Many women experience painful abdominal cramps during menstruation. The muscles of the uterus and the abdominal muscles around the uterus contract to push out the menstrual fluid. It is believed that the muscle contractions of the uterus are produced by increasing the release of fatty acids called prostaglandins from the lining of the uterus. This cramp is called primary dysmenorrhoea or menstrual pains. The area where the pain spreads is different in every woman, sometimes these pains reach below the waist and even the kidneys, and it may start one to two days before menstruation and last for 4 days. But these pains do not have a particular order and their intensity and location are different in each person and in each month. These pains, which are of a contusion type, are sometimes so severe that a person has to stop all activities and lie down. Menstrual pains are accompanied by various symptoms such as nausea, headache, fatigue, boredom, diarrhea, vomiting, etc. In fact, despite these pains, menstruation becomes a monthly disaster for some women. Primary dysmenorrhea usually occurs during the first one to two years of life and may continue until menopause, but in many women, the symptoms of dysmenorrhea gradually subside after the middle of their 20s.
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Traditional ways to reduce period pain
Usually, every pain has its own treatment. Menstrual pains are not exempted from this law and there are harmless ways to treat them:
- Cinnamon: Cinnamon is known as a soothing and anti-inflammatory agent. A hot chocolate with cinnamon will help improve uterine contractions. Use cocoa powder or mixed brands of hot chocolate. Pour half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder and half a spoon of nutmeg into it. You can add chocolate for better taste.
- Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate helps the muscles to be released quickly and is very effective in reducing your pain. If you want to use dark chocolate to relieve the symptoms, you can melt some of it and pour it on the fruit. This healthy combination helps reduce pain.
- Ginger: Ginger reduces the amount of pain hormones in the body and gives you a lot of energy so that you don’t feel tired during the day. Add ginger, honey and a little lemon to boiling water and eat, this combination helps reduce uterine contractions.
- Reducing menstrual pain by massaging with oils: You can help treat menstrual cramps by using special aromatic oils and massage. By using oils such as lavender and sage, you can shorten the duration of menstrual pain.
- Drink water to reduce period pain: If you drink a lot of water, you can prevent period pain and abdominal bloating. The purpose is to use hot water which is effective for improving cramps because it increases blood flow in the body and relaxes muscle cramps.
- Fennel: Add a teaspoon of fennel seeds to a cup of boiling water, heat the mixture again for 5 minutes. Let it cool a little and then add a teaspoon of honey and mix well. Use this herbal tea twice a day, three days before the start date of your period and continue it until the pain disappears. If this tea is used hot, it will have more effect.
- Parsley: pour a quarter cup of fresh parsley into a glass, then add boiling water to it, wait for 5 minutes and drink immediately. Use this treatment twice a day during menstruation.
- Use more fatty acids: many studies have shown that the use of these fatty acids, which are mainly found in foods such as fish, nuts like walnuts, almonds, or seeds such as sesame, reduces the symptoms of dysmenorrhea (pain during periods).
Reducing dysmenorrhea with medication
Over-the-counter medications are available to treat most menstrual cramps.
- Pain relievers: Over-the-counter medications are available to treat most cases of PMS. Anti-prostaglandins reduce uterine cramping, relieve blood flow, and relieve discomfort. These drugs may also contain painkillers such as ibuprofen or naproxen. These drugs are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). NSAIDs are only used to reduce period cramps.
- Contraceptive pills: The doctor may prescribe hormonal contraceptive pills to prevent ovulation and reduce the intensity of period pain. This is associated with the thinning of the uterine lining, where prostaglandins are formed. This causes constriction and bleeding. In some cases, birth control pills can be used consecutively. In this case, there will be no bleeding at all. Other types of birth control pills, including some types of hormonal IUDs, vaginal rings, patches, and injections can help relieve cramps.
Note: If the pains are caused by a disease, such as endometriosis or fibroids, surgery may be required to remove the abnormal tissue.
Things you should do to reduce dysmenorrhea:
- Take some rest and if necessary, take a vacation, although most women can easily handle the situation, but still there are some women who cannot handle it and have to stay at home. It is better not to push yourself. If you are in a lot of pain, rest and take time off. It is definitely not a wise thing to go to work with your back bent from pain.
- Undoubtedly, no woman wants to exercise during her period. But you should know that regular exercise reduces menstrual pain. However, it does not mean that you should do heavy sports on the first day of your period. Rather, performing light sports movements, stretching and simple walking will cause more oxygen to reach the body parts and increase blood flow.
- When you are very troubled and anxious, take five deep breaths through your nose and breathe out. You will see that it is very effective in relieving your pain and symptoms.
- As we said, heat reduces pain. Take a warm (not hot) shower. Hot water calms you mentally and psychologically and reduces your pain.
Ways to prevent dysmenorrhea
Foods that you should eat a week before the start of your period so that you have less pain during your period: A week before the start of your period, it is better to eat spinach (you can steam it and eat it with yogurt, which is very tasty). Use raspberries and walnuts. Also, use more saffron, fennel, tarragon, leeks, shallots, black pepper, cinnamon and orange peel when cooking.
Adib Elixir, a producer of products such as Inolix urine burn ointment, Fengrix capsule (diabetes medicine), Daminest capsule (women’s sexual enhancement), Vigress capsule (men’s sexual enhancement), Silidianin fatty liver treatment capsule, Punica capsule (ovarian cyst medicine), Karodib tea, Adib Derm burn ointment (ointment for burns), Adib Derm’s acne cream and anti-stain cream, Estorest capsule (treatment of menopause problems), scar healing ointment (ointment for scars) etc. are available in Iran.