--- title: Does auriculotherapy reduce PMS symptoms? | Niyora description: Both auriculotherapy and placebo auriculotherapy reduced PMS symptoms, pain, and anxiety. The benefits were similar between the two groups, suggesting placebo url: https://niyora.com/research/papers/effects-of-auriculotherapy-on-treatment-of-women-with-premenstrual-syndrome-2022/ --- - [Niyora](https://niyora.com/) - [Research](https://niyora.com/research/) - [Library](https://niyora.com/research/library/) - Does auriculotherapy reduce PMS symptoms? Randomised trial, 2022 # Does auriculotherapy reduce PMS symptoms? Both auriculotherapy and placebo auriculotherapy reduced PMS symptoms, pain, and anxiety. The benefits were similar between the two groups, suggesting placebo effect may play a role. Moderate study design 91 women with PMS in Brazil ## What they did 91 women were assigned to three groups: active auriculotherapy (microneedles on 7 PMS acupuncture points), placebo auriculotherapy (microneedles on 7 unrelated points), or control. Each group had 8 weeks of 1 session per week. PMS, pain, anxiety, and quality of life were measured at baseline, before week 5, after treatment, and 1 month later. ## What they found Both the auriculotherapy group and the placebo group showed significantly lower PMS symptoms, musculoskeletal pain, and anxiety scores compared to baseline. For quality of life improvement and at the one-month follow-up, benefits were observed only in the placebo group, not the active treatment group. ## What it means for you Auriculotherapy reduced PMS symptoms in this study, but placebo treatment with needles on non-acupuncture points was equally effective. This suggests the benefit may come partly from the placebo effect or the attention received rather than from the specific acupuncture points chosen. Auriculotherapy may be helpful as an additional treatment but does not appear to work better than placebo. 91 women studied 8 weeks of treatment 7 acupuncture points used ## About the study Original title Effects of Auriculotherapy on treatment of women with premenstrual syndrome symptoms: A randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial Authors Korelo RIG, Moreira NB, Miguel BAC et al. Journal Complementary therapies in medicine Year 2022 Study design Randomised trial What was tested Auriculotherapy with microneedles on seven acupuncture points, once per week for 8 weeks Open access Yes Read the paper [doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2022.102816](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2022.102816) ## Topics [Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pms/)[Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)](https://niyora.com/research/topics/condition-pmdd/)[Anxiety and tension](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-anxiety/)[Pain and headache](https://niyora.com/research/topics/symptom-pain/)[Acupuncture and acupressure](https://niyora.com/research/topics/treatment-acupuncture/)[Quality of life and daily functioning](https://niyora.com/research/topics/life-area-quality-of-life/) Research tells you what helps on average. Niyora helps on the day it hits. Calm down, see it another way, and decide what to say, with a PMS and PMDD app built by a doctor. ## Related studies Cohort study, 2025 Do women with PMS or PMDD report lower quality of life than women without these conditions? Study, 2026 What are premenstrual syndrome and premenstrual dysphoric disorder? Randomised trial, 2026 Does Kundalini Reiki help reduce PMS symptoms and improve quality of life? Review, 2017 Can combining different types of treatments help PMS more than using one approach alone? Systematic review, 2014 Do acupuncture and herbal medicine help PMS or PMDD symptoms? Non-randomised trial, 2008 Can the Sheehan Disability Scale measure whether treatments work? Ask AI about this page Copy prompt ChatGPT ↗ Claude ↗ Perplexity ↗ Google AI Mode ↗ Grok ↗