Reflexology reduced symptoms more than acupressure in this 40-girl study. Both groups improved but there was no untreated control group.
url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/effect-of-acupressure-vs-reflexology-on-pre-menstrual-syndrome-among-adolescent-2022/
---

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- Is reflexology or acupressure more helpful for period symptoms?

Non-randomised trial, 2022

# Is reflexology or acupressure more helpful for period symptoms?

Reflexology reduced symptoms more than acupressure in this 40-girl study. Both groups improved but there was no untreated control group.

 Early or limited evidence

40 adolescent girls from a government school in Erode with premenstrual syndrome

## What they did

A comparison study with 40 adolescent girls with period symptoms from a government school. One group received acupressure and one received reflexology, once a week for 6 weeks. Symptom improvement was measured before and after.

## What they found

The reflexology group had a mean symptom score of 70.8 (SD=10.71) and the acupressure group had a mean score of 97.3 (SD=2.5), with paired t values of 31.9 and 19.2 respectively, showing reflexology was more effective.

## What it means for you

Reflexology may work better than acupressure for period symptoms in teenagers. Main limitation: small study with no untreated control group, so it is unclear how much improvement is from the treatment itself versus other factors.

40

girls

6 weeks

treatment duration

70.8 vs 97.3

reflexology vs acupressure scores

## About the study

Original title Effect of Acupressure Vs Reflexology on Pre-Menstrual Syndrome among Adolescent Girls A Pilot Study Authors Dr.P.Padmavathi Journal Nursing Journal of India Year 2022 Study design Non-randomised trial What was tested Acupressure versus reflexology, once weekly for 6 weeks Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.48029/nji.2014.cv506](https://doi.org/10.48029/nji.2014.cv506)

## Topics

[Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Acupuncture and acupressure](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-acupuncture/)[Students and academic performance](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-education/)[Adolescents and young people](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-adolescents/)

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