APPLICATIONS OF KINESIOTAPE IN THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE SYMPTOMS OF PRIMARY DYSMENORRHEA. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Introduction: dysmenorrhea is one of the most prevalent gynecological symptoms among young women, cha-racterized by colic, throbbing or dull pain during menstruation. There are two types: primary and secondary. There is no specific treatment for the elimination of symptoms, the pharmacological treatment is the most used. There is some evidence about the efficacy of Kinesiotape (KT) in primary dysmenorrhea, however, the application techniques used, the degree of tape tension and the duration time are still uncertain parameters. Material and method: systematic review was performed following the PRISMA standards in PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library and Science Direct databases. The main variables evaluated were pain, number of analgesic drugs taken, different types of KT placement and timing of KT placement. Results: four articles of scientific quality that met thenclusion criteria were obtained. Although we do not have a sufficiently large volume of studies to ensure its effectiveness, we can say that most of the authors state that KT in its different application modalities is a valid therapeutic instrument and greatly reduces pain caused by dysmenorrhea. Conclusions: KT seems to reduce menstrual pain and can be considered as an analgesic procedure, reducing the intake of NSAIDs or being an alternative to them, in certain situations. More research is required on application techniques, tension and duration time.