A Comparison of the Effect of Stretching Exercises and Kinesio Taping on the Primary Dysmenorrhea of High School Girls

Primary dysmenorrhea is one of the most common complaints in women medicine, in the absence of any pelvic pathological failure. Exercise is commonly reported as a factor to decrease dysmenorrhea symptoms. One of the new therapeutic methods is “Kinesio Taping” which claimed to be able to reduce pain, swelling and muscle spasms. Thus, this study tries to determine and compare the effectiveness of using two therapeutic methods of stretching exercises and taping in painful menstruation of high school students. This study is an operational, quasi-experimental and two- stage study with a control group and pre-test and post-test design. Thirty female high school students with the average age of 16.8±0.99 were selected as available, and were divided into three groups, randomly. For the first group, stretching exercises were carried out and the second group were taped with Kinesio Tape and control group did not any exercise. Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) was used to collect information. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and schober test were used for measuring the level of pain and range of motion, respectively. Data analysis was performed by a repeated measures ANOVA at the significant level of p>0/05. There was a significant improvement in back and abdomen pain and back range of motion.On the other hand, comparing data after intervention showed a significant difference in pain intensity between two groups. But, no significant difference was notified in increased back range of motion in group with kinesion tape. Kinesio Taping has better effects than stretching exercises in reducing tesucing pain. Too, Stretching exercise has better effects in increasing back rang of motion.