They Ditch The Salty Foods And Booze
Grab the water cooler, ditch the salt, and lay off the booze: Aunt Flo is coming to town and shes thirsty. Thats right, staying hydrated during your time of the month can actually nip those cramps in the bud. The reason? When the cramps hit hard, its because the uterine muscles are contracting, and just like youre more likely to get a mid-run calf cramp if youre dehydrated, your uterus is more likely to cramp if you havent been hydrating properly, explains Shepard.
Thats why both she and Ghodsi decrease their caffeine and alcohol consumption a few days before their periods start. “I watch what I eat in the days leading up to my period. I cut the alcohol and salt, but up my water intake because the better hydrated I am, the less likely my cramps are to occur,” says Shepard. Similarly, Ghosdi says, “I cut my caffeine and alcohol consumption the few days before I’m supposed to get my period because they’re dehydrating.”
That means if you give into your pickle, fry, and potato chip cravings, or shotgun a beer to ease the lower-abs pain, youre actually dehydrating yourself, which can increase the amount and duration of the cramps, says Shepard. Her recommendation: Stick to healthy eats and non-alcoholic beverages from the day before your period until it ends.
This easy water bottle hack will help you stay properly hydrated every single day:
Yoga Position # : Pigeon Pose
The pigeon pose will help your hips feel more relaxed as they carry the stress of menstrual cramps. The pigeon pose will help stretch and relieve the pain felt in your hips.
First, position yourself in the upright sitting position. Bend your right knee, and extend your left leg behind you. Arch your back as you place your hands on your hips. A more intense stretch can be achieved if you reach your arms over your head and bring your hands together.
Position yourself on all fours. Bring your right knee forward towards your right wrist, and extend your right ankle so it is in line with your left hip. Slowly slide your leg back. For balance and depending on your flexibility, you may need to keep your hands positioned on the ground.
As your leg extends back, you will feel the stretching of your left hip and you may also feel stretching along your right side, but it shouldn’t be painful. If it is painful, you may need to modify the pose.
Hold this pose for several breaths before returning to the center and repeating the pose with your right leg outstretched behind you and your left knee bent. Repeat 5 to 10 times.
Use An Ordinary Motel Sized Bar Of Soap To Treat Leg Cramps
If you want to ask for the home remedies for leg cramps, I would like to recommend using an ordinary motel sized bar of soap in order to make leg cramps disappear. You just need to apply hypo-allergenic liquid soap onto the center of your cramp. This method on how to get rid of leg cramps sounds strange, does not it? However, it can work amazingly. The possible reason may be that when placed on the calf, soap will make a molecule possibly diffuse out of the soap gel as a result, it will provide you the significant relief. The acting molecule is able to diffuse in air.
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Drink Enough Water To Keep Your Body Hydrated
Nighttime cramps can be caused by dehydration. It means that you should drink enough water during your day in order to treat and prevent leg cramps at night. However, how much water should you take during the course of your day? According to the Mayo Clinic, women should drink 2.2 liters of water while men need 3 liters of water daily. You can know if you take enough water or not when you see the transparency of urine. Clear urine shows the signal of adequate hydration. On the other hand, yellowish urine shows less adequate hydration. If you want to keep your body hydrated, you should limit or avoid alcohol consumption. Drinking too much alcohol will encourage the fluid drainage and make the cramping condition get worse. Limiting alcohol consumption is the great way on how to keep your body hydrated and how to benefit your overall health.
What If Treating Myself Does Not Work
Remember that sometimes muscle cramps at night are a sign of significant disease. For example, kidney disease can result in electrolyte imbalance and the first sign may be muscles cramping up. Nerve damage, such as in spinal stenosis, artery blockages, such as in critical limb ischemia and severe chronic venous insufficiency are just several other examples of conditions that can lead to cramping at night. So, it probably makes sense to talk to your doctor if you are having cramps. It also makes sense to seek advice if the simple measure above did not help you quickly.
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How To Stop Period Cramps
Dealing with cramps every month can be as frustrating as it is painful. Luckily, there are a many remedies that might help you relieve period cramps. Its important to remember that these techniques wont always work, especially for chronic conditions, but they can offer relief for mild to moderate period pain.
What To Do If You Have Cramps In The Middle Of The Night
Walking and other physical activities help relieve discomfort as well as ease stress, which tends to make cramps worse. When your cramps are caused by endometriosis or uterine fibroids, your doctor might recommend a medicine to relieve symptoms. Surgery can also be an option to remove the fibroid or endometrial tissue thats causing you pain.
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They Pull Out The Heat
“When I’m on the go, I stick an adhesive heating pad or rub some tiger balm onto my lower abdomen so that I can keep on seeing patients, or rocking skinny jeans while I’m bleeding,” says , M.D., an ob-gyn with the Womens Group of Northwestern. That’s because applying heat to your abdomen can actually help the uterine muscles relax, which means less cramping, she explains.
But even making yourself a cup of hot herbal tea to drink in transit will help warm and relax you from the inside, says Sheppard, which is why she goes for chamomile that time of month. Stay away from hot cocoa or other sugary beverages, though, and stick to herbal teas, she suggests, because excess sugar intake can worsen cramps.
And if the cramps start at the end of your night, then try drawing yourself a hot and steamy bath. Or take a window-fogging, long shower and blast some tunes. It will have the same effect, says Levitt.
How To Help Period Cramps: Period Cramps Remedies For Pain Relief At Home
Most women seek to help period cramps and find relief from period pain at some point in their lives. Whilst all of our bodies are different, period pain is very common.
A normal part of the menstrual cycle, whether you find period cramps simply distracting or completely debilitating, our experts share their advice below on how to help period cramps at home. These include ways to ease the cramps as well as help some of the symptoms, like PMS natural remedies, home remedies for bloating or natural ways to get rid of a headache.
Usually, period cramps will feel like painful muscle cramps in the tummy, which can radiate to the lower back and thighs. However, sometimes the pain can be experienced in intense spasms. A YouGov survey revealed that around 40 percent of women go through intense period cramp during their menstrual cycle.
Each period will be different. Some may cause little to no discomfort, while others will be more painful. Arm yourself with the knowledge below on how to help period cramps so you can manage your pain more effectively each month.
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What Causes Muscle Cramps At Night
Night cramps are different than cramps that happen after strenuous physical activity. There is no one specific reason for muscle cramps at night. Sadly, it is not unusual not to find a reason. In some people deep sleep just triggers cramping. In fact, there are several options for leg pain at night in general. But, here are several problems that we know contribute to the cramping:
Choose The Right Pair Of Pants
Your time of the month is the best time to channel your inner Bridget Jones. Firstly, youll want to wear your comfiest underwear think Granny style large enough to cover any area that could see leaking added bonus if theyre frilly!
Secondly, make sure they fit you properly. If theyre too big, you allow for too much movement in your underwear and leaks are likely!
Thirdly, and trust us on this, wear another pair over the first. Not only will the outer pair hold the first pair in place, but this will provide an extra layer thatll absorb any blood before it gets to your sheets.
And lastly, your pyjama bottoms make all the difference. We recommend wearing PJ bottoms on the snug side for minimal underwear movement and maximum security.
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How To Handle Period Leaks
No matter how hard you try, sometimes leaking is going to happen. If after all this time your period still seeps through, its always good to know how to remove blood stains! Here are a few methods weve tried and tested to naturally get stains out:
- White vinegar: if youve got some hiding in the kitchen cupboards, use white vinegar on the patch before it dries up. Leave it to soak for 5 10 mins while blotting until its lifted and wash in cold water
- Salt and water: Using more kitchen staples, creating a paste with salt and water can be effective when applied onto the blood
- Baking soda and water: If the stain has dried up, baking soda and water can be used to remove blood stains too. Apply the paste for at least half an hour until it has disappeared
If youve tried all possible solutions and the stain is still being stubborn, not all hope is lost! Why not save stained underwear for when youre next on your period? Leaking might happen again and is underwear ruined if it already has been before?
Plants That Relieve Pain
Herbal Treatment
Health practitioners may prescribe herbs to treat a woman’s menstrual cramps. Black cohosh, cramp bark, turmeric, and chasteberry are a few herbs that have been used. They are effective for pain relief and decreasing inflammation. Chasteberry has been used extensively in Europe for the treatment of irregular menstrual cycles, cyclical breast discomfort, premenstrual syndrome , and dysfunctional uterine bleeding. Make sure your doctor knows about all of your medical conditions, medications, and supplements because herbs are not appropriate for every woman. Herbs may interfere with the action of some medications or decrease their effectiveness.
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A Sprinkle Of Cinnamon
In a study of young women, those who took capsules containing 420 milligrams of cinnamon 3 times a day for the first 3 days of their menstrual cycle had less menstrual bleeding, less pain, and reductions in nausea and frequency of vomiting compared to those who took a placebo. The women didn’t report any side effects associated with taking cinnamon pills. Try a sprinkle of cinnamon on your cereal or cup of hot cocoa. It can’t hurt and it might help your cramps and other period symptoms.
Menstrual Cramps Last Too Long
Its normal for the bleeding during menstruation to last anywhere from two to seven days. Its not normal, however, to have bad period cramps that entire time.
Two or three days of menstrual discomfort is considered to be normal.
Cramps may start the day of or day just before the bleeding starts, but they should not continue all the way until the end of your period. They certainly shouldnt still be there after your period ends.
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Natural Home Remedies For Leg Cramps At Night
Leg cramps which are also called night cramps can happen to anybody during the course of the night although the elderly and pregnant women are the most susceptible to this problem. Leg cramps or night cramps can be caused by many reasons. Because it can interfere with the sleep and make the patients uncomfortable and painful, many people want to find the relief. Treatments for leg cramps may include medical care or natural alternative solutions. However, in this article, I would like to focus only on the natural home remedies for leg cramps at night that help you to ease pain and discomfort.
The Best Yoga Poses For Menstrual Cramps
Experiencing painful menstrual cramps can leave you desperate for a solution. Doing something physical, such as yoga, may feel like the last thing you want to do.
However, some yoga positions are so effective at relieving menstrual pain that once you attempt them, they will probably become a part of your pain management routine!
The providers at Moreland OB-GYN encourage patients to give yoga a try. Exercise, in general, is a great way to ease the pain caused by your periodand yoga is one of the best options!
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Adopt A Balanced Diet
You probably want to treat yourself when you suffer from menstrual cramps, which is understandable! However, you should try to avoid bad fatsand foods that are too salty and greasy,which can make your pain even worse. Instead, choose fruits and vegetables, especially those rich in magnesium, potassium, calcium and vitamin E.
And for those who like to drink coffee, or other caffeinated beverages, we advise against these habits during your period! They have the unfortunate tendency to worsen period cramps. ee it as an opportunity to take a little break that is beneficial for your metabolism!
Can Hot Water Reduce Period Pain And How Does Heat Help
Heat works by relaxing the muscles of the womb, increasing blood flow and circulation, which can ease cramps, says Dr Shree.
Hot water can help relax muscles.
Experts say hot water bottles and warm baths are key. Dont underestimate the benefits of continuous low-level heat from a hot water bottle, heat pads or a warm bath, says Dr Shree. This can relieve pain locally by relaxing your muscles, which causes period cramps, but make sure you apply for a significant amount of time.
Research carried out by scientists from University College London found that placing something warm on the skin can alleviate abdominal pain such as that caused by cystitis or menstrual cramps in a similar way to painkillers for up to an hour. This is because heat helps to block pain messages to the brain.
Hot water bottles can help reduce discomfort.
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