the effect of water yoga exercises on the intensity and pain duration in girls with primary dysmenorrhea

Background: dysmenorrhea or painful menstruation is considered as the most prevalent problem in women. therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of eight-week yoga exercises in water on the intensity and duration of pain in female students with primary dysmenorrhea. methods: in this clinical trial study, we recruited 40 female students aged 18 to 26 years old with primary dysmenorrhea. they were divided into experimental and control groups. both groups completed the pre- and post-test questionnaires. the experimental group participated in an eight-week yoga exercise plan in water. shapiro-wilk test was used for the assessment of the normality of the data. the wilcoxon test was employed to compare the data. p≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. also, this clinical trial was registered in the iranian registry of clinical trials with the code of irct20120215009014n245. results: after eight weeks of yoga practice in water, a significant decrease was observed in the severity of pain (p=0.001), pain duration (p=0.001), and the number of painkillers used in the experimental (p=0.001) group whereas no significant changes were found in the controls. conclusion: doing yoga exercises in water can be an appropriate strategy to help reduce the severity and duration of pain and the number of pills used by females with primary dysmenorrhea.