TOPICAL ‘ARQ ‘AJĪB FOR PRIMARY DYSMENORRHOEA: RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF OUTPATIENT CASE RECORDS

Objective: Primary dysmenorrhoea (PD) is a prevalent disease, which is marked by menstrual pain without pathology in the pelvis. ‘Arq ‘Ajīb is a classical Unani formulation traditionally used for pain relief. This retrospective study aims to evaluate the immediate change in menstrual pain following the topical application of ‘Arq ‘Ajīb in women with PD, based on an analysis of previously recorded clinical data. Methods: This retrospective analysis of outpatient records at RRIUM, New Delhi (June–August 2025) identified 33 women with PD and baseline pain scores of 6–9 on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) who received a single lower-abdominal topical ‘Arq ‘Ajīb treatment on Day 1 of menstruation. Eighteen (18) records were in the inclusion criteria. The intensity of pain was assessed using a 0–10 VAS prior to and following the intervention. Pre-post differences were analyzed by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, whereas Pearson and Spearman coefficients were employed to study correlations. Results: The average VAS score was reduced to 3.06 ± 0.87 (median 3.0) out of the 7.58 ± 0.94 (median 7.5) demonstrating a reduction of 4.52 points on average (59.7%; p < 0.001). All participants reported improvements. Conclusion: In this small retrospective observational analysis of outpatient case records, a single lower-abdominal topical session of ‘Arq ‘Ajīb was associated with rapid reductions in PD pain on Day 1 of menstruation. These preliminary findings are exploratory and support further evaluation of topical ‘Arq ‘Ajīb in larger, prospective, well-designed, controlled studies.