Practicing Diaphragmatic Breathing Reduces Menstrual Symptoms Both During In-Person and Synchronous Online Teaching

Abstract

Painful menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhea) affect the physical and mental well-being of millions of women, generally interfering with workplace productivity, educational learning experiences, and overall quality of life. This report describes the relationship between diaphragmatic breathing and the reduction of dysmenorrhea symptoms among students enrolled in a university stress-management program. Forty-nine women participated in an intervention group while 26 women participated in a comparison group. The intervention group spent 30 min practicing daily breathing and relaxation exercises over five weeks. The comparison group had no exposure to specific interventions. Analysis suggests significant improvements in menstrual symptoms in the intervention group compared to the comparison group (p = 0.0008, after age adjustment). There was no difference in outcomes between in-person and online instruction. The observations suggest that practicing 30 min per day of specific breathing and relaxation techniques are scalable for groups beyond students. Despite limitations, such as the lack of direct comparisons with pharmacological interventions (e.g. pain medications), the observations support diaphragmatic breathing as a non-pharmacological self-care method for dysmenorrhea, with recommendations for incorporating self-care practices that foster effective menstrual management and reduce stigma into everyday health education for girls and young women everywhere.

Keywords: Breathing; Dysmenorrhea; Menstrual cramps; Respiration; Women’s health.