ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pain Res.
Sec. Non-Pharmacological Treatment of Pain
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpain.2025.1614153
This article is part of the Research TopicNon-biomedical Perspectives on Pain and its Prevention and Management – Volume IIView all 5 articles
Whole-body cryostimulation exposures effectively alleviates menstrual-related pain and associated sleep disturbances in young women: a randomized controlled trial
Provisionally accepted
Quentin Bretonneau
CORALIE ARC*
Benoit Michel DUGUE
Olivier Dupuy
Nathalie Delpech
Carina Enea
Laurent BOSQUET- Laboratoire Mobilité, Vieillissement et Exercice (MOVE) - EA 6314, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, Poitou-Charentes, France
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Menstrual-related pain and sleep disturbances are widespread in women experiencing premenstrual syndrome and primary dysmenorrhea. Such disturbances could be alleviated through repeated whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) sessions. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the effect of menstrual-related pain on sleep parameters, and the impact of WBC exposures on pain and sleep. Materials and methods. Pain and sleep were evaluated for two 5-day periods under different conditions (control vs WBC), randomly assigned across two consecutive menstrual cycles. Measurements began when the first pain/symptom indicating the onset of the menstrual phase was experienced. Pain was rated using a scale, while sleep was assessed using accelerometers and questionnaires. Throughout the 5-day WBC exposure, women underwent 3-minute exposure to intense ventilated cold air each evening. After data collection, participants were categorized into high (HP) or low/no pain (LP) groups based on control pain scores. Results. Twenty-nine naturally menstruating women were assessed. Perceived sleep quality was lower in the HP group compared to the LP group during the control condition (Spiegel score: 20.1±2.3 vs 22.3±1.9, respectively; Cohen's d=1.1). Across both groups, perceived sleep quality improved with the number of WBC exposures (night1: 19.5±3.2 vs night5: 23.5±3.8; Hedge's g=1.10). In the HP group, pain was reduced in the WBC condition compared to the control condition. Changes in pain and perceived sleep quality following WBC were correlated (r=-0.86). Discussion. Women experiencing higher menstrual-related pain reported poorer perceived sleep quality. Their pain was reduced by WBC exposures. This improvement was highly associated with the enhancement in sleep quality.
Keywords: Menstrual Cycle, Pain, sleep quality, Whole-body cryostimulation, Well-being
Received: 18 Apr 2025; Accepted: 30 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bretonneau, ARC, DUGUE, Dupuy, Delpech, Enea and BOSQUET. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: CORALIE ARC, Laboratoire Mobilité, Vieillissement et Exercice (MOVE) - EA 6314, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, 86000, Poitou-Charentes, France
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