Battling through period pain can be a girl’s monthly dread. While we question why we have to be women and sit in our jammies with a hot water bottled taped to our tummy, sometimes you can feel the pain building up.
Although we're big fans of curling up in a duvet and praying for a miracle, we realise sometimes you just have to leave the house.
So we've pulled together some of the best cures for tackling the tummy monthly traumas:
Heat: It may be a household favourite for cold nights, but there is real merit in applying a hot water bottle to your menstrual cramps. If you're out and about, applying a heat pad to the cramping areas of your stomach can help eliminate stomach pains for some women, but for others, you may still need further treatment. Heat can help soothe the site of pain as heat receptors in your tummy block the effect of chemical messengers that cause pain to be detected by the body. Warmth can also relax abdominal muscles.
Food Groups: What you eat has a significant impact on how bad your period cramps are. It’s best to avoid foods that are rich in fat. Foods that are good to eat during this time of the month include fresh fruit and vegetables as well as fish. Basically eat foods that are rich in vitamins and you can’t go wrong. Chocolate will put a smile on your face but can make cramps worse because it contains caffeine.
Vitamins: Taking vitamin E daily, beginning two days before your period starts and continuing it through the first three days of bleeding may help reduce the heaviness of a flow. There have also been some small studies that show vitamin B1, vitamin B6, and fish oil supplements may ease the symptoms of period cramps.
Exercise: It may be the last thing you want to do when you’re doubled over with pain, but gentle exercise for 30 minutes a day, five days a week is proven to decrease the pain of your periods.
Oral hormonal contraceptives (The Pill): The hormones in the contraceptive pill can cause the lining of the uterus to thin out, and if this lining is thin when your period rolls around, there will be less shedding and therefore less uterine contractions. When periods are painful enough, you can even take a special version of the pill that allows you have a period every three months, instead of monthly.
Not only does taking the pill determine when exactly you get it but they are also known to lighten blood flow and tackle more extreme symptoms including stomach pain, back ache and vomiting. You need to consult your doctor about oral contraceptives.
Pain killers: can be used to ease stomach cramps but often it is better to try natural remedies before resorting to taking medication. There is nothing wrong with taking a couple of painkillers to get rid of the pain but it is important that you don’t take any more than the recommended dose and that if the pain doesn’t subside, you consult your doctor because there could be an underlying problem.
Although these tips can help lessen period cramping, be sure to consult a doctor if you suffer consistently from heavy periods or menstrual pain.
