Menstrual pain explanation from Iranian traditional medicine point of view compared to contemporary medicine: A review article

Introduction: Menstrual pain or dysmenorrhea is the most common cause of pelvic pain and is a health problem. Thus, we conducted this study to investigate this disorder from the perspective of Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) as compared to contemporary medicine. Methods: In this review article, we investigated the definition, etiology, manifestations, and prognosis of menstrual pain in ITM references such as Qanoon using keywords of dard-e ghaedegi and usre-tams. Novak and Danforth books, as well as databases including Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus were searched using dysmenorrhea and dared-e ghaedegi keywords. Then, the findings of the two perspectives were compared. Results: Menstrual pain is called usre-tams in ITM. Usre-tams is categorized into primary and dependent types based on delay or lack of delay in puberty. On the other hand, in the conventional medicine, dysmenorrhea is divided into primary and secondary types based on the presence or absence of pelvic pathology. Risk factors for this disorder are similar in both viewpoints, but in ITM's view mizaj is important, as well. Etiology in both views is reduction of uterine blood flow due to uterine vessel stenosis, while ITM's references have explained blood viscosity due to phlegm (balgham) and black bile (sauda) as another cause of reduced uterine blood flow. Conclusion: Separation of primary and dependent usre-tams with history is the first step of menstrual pain management. The second step is separation of primary and secondary dysmenorrhea by history and sonography. In case of primary dysmenorrhea, cause of reduced uterine blood flow should be investigated, which might be uterine vessel stenosis or blood viscosity. Blood viscosity explains unknown reasons and lack of response to dysmenorrhea treatment.