Neurotechnology research has been around for 30+ years. Yet, neuroscientists only started really investigating its potential for women's health in the last five. Our team will always bring you the most up to date research and clinical findings. Here is a selection of some that opened our minds:

• R Pegado et al., Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Treatment of Primary Dysmenorrhea: Preliminary Results of a Randomized Sham-Controlled Trial, Pain Medicine (2020)
• L Dutra et al., Modulating Anxiety and Functional Capacity with Anodal tDCS Over the Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Primary Dysmenorrhea, International Journal of Women's Health (2020).
• E Radyte et al., Modelling and Preliminary Clinical Validation of Home-based Menstrual Neuromodulation Therapy, Medrxiv (2024).
• S Mechsner et al., Transcranial direct current stimulation to reduce chronic pelvic pain in endometriosis: Phase II Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial, Pain Medicine (2023)
• M Bikson et al., Safety of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation: Evidence Based Update 2016, Brain Stimulation (2016)
• E Radyte et al., Development and testing of a novel IoT consumer tDCS device for the treatment of primary dysmenorrhea, Brain Stimulation (2023)
• E Baehr et al., Premenstrual dysphoric disorder and changes in frontal alpha asymmetry, International Journal of Psychophysiology (2004)
• H Eccles et al., The association between premenstrual dysphoric disorder and depression: A systematic review, Journal of Affective Disorders Reports (2023)
• L Stiernam et al., Emotion-induced brain activation across the menstrual cycle in individuals with premenstrual dysphoric disorder and associations to serum levels of progesterone-derived neurosteroids, Translational Psychiatry (2023)

Our clinical trials always build on years of research by leading neuroscientists, psychiatrists, pain specialists and clinicians, which you can review on our academic research page. In our double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial, WIND, we focused on 3 core metrics:

• Reduction of perceived pain, measured using a visual analog scale (score from  0-100) on the most painful day of the menstrual cycle (day 1 or day 2);
• Improvement in low mood, measured using the PANAS negative scale, which assesses negative affect/emotion;
• Improvement in functionality, or the ability to perform everyday tasks, measured using the 6-minute walking test.

We chose these metrics, because our users mentioned that it is the pain, mood and functionality symptoms that impact their wellbeing the most during PMS and menstruation.

We then recruited women with both menstrual pain and PMS symptoms, measured their symptoms for a baseline period, then measured their symptoms after using Nettle™ daily for 5 days prior to their next period, and then after a month, to see which effects persist due to neuroplasticity and which don’t. It’s also worth noting that 44% of participants had a diagnosis of PMDD, indicating severe mood symptoms.

Our study was able to show that, after a single month's use of Nettle™:

• 77% of users reported clinically significant pain relief, and the average pain symptoms reduced by 53%;
• 67% of users reported a clinically significant mood improvement, with average symptoms in the PMS period improving by 34%; and
• 50% of users reported a clinical significant improvement in their average functionality, or fitness status, which was improved by 11%.

Read more about our clinical trials results here.

Nettle™ is regulated and approved as a Class IIa medical device for the alleviation of pain and mood symptoms associated with the menstrual cycle in the United Kingdom and the European Union. Samphire Neuroscience is approved as its legal manufacturer with quality management procedures certified in compliance with ISO 13485 standards.