Natural Ways To Help Period Cramps

Enjoy Herbal Teas To Relieve Inflammation And Muscle Spasms

15 Min Period Yoga for Menstrual Cramps Relief (All Levels Yoga)

Certain types of herbal tea have anti-inflammatory properties and antispasmodic compounds that can reduce the muscle spasms in the uterus that cause cramping. Drinking chamomile, fennel or ginger tea is an easy, natural way to relieve menstrual cramps. Plus, these herbal teas can have other benefits, like stress relief and helping with insomnia.

Chinese Herbs For Menstrual Cramps

Among the most common Chinese herbal remedies used to treat menstrual cramps are:

  • Dang Gui Shao-Yao San, which contains angelica root and red peony root
  • Xiao Yao San, which contains licorice root, ginger root, and white peony root
  • Jia Wei Xiao Yao San, which contains the same ingredients as Xiao Yao San plus peony root bark and gardenia fruit

Switch Up Your Sleeping Position

Anecdotal reports say that the fetal position is the best sleeping position for menstrual cramps. This could be because the position doesnt place weight on your abdomen or lower back which is where period pain is typically felt.

There isnt any research into how your sleeping position can affect period pain, but that doesnt mean it isnt worth giving a try.

Although period cramps are very common, severe pain isnt normal. Youll want to make an appointment to see a doctor if you:

  • have period cramps so painful that you cant go about your daily activities
  • started having severe menstrual cramps at or after age 25

Extreme pain before or during your period can be a sign of a more serious health condition that needs treatment, such as:

Also Check: Incubation Period Of Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Yoga Helps Improve Pain Levels Enhances General Well

Research suggests that yoga does benefit women with endometriosis. Brazilian researchers randomly divided 40 women with the condition into two groups: those practicing hatha yoga and those going about their regular lives. For two months, the yoga group attended two 90-minute classes each week.

At the end of the study when the two groups were compared, the women doing the yoga reported significantly less daily pain, as well as an improved sense of well-being, according to results published in January 2017 in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

RELATED: Want to Ease Endometriosis Pain? Dont Forget to Address Stress Levels

Rev Up Your Libido And Make Sex Fun Again

6 Natural Remedies For Menstrual Cramps

Menstruation is about as taboo as womens sexuality, but its as important.

I strongly believe normalizing menstruation is a feminist issue. Despite all the social and professional advancement women have made, talking about menstruation is still taboo, says Negron.

Sara Gottfried, MD, speaks of the general feeling of meh toward sex as having a root cause in hormones. Hormones are always in a balance within the body, so when one increases, it means its taking up space of another.

Estrogen dominance and high testosterone can rob you of libido. Cortisol, the main stress hormone can rob you of sex hormones.

Phase Sex tips
Menstrual Cramping? Over 3,500 women who took our survey said orgasms relieve their cramps. But the choice is yours during this restful week. Listen to your body, eat according to cycle-syncing nutrition, and gear up for the month ahead.
Follicular Your sex drive is naturally low, which means youll want to increase massaging and touching, rather than penetration. Creative foreplay is key.
Ovulatory During this phase, your estrogen and testosterone are peaking, which makes you most interested in sex . Spontaneity can spice things up during this week and keep things exciting and frisky.
Luteal In the bedroom, youll need a bit more stimulation to climax. So try out sex toys and fun, brand-new positions.

In combination with exercising and eating right in time with your cycle, work with your body to fight stress and get creative with sex.

Also Check: What Doctor Should I See For Irregular Periods

Natural Remedies To Reduce Period Pain

Want to know how to reduce period pain naturally? Take a look at our recommendations.

Women are blessed and cursed with periods every month. Regular periods are a sign of good health, but periods come hand-in-hand with a variety of uncomfortable side effects: skin breakouts, cravings, hormonal imbalances, bloating and last but not least, dysmenorrhea aka period cramps.

90% of younger women experience dysmenorrhea at some point, with cramps ranging from mild to severe. Some period cramps can be so crippling that it becomes impossible to do daily tasks. In fact, more than half of the women who took part in a poll conducted by the BBC in 2016 said that their period interferes with their job. On top of that, only 27% of them felt comfortable enough to tell their boss about the problem.

We all know that there is still a taboo around periods from hiding your tampons and rushing to the bathroom, to sitting at your desk and suffering in silence dreaming of 5 oclock when you can rush home to bed and curl up with your hot water bottle. But until then we rely on painkillers, and a couple of painkillers throughout one week of each month of the year doesnt sound like much until you consider that the average woman spends 2,280 days on her period throughout her lifetime. Thats an awful lot of painkillers!

Water

Heat pad

Green Veg

Cinnamon

Exercise

Herbal Tea

Vitamins

Snacks

Alcohol

Spicy food

Period Cramps Are A Part And Parcel Of Menstruation But That Doesnt Mean You Have To Live With The Pain Especially When Youve Got These Home Remedies On Your Side

Listen to this article

Most women experience a throbbing pain in their lower abdomen while on their period. These are what we call menstrual cramps or period cramps. There are a number of reasons why women go through this pain every month, including higher levels of prostaglandins, uterine fibroids or endometriosis.

But to fix the cause, it is important to reduce the pain first. Here are 7 ways to overcome severe period cramps.

1. Well balanced diet

If you suffer from menstrual cramps far too often, then it is time to make a few changes in your diet. A vegetarian low-fat diet will not only help you to boost your metabolism but also relieve cramps noticeably. Try to replace saturated animal fats with unsaturated plant-fats like nuts, olive oil, and vegetable oils.

Also, read: These 7 Ayurvedic herbs will work like magic to soothe your period cramps

2. Herbal peppermint tea

Herbal teas with peppermint oil help to reduce the pain as the herbs in them act the same as the oestrogen hormone. If you suffer from a blood pressure problem, then it is always advisable to check with your doctor first. Vitamin and oil supplements

According to a report, if you consume fish oil and vitamin B1 supplements from your teen years, you are less likely to suffer from period cramps. Try to add natural sources of these nutrients in your diet like omega-3 fatty acid enriched fishes, eggs, seeds, milk, and oats.

3. Essential oil massage
4. Heat compress
6. Acupuncture therapy

Recommended Reading: State Farm Auto Insurance Grace Period

How Period Pain Affects Education

Many young women experience menstrual symptoms. Almost three quarters report regular period pain, around half report fatigue, and more than one third report emotional changes such as mood swings. Studies show these menstrual symptoms can cause women to miss work or school and some previous studies in teenagers show it may potentially impact academic performance.

We wanted to understand how menstrual symptoms might be affecting young women in Australia with regard to their education, and how they manage these.

We asked young women about how often they got period pain and other menstrual symptoms, how it impacted their attendance or classroom performance, and explored how useful they found the sexual and reproductive education they had previously received.

In our survey, nine out of ten young women reported having had period pain in the past three months, and half reported pain every month. This is similar to previous findings in teenagers in Australia.

Read more:Period pain is impacting women at school, uni and work. Lets be open about it

Their pain scores, which tended to be moderate to severe for most, didnt change as they got older.

More than one-third of young women said they missed at least one class in the past three months due to their menstrual symptoms. This was almost identical no matter if they were at school or at university.

Read Also: Is It Normal To Miss Your Period For 4 Months

How To Get Rid Of Period Cramps Naturally

How to Relieve Period Cramp Pain Naturally

A lot of women have their own ways of dealing with tough menstruation cycles and PMS symptoms, from tips handed down by mom to turning to medications. And if those work for you awesome!

But if youre looking for some new, natural ways to combat that painful time of the month, then this is the list for you. From essential oils and Epsom salts to fish oil and your favorite tunes, these methods for how to get rid of period cramps will help ease period pain so you can live your best life all month long.

1. Try acupuncture.

When youre in pain, the idea of getting pricked by needles probably doesnt sound too appealing. But acupuncture, a type of Traditional Chinese Medicine, has been used for more than 2,000 years to treat chronic pain and can be especially effective during a hard-to-handle menstrual cycle. In fact, one small study out of Australia and New Zealand found that acupuncture treatment can ease period pain, including secondary symptoms like headaches and nausea, in women.

The pilot study of women ages 18 to 45 years old had them undergoing one of four types of manual or electro-acupuncture treatments over three menstrual cycles. Half of the women experienced at least a 50 percent reduction in the severity of their symptoms over three months of being treated with acupuncture and reported they were able to use fewer painkillers to treat pain.

2. Take a hot bath with Epsom salts.

3. Get a dose of extra-virgin olive oil.

4. Try fish oil supplements.

5. Get more sleep.

Read Also: How To Lighten Your Period Flow

Adequate Balance Of Magnesium Calcium & Potassium

Potassium is the most important ingredient in cranberries. It assists the body in retaining less water and decreases the bloating that is associated with PMS.

It also aids in preventing muscle cramps by acting in ensuring the effective contraction of muscles.

Manganese is the second vitamin found in cranberry juices that helps women to avoid signs of PMS. Studies have shown that magnesium levels in women who suffer from PMS are lower than in people who dont suffer from the condition.

Thus, experts have asserted the effectiveness of magnesium supplements to prevent PMS and treatment strategies.

Manganese can also help ease some of the fatigue experienced by women experiencing periods.

Based on an examination of the magnesiums impact on PMS youll have to consume cranberries every two months before you notice any difference. In order to enhance the results that are based on well-designed clinical trials are needed.

Exercise To Get Rid Of Menstrual Pain

Exercising can help to relieve pain. When you exercise, your body releases endorphin which are known to play a great role in pain management possessing morphine-like effects.

Also, exercising keeps your body active and allows for the proper flow of blood in the body. Getting involved in various exercises such as walking, swimming, running and others can help to keep your body active at all time.

Medical research has found sport women to have less pain or menstrual cramps in relation to other women. Therefore, exercising is a great way to relieve yourself of that pain.

Don’t Miss: What Are Signs Of Your Period

Period Pain And Fertility

Period pain thats part of your normal menstrual cycle will not affect your fertility. However, if the cause is a medical condition, this may affect your fertility.

For example, endometriosis and pelvic inflammatory disease can cause scarring and a build-up of tissue in your fallopian tubes, making it harder for sperm to reach and fertilise an egg.

If You Have A Dull Constant Pain

MENSTRUAL CRAMPS RELIEF Get fast relief from menstrual cramps with ...

It might be: pelvic inflammatory disorder . PID is characterized by constant pain outside of your menstrual cycle that comes with vaginal discharge, says Masterson. The condition is a serious infection of the uterus, ovaries, and/or fallopian tubes often caused by untreated STDs like chlamydia or gonorrhea.

What to do: Get to your doctor, because you need a swab culture to check for bacteria or an infection, says Masterson. PID is totally curable with antibiotics, but if left untreated for too long, scar tissue could form in your reproductive tract and mess with your fertility.

Recommended Reading: What Happens If A Girl Misses Her Period

You May Like: How To Count Safe Days After Periods

Improving Your Diet Will Help Alleviate Period Cramps

Research has shown that reducing fat and increasing vegetables in your diet may help ease monthly cramps. A low-fat diet actually decreases overall levels of inflammation in the body, says Aldo Palmieri MD, an ob-gyn at UCLA Health and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine in Los Angeles. A low-fat, vegetarian diet not only helps your health generally, says Dr. Palmieri, but it can have an indirect yet noticeable effect on menstrual cramps, too.

Trying to achieve a healthier diet? To start, swap out less healthy fats like the saturated fats found in animal products, and choose healthier ones like unsaturated fats found in olive oil, suggests the American Heart Association . And if youre having dairy, pick low-fat or fat-free products. Overall, try to get 25 to 35 percent of your total daily calories from healthier fats found in fish, nuts, and vegetable oils, the AHA suggests. A balanced plate is essential examples can be found at the healthy eating plate site from Harvard University in Boston.

A Sprinkle Of Cinnamon

In a study of young women, those who took capsules containing 420 mg 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.

Read Also: Last Menstrual Period Calculate Due Date

Can Pelvic Inflammatory Disease Cause Menstrual Cramps

Pelvic inflammatory disease is an infection of the female reproductive tract that is most commonly caused by untreated sexually transmitted infections. Left untreated, PID can cause inflammation, scarring, painful menstrual cramps, and infertility.

most often occurs because sexually transmitted infections that cause PID can create scar tissue and adhesions in the pelvic region. During menstruation, hormones influence the uterus and surrounding structures including the scar tissue and adhesions which can increase inflammation, bleeding, and pain,” says Shilpi Agarwal, MD, a board-certified family medicine and integrative physician in Washington, DC, and a columnist for Everyday Health. If caught early, PID can be treated with antibiotics, but antibiotics wont undo any structural damage caused by the infection. Practice safe sex, and get tested frequently for any sexually transmitted infections, especially if you have severe period pain, Dr. Agarwal advises.

Can I Go Upside Down Or Do An Inversion On My Period

HOW TO Get Rid of Period Cramps FAST & NATURALLY

It depends, according to Agénor.

Inversions can actually help improve blood flow throughout the body and to the uterus. However, if someone is already experiencing pain or instability in the low back and pelvis, inversions are not recommended.

A exercise is legs up against the wall with a pillow underneath the low back, Agénor says. If thats still too much, lying on your back with a bolster propped up underneath your legs can be an even gentler alternative.

Traditional yogic wisdom recommends against inversions during your period, because it reverses the bodys downward flow of expelling uterine tissue from the body.

Still, scientific research doesnt indicate that inversions during your period are harmful.

You May Like: Can You Be Pregnant After Your Period

Food And Drink Modifications

What you put into your body impacts how it feels on any given day, but that’s particularly true before your period. Caffeine, meat, sugar and salt can all make menstrual cramps worse.

Fortunately, if you’re looking for ways to stop period cramps, your diet can actually be an asset. Getting more omega-3 fatty acids can help your body reduce inflammation, soothing your symptoms.

Why Do Women Get Period Cramps

Females of menstruating age will experience a period approximately each month.

During this time, the ovaries release the female hormones oestrogen and progesterone. These send a chemical message to the brain, which triggers an egg to release.

The uterus lining also receives instructions from these hormones – to build up and become thicker.

This tissue is there for the embryo to implant to, should the egg become fertilised and the woman become pregnant.2

The muscular wall of the uterus sheds its lining through a series of contractions, which encourage the lining to become loose and expel. This happens involuntary we are not able to control this process.

Unsurprisingly, these muscular contractions are what causes the cramping.

The cramping also causes a temporary restriction to the blood flow to the walls of the uterus.

This triggers the release of biochemicals which contribute to the number of muscle contractions.3

Also Check: No Period On Patch Free Week

Things That May Help With Period Cramps

Dealing with menstrual cramps every month can be as frustrating as it is painful. The good news is there are 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.

Related Posts

Popular Articles