Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) consists of a group of psychological and somatic symptoms that are related to the menstrual cycle. It is known that female with PMS report a poorer health-related quality of life. The aim of this study was performed to compare the effect of thermotherapy, abdominal massage and Gung massage on improvement of premenstrual syndrome, dysmenorrhea and body temperature. The study subjects were 30 college women with age 20's who agreed to participated in this study during 8-week period. All subjects were randomly assigned to either the 10 hyperthermic dome group (HD group), 10 abdominal massage group (AM group) and 10 Gung massage group (GM group). The HD group (20 minutes hyperthermic dome), AM group (20 minutes abdominal massage) and GM group (20 minutes Gung therapy) were treated once a week for total 8 times. We measured menstrual distress questionnaire (MDQ), visual analogue scale (VAS) and body temperature.
After 8 weeks, self-perceived health status and menstruation status were not changed in HD group. Response of autonomic nervous system was significantly improved (P<0.05). Body temperature in navel, upper abdomen, lower abdomen, right abdomen and left abdomen were significantly increased (P<0.05). No difference of change of VAS.
After 8 weeks, self-perceived health status were significantly improved in AM group (perception of stress degree, coldness of hands and feet) and GM group (perception of stress degree) (P<0.05). Also, number of pills was significantly decreased in both group (P<0.05). In AM group, pain, response of autonomic nervous system and change of skin were significantly decreased (P<0.05). In GM group, negative emotion, behavior change, concentration, pain, response of autonomic nervous system, water retention and change of skin were significantly improved (P<0.05). We observed a increase in body temperature of navel, lumbar region and caucal region in AM group, and all point in GM group (P<0.05). In both group, VAS was significantly decreased after 8 weeks (P<0.05).
Among three groups, the MDQ on change of skin was significantly improved in GM group than other groups (P<0.05). Also, the changes of body temperature in navel, upper abdomen, lower abdomen, right abdomen, lumbar region, caucal region and right hip were significantly higher in the GM group than in other groups (P<0.05). The change in VAS differed among three groups, with the GM group having the largest decrease than HD and AM group (P<0.001).