Period Pain Management

This article will include practical advice on how to manage period pain including:

• Benefits of keeping the feet warm
• Food to refrain from
• Recommended Herbal Teas
• Benefits of resting over physical activity

Keep your feet warm

It is commonly said in the Naturopathic healing world that the feet are the major outlet of our body temperature.

We lose most of our heat from our feet. For this reason, keeping the feet covered and warm is a fantastic aid in ensuring we don't lose too much heat. When women experience period pain, it is often due to excessive coldness in the body and to balance it, we add heat (or at least try to maintain it).

I know from personal experience, that periods without socks vs. periods with socks are like the difference between day and night. In short, wear your socks!

Refrain from refined sugars and carbohydrates

The issue I am addressing here is the unrefined nature of these foods.

From a Unani Tibb perspective, as refines sugars and carbohydrates digest very quickly- they produce short-winded energy. This energy produces blood that quickly becomes hot, however, soon becomes very cold.

The coldness left in our digestive tract steeps into our Uterus and causes cramping, discomfort, and pain.

During a woman's menstrual days, she will naturally be colder than usual so the imperative would be to increase heat and avoid cooling factors such as refined carbohydrates.

This goes for other things such as iced drinks, cold beverages ice cream, and foods with a lot of dairy.

More so, bad bacterial growth in our GI tract will eventually make its way into our Uterus: causing issues like vaginal yeast infections.

A healthy digestion equates to a healthy menstruation.

Heat Therapy

So, to maintain the heat or increase it (if you are naturally more cold-tempered), utilizing different regimental therapies that increase heat is an effective measure to reduce painful periods.

Below are a few:

• Natural sunlight - if it's a warm day, sit under the sun. Particularly position yourself so your shoulder becomes warmed by the sun's rays. This will ensure your uterus becomes warmed too.
• Natural Firelight - Whether it's an indoor chimney fire or an outdoor campfire, sit next to the heat and allow your body to warm up. Gazing into the fire itself will provide beautiful healing to your mind, as it will lighten your mood, calm your nerves, and decrease your sensory overload. (Remember, unwanted stress is a major cause of uterine pain).
• Hot Water Bottle - Pretty self-explanatory, but simply place a hot water bottle on your abdomen. You can purchase smaller ones you can carry to school or work that are slightly more concealable if you choose to conceal them. (I think we've all done it at one point).
• Massage Your Abdomen - with Heating oils such as olive, black seed, and castor oil are highly effective in reducing pain. Castor oil in particular has the effect of relaxing the muscles and reducing inflammation when topically massage. Make sure your massage stokes are light and gentle - also, the slower they are the more relieving they will be. Whilst massageing focuses on the other areas of the body too linked to the uerus and relieving pain in general. These parts include the shoulders, forehead, temples, hips, thighs, neck, and, of course, the feet!

Refrain from exercise - rest, and relax instead

Exercise is very important. Moving is one way to ensure the fluids in our bodies don't become stagnant. Workout on your period however has its drawbacks.

During the menstruation period, the focus should be given to the uterus to expel what it needs to expel. For that reason, you may have reduced appetite and lower energies, and eating and activity draw the attention in the body away from the uterus and onto breaking down the body and/or generating energy in the muscles (to work).

Unless you are an athlete or highly active, use your period as a break and a time to slow down instead. In fact, even if you were an athlete allow yourself to train more lightly when you are on your period. Focus on training harder on the days you are ovulating, when you would naturally feel more energetic and strong.

The advice here is to flow with your body. Complement your actions without natural hormonal fluctuations to find the balance we are all striving for.

Avoid these food types

Traditional Medicine will always advise eating according to taste. Certain times/conditions, such as during menstruation will require a specific diet.

It is advised in Unani Tibb because women experience blood loss during this time, to eat a moderate diet in terms of taste.

This ensures balanced blood production. It is advised women should refrain from eating too spicy, salty, sour, oily, etc foods. To "not exceed in any taste" would be so will distemper the blood, due to the effects of the different states.

Herbal Teas to Help

When there is excessive blood flow -

• Nettle Leaf Tea (Urtica Dioica)
• Raspberry Leaf Tea (Rubus Idaeus)
• Lady's Mantle Tea (Alchemilla Vulgaris)
• Yarrow Tea (Achillea Millefolium)
• Ginger Tea (Zingiber Officinale)
• Cinnamon Tea (Cinnamomum Verum)
  

When there is moderate blood flow-

• Ginger (Zingiber Officinale)
• Cinnamon (Cinnamomum Verum)
• Chamomile (Matricaria Chamomilla)
• Fennel (Foeniculum Vulgare)
• Lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia)
• Peppermint (Mentha Piperita)
  

When there is little blood flow -

• Shatavari (Asparagus Racemosus)
• Dong Quai (Angelica Sinensis)
• Red Raspberry Leaf (Rubus Idaeus)
• Ashoka (Saraca Indica)
• Black Cohosh (Actaea Racemosa)
• Ginger (Zingiber Officinale)

The formula for Painful Menstruation:

• mix 1/8 finely powdered rhubarb in water twice daily and drink for the two weeks following the end of your menstrual days. Do this for a few weeks and see how you feel. (Reference: The Book of Sufi Healing by Hakim Moinuddin Chishti, page 81).

Find the Underlying Cause

Experiencing pain during our period is not comfortable nor is it healthy. If you regularly experience painful periods it indicates an underlying issue that needs to be addressed. You may be under excessive stress, feeling burnt out, have and blood sugar imbalance, or have a liver complaint. It might be none of these and something else.

It is highly advised if you are experiencing this, to take your health into your own hands and find a viable solution. Seeking the advice of a healthcare provider is a great option, and highly advised.

Overcoming period pain is possible. I hope this post was beneficial and helped you navigate yourself to experiencing more calm, peaceful periods.

with love and kind regards,

Shifaa Khan

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