Limitations
We are well aware of the limitations of the present
study. Firstly, the results of this study cannot be generalized
due to a lack of random assignment of participants;
furthermore, individuals with chronic and systemic diseases
cannot use the heat patch. Secondly, the subjects were
not blinded to the treatments, because fully masking the
treatments (heat application, analgesic, and control) was
impossible owing to the present study’s design. Thirdly,
although we planned to establish a placebo group in the
study, the fact that the low-dose heat patches are manufactured
abroad makes it impossible to manufacture
placebo patches within our country for use in our study.
Finally, we sampled only the university students and they
may be different from the level of education different female
group. Future research should be conducted with
placebo group and level of education different women.