Kagawa University, Kagawa Prefectural University of Health Sciences and Unicharm Co., Ltd. have announced the effects of sanitary napkins with "warm feeling technology" developed for women suffering from menstrual pain on menstrual pain and psychological burden. It was jointly verified and presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Psychosomatic Medicine.
While women are advancing into society, there are situations in which they are not able to take appropriate measures for their physical and mental disorders due to menstruation.In Japan, 45.9% of female workers feel that menstruation is painful, and it is known that menstrual pain is highly distressed *, but there are not many ways to deal with menstrual pain.
Unicharm has developed a sanitary napkin with "warmth technology" as one of the solutions to this situation.The pad of the sanitary napkin is extended so as to cover the lower abdomen, and a mugwort-like scent and a warming agent are applied to that part. I aimed at that.
When Kagawa University, Kagawa Prefectural University of Health Sciences and Unicharm verified the effect of use on healthy prenatal women aged 20 to 34 who are suffering from menstrual pain, people who used general napkins ( Compared to 41 people), those who used sanitary napkins that had undergone "warm feeling technology" (42 people) had a decrease in the number of people taking painkillers and the number of times they took them on the day of the test.In terms of the degree of menstrual pain relief for those who did not take painkillers, 74% of those who used napkins with "warm feeling technology" answered that "menstrual pain became very light / lighter".
In addition, those who used sanitary napkins with "warm feeling technology" realized that their bodies were warm.There are individual differences in how warmth is felt, and menstrual pain VAS (a method for evaluating subjective values of verified subjects) is more common among those who feel warmth "just right" than those who feel strong. There was a high percentage of people who felt "relaxed and relieved" psychologically, with significant improvement.
From this result, it is shown that the "warm feeling technology" installed in the napkin may relieve menstrual pain, and by providing just the right warm feeling, the feelings of women during menstruation. It turned out that there is a possibility that can be changed positively.
Professor Atsuko Shioda of Kagawa University School of Medicine said, "Physiological pain is a wonderful disease called dysmenorrhea.The cause of pain is a substance called prostaglandin, which is mainly contained in the endometrium.It contracts the muscles of the uterus and also the blood vessels that feed the uterus, resulting in poor blood flow and pain.Stress and anxiety also excite the sympathetic nerves and impair blood flow.The warmth technology installed in the napkin is thought to improve the blood flow in the uterus by activating the parasympathetic nerves by making the warmth and scent feel "comfortable" and raising the skin temperature by the axon reflex.I was happy to see the verification results that the menstrual cramps were actually alleviated. "
In addition, Professor Shioda says that for women suffering from menstrual cramps, there are gynecological consultations and treatments such as painkillers and low-dose pills, but in Chinese medicine, the balance of mind and body is adjusted by relieving coldness and stress. "I am convinced that researching and developing such a napkin that can properly care for menstrual pain will be a strong ally for modern women who cannot easily rest according to the rhythm of their body. I am. I have high expectations.
In addition, products applying this technology have been on sale in China since November 2020, and users said, "It's completely different from Cairo. I was worried about getting cold in my stomach, so I was saved." Even when my period is heavy, I can easily warm my stomach, and I feel that my pain has eased a little. "
* Based on the Gender Equality Survey Report (implemented in 2007) on the health and working conditions of female workers and employment of the Women's Department of the National Union of Labor Unions.
