Everything feels like crap, your boobs are sore and swollen, you feel bloated and uncomfortable in your belly, and you're feeling uninspired about your life. You know your period must be coming soon, tomorrow? In ten days? It seems to follow its own secret schedule.
While this may not be the experience of a normally operating menstrual cycle, it is a very common experience for many who are menstruating.
If it isn't the symptoms above, it may be that you hardly get a period at all, light, scanty blood flow, maybe it's brown, maybe it's clotted. Maybe it's so painful that you spend the first day curled up on the floor clutching a hot water bottle to your belly to take a small edge off of sharp contractions.
All of these experiences are alerts from our body that something isn't quite right behind the scenes. A variation of these symptoms can manifest alongside Western Diagnoses such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), Endometriosis, Adenomyosis, and many others. They may give you terms like dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, metrorrhagia or oligomenorrhea and suggest anything from pain killers to birth control pills or even surgical procedures like laparoscopy or even hysterectomy. These terms and suggestions can sometimes be helpful or a relief, but for others they are scary and bring anxiety. Sometimes though, you will go through series of blood tests, ultrasounds and other means of poking and prodding only to be told there is nothing really wrong and that it's normal to experience pain etc.
It is very important to get appropriate check-ups to rule out any abnormal cell growth or something that could and should be addressed with Western medical procedures, but other than those extreme cases there is much that can be done for irregular and painful periods that can improve your menstrual health as well as the rest of your physical and mental wellbeing, rather than just bandaid symptoms. Let's look at a few things you can do and that I recommend to patients:
1. Warm up your Uterus!
Warming up internal organs may sound a bit strange, or it may intuitively make a lot of sense to you. If you find that your lower abdomen feels painful and contracted and you often want to hold your hands over your belly and use heat packs during your period, you may have a bit of what we call 'cold in the Uterus' in Chinese Medicine.
If this is you, don't wait until your period is painful to start warming things up. There are some things you can do all cycle long, especially in the weeks leading up to a bleed.
-Keep it covered: Whether it's summer or winter, add some warmth and protection to your uterus and ovaries by keeping your midriff warm and out of wind. Wear a shirt you can tuck in, avoid crop tops, and even wrap an extra layer like a scarf or second undershirt around the area.
-Don't sit on cold or damp surfaces: If you've gone swimming, don't sit around in your damp swimwear afterwards, just pop on a dry pair of undies or pants and warm it up. Take a break from swimming in super cold water as well while you're improving things. Don't sit on freezing cold concrete floors or benches either if you can help it. Carry a scarf you can sit on if need be.
-Use heat packs: Don't wait until your period, get warm early. If you feel slightly PMS symptoms you can start using a heat pack on your lower abdomen (including low back) every night. If it's winter, this is extra important! Just be careful not to burn your skin.
2. Nourish your body so it can do it's job!
If your body is trying to heal its menstruation, now is not the time for extreme dieting. It's difficult right now to get away from the bombardment of social media articles and influencers talking about fasting, juice cleanses, all raw diets, zero carb diets etc. etc.
If you're having irregular menstruation, no or scanty periods, long cycles, short cycles, PCOS, endo, etc. then it's very important to feed your body what it needs to function without stress so it can produce hormones, repair tissues, and do its job.
It can be really challenging to give up extreme dieting methods, especially if we are doing it to improve other concerns we're having with our health. It's helpful to remember that our uterus and menstruation system isn't separate to the rest of our body and our hormones influence everything from how we sleep, weight gain and loss, mental health, skin and acne, hair growth and many many other things. If we are nourishing our body in such a way that we can regulate our periods, then we are going to improve so many other aspects as well.
-Eat breakfast: Please eat breakfast. There is a time and place for intermittent fasting, absolutely. Now is likely not it. While there can be several benefits to short term food breaks, it is considered a stressor in our body. The more stressors we have, the less our body feels safe to be a menstruating, fertile human being. Even if you aren't planning on conceiving, a healthy body goes hand in hand with fertility. For now, try eating a good meal with protein, fat, and carbs in the morning to give your nervous system a chance to relax and to give your body enough nutrients to build and shed a healthy uterine lining.
-Eat warm foods: Aside from sitting in your cold, damp swimmers or wearing crop tops in winter, your internal landscape can get cold directly from eating cold foods. Cold foods can include food straight out of the fridge, or even just raw foods like smoothies, juices, or raw fruit and veg. Try to give the cold foods a break for a little while to see how you feel, or at least have mostly warm, cooked meals.
In Chinese Medicine, the Spleen and Stomach take in food and drinks and warm them up to break them down and extract nutrients. This is what goes into building healthy blood and tissues that is needed for menstruation, as well as providing enough energy so you aren't wiped out with every period. Give your digestive system foods that are easy to use such as stews, soups, congees, porridge and warm drinks. You can even add warming spices such as ginger, cinnamon, cardamom to your meals.
3. Get some Chinese Herbs and acupuncture!
I will absolutely recommend Chinese Herbs and acupuncture for anyone experiencing menstrual irregularity and period pain. While Western medicine is very important for extreme situations, it is lacking in primary measures to address period issues. Before going straight to surgery or hormone therapy (unless absolutely indicated), there is so much that Chinese Medicine can offer. Gynaecological issues is where Chinese Medicine shines!
-Acupuncture: Your acupuncturist will use needles to help move stagnant Qi and blood that is not flowing smoothly and causing pain, cramping, and contractions during your cycle. Sometimes blocked up Qi and Blood can also cause the period to be delayed or scanty, and sometimes it can cause the blood to get backed up and overflow out of the channels, leading to very heavy or early periods.
-Moxibustion and heat: Your practitioner can also help warm the uterus with a chinese herb called moxa. This can be burned near your Uterus to penetrate heat deep into your tissues, speeding up the heating process. They can also send you home with your own moxa if necessary so you can continue at home. You'll likely have your treatments under a heat lamp or infrared lamp to warm up the Uterus while you get acupuncture.
-Chinese Herbs: Chinese Medicine has several classical formulas that are designed at warming the uterus, moving blood and qi, stopping pain, and regulating menstruation. Your practitioner will select a formula that is appropriate for you rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Get in touch with a local acupuncturist to see how they can help. If you're in Fairfield, Northcote, North Fitzroy, Fitzroy, Thornbury etc., you can get in touch with me to discuss how I can help.
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