PERIOD RELIEF Hi-tech patch could end painful periods for millions of women
Gemma Mullin, Digital Health Reporter
13 Aug 2019, 10:13Updated: 13 Aug 2019, 10:20
MILLIONS of women suffer with the monthly misery of period pains.
But experts say that could be a thing of the past after developing a hi-tech patch to ease the agony of menstruation.
Experts say they have come up with a patch that women can wear to beat period pain
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Experts say they have come up with a patch that women can wear to beat period painCredit: Getty - Contributor
The wafer-thin patch, known as Allay, is worn on the stomach and generates 1,000 pain-killing pulses per second.
Powered by batteries, it can be worn for 24 hours a day for five days before being taken off, charged up and used again.
It works by passing a small electric current through a wire loop in the patch which generates an undetectable magnetic field that pulses into the abdominal tissue.
The patch's US manufacturer, BioElectronics, claims this triggers the cells to pump out excess fluid, reduce bloating, pain and swelling.
It's been shown to slash pain levels by more than 70 per cent - and the NHS has even started setting up trials, the Daily Mail reports.
Common condition
Period pain, medically known as dysmenorrhoea, affects as many as nine in ten women.
It's caused by the muscular wall of the womb contracting to help the lining shed - which happens every month as part of a woman's period.
When the wall of the womb contracts, it compresses the blood vessels lining the womb and can temporarily cut off the blood and oxygen supply.
Without oxygen, the tissues in the womb release chemicals that trigger pain.
Sometimes dysmenorrhoea can be due to an underlying medical condition, including endometriosis, infections and fibroids.
Typically it's treated with over-the-counter pain relief or doctors can prescribe stronger, prescription drugs.
If the pain is being caused by endometriosis or fibroids, surgery can often be a solution.
On trial
Sixty women who suffer with dysmenorrhoea are taking part in a two-month trial of Allay at the University of Birmingham and Birmingham Women’s NHS Foundation Trust.
The manufacturer claims that unpublished research has shown that the patch can be effective, with pain levels falling by 31 per cent on the first day of us and by 63 per cent by the fifth day.
Overall, 77 per cent of the women had reduced pain levels compared with 14 per cent in the control group.
