The Effect of Cinnamon on Cyclical Breast Pain

Background Cyclic mastalgia (breast pain) is one of the most common reasons for referral of women of childbearing age to physicians. Due to the increasing popularity of herbal medicines among women, this study investigates the effect of cinnamon on cyclical breast pain. Objectives The aim of this study is to determine the effect of cinnamon on cyclical breast pain. Methods This was a randomized clinical trial in which 74 women with cyclical breast pain and who met the eligibility criteria were randomly divided into intervention and control groups, based on the four and six random block sampling method. Cinnamon was given to the intervention group and a placebo was given to the control group. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS (statistical package for social science) statistical software (version 14). Chi-square, repeated measures ANOVA (analysis of variance), and independent and paired-t tests were performed. Results The mean (SD) values of the patients in the intervention group and the control group were 9.08 (3.56) and 9.45 (2.55), respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups in the mean scores of pain at the end of the first and second months (P < 0.001 and P = 0.02), meaning the pain intensity at the end of the first and second months were significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group. The end result of this study showed improvement in both the intervention and control groups: 54.1% and 2.7%, respectively. Also, an intra-group comparison with ANOVA with repeated measures, the pain mean at the three time periods showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.001 and P = 0.02). Conclusions Cinnamon can be effective in reducing the intensity of cyclical breast pain in women.