Menstrual Disorders: Painful Menses / Dysmenorrhea

Mensuration, so many women find this the bane of their existence with symptoms as diverse as uterine pain, breast distention, headaches, bloating and digestive issues, bowel movement problems, fatigue, insomnia, back pain to debilitating pain down the legs. If this is true for you then something is wrong. Pain is always a message from your body to you that something isn’t right.

If you sprain your ankle, your ankle/body sends you the message to stop walking on it. If you have pain in your heart your body is giving you an urgent message to go to the hospital immediately because something is wrong. If you have an ulcer, your body sends strong pain messages to alert you so you can take care of it.

Pain is the language of the body. The body speaks in a whisper initially, then a bit louder and if you still don’t listen it will scream at you. By this time, you will have to listen. Better to hear the whisper and figure out how to best support your body lest you end up dealing with a crisis and a much bigger setback. Remember you only get one body so we should treasure and care for it!

Our menstrual cycles are a monthly cleansing mechanism. Just like sweating, bowel movements and urination our monthly cycle, or as I like to call it the red pearl, is a way for our bodies to clean itself of metabolic wastes. Having a healthy pain-free cycle is an indicator of health. We want to see beautiful red blood without pain and fewer clots. And though you might feel something it should never interfere with your daily activities.

Western Medicine answer for painful periods is the acceptance of “your cycle” and the use of non-steroid anti-inflammation drugs (NSAID). These are the same products which can damage your liver and gut lining causing increased inflammation and at worst cause irritable bowel syndrome. Acetaminophen alone is the leading cause of acute liver failure. (Larson 200: Craig 2010) This highlights how NSAIDs are less than benign.

There has to be a better way! Look no further, acupuncture and Chinese medicine offers relatively painless and easy remedies for dysmenorrhea. It generally takes 2-3 menstrual cycles to regulate. In severe cases with complicating factors it could take up to 6 months. But once your cycle is regulated you will have pain free cycles. And should your cycles go out of synch again, the sooner you address it, the quicker the response. We all need to work together so that all women can have better days and nights without negative side effects. If you have had success in treating dysmenorrhea with Chinese medicine do inform your Obgyn. It’s a win-win situation. All Obgyns can have a successful answer to painful menses other than drugs and patients don’t have to risk their livers, or belly health to get it!

Notes:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16317692
https://www.jwatch.org/na35612/2014/09/16/nsaids-are-major-cause-anaphylaxis-related-emergency
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21565648
https://www.lifeextension.com/Protocols/Appendix/Acetaminophen-and-NSAID-Toxicity/Page-01
https://www.aafp.org/afp/2014/0301/p341.html