Natural Remedies for Common Menstrual Health: Alleviate Bloating, Cramps and More

Periods are natural but not a piece of cake to deal with. With periods comes a heap of other issues that women struggle to deal with. Menstrual health is essential to focus on if you want to manage the accompanying pain.

Well, experiencing menstrual pain and lower abdominal pain is a regular occurrence. However, tolerating the pain is not okay. Women usually seem to ignore or bear the pain until it's over. Burying the cramps under work, responsibilities, and all the possible distractions every month seems like every woman's forte.

No wonder girls on periods seem irritable and upset and experience negative emotions. There is much more than just menstrual cramps but nausea, diarrhea, headaches, bloating, etc. With proper menstrual health and hygiene initiatives, it can be easier to deal with such inconveniences that women experience.

At times, these cramps are tolerable. But when they get worse, productivity suffers. The pain can shoot up to a point that can make everyday activities difficult.

Reasons why women experience menstrual cramps

Menstrual cramps are more common than most people might think. And they are much more painful than one can experience. More than 50% of the women experience abdominal pain for 1 to 2 days on average every cycle.

Women feel pain and discomfort in several regions of their bodies. Bloating, pain in the lower back, tender skin, and fatigue plague a menstruating woman. But why does this happen? There must be a reason why.

When women get their period, the walls of the uterus are shed due to its contractions and relaxations. So, experiencing cramps implies that the endometrium is at work. However, some women experience pain while others don't.

Sadly, doctors themselves do not understand the reason why. But some reasons can aggravate the pain during periods. The following includes an increase in intense pain-

• Heavy period flow
• Oversensitivity to an overproduction of prostaglandins
• Being pregnant with your first child
• Getting your first period or being under 20 years of age

What are some natural or home remedies that can help with menstrual cramps?

Period cramps can become intensely destructive if one does not take menstrual health seriously. Taking care of yourself on period to preserve overall wellbeing helps. Using natural remedies to deal with period cramps is useful. They might not always be effective but can offer a brief relief.

Women who suffer from excruciating menstrual cramps and their subsequent symptoms can do the following to moderate their pain-

• Staying hydrated always helps.

Water always helps in times of need. During periods, bloating is very common. It leads to cramps and discomfort. No matter how counterintuitive it looks, drinking enough water alleviates pain and bloating. If you try drinking hot water, it will relax your muscles and increase blood flow.

• Herbal teas can soothe spasms.

Just like water, herbal teas can also help a great deal. Some of these teas contain anti-inflammatory properties. The composition also includes antispasmodic compounds that can help with cramps and muscle spasms.

Studies show that a couple of cups of green tea can reduce cramps by 25%. You can preserve your menstrual health and well-being by having regular herbal teas during periods.

• No sugar means no bloating.

You must avoid sugar and treats during periods. Resisting must be difficult, but high sugar can increase bloating and inflammation. A banana or maybe some unsalted nuts can help satisfy your sugar cravings.

• Exercise can help in muscle relaxation.

Exercising might seem outrageous during periods. But it surely does relieve one from pain. Heavy or strenuous exercise is not helpful. However, a little gentle exercise does not hurt. On the contrary, it helps.

Doing yoga, a little walk, or stretching is helpful as it also releases endorphins. A study maintains that attending yoga classes for 12 weeks decreased menstrual cramps.

• Abdominal massage

Massaging your abdominal region relaxes the pelvic muscles during your period. Consequently, massaging helps alleviate menstrual health. You could use a lotion or oil to do so.

• External heat application can be soothing.

Using hot bags is usually a common practice that women do on periods. Applying heat helps in reducing both abdominal and lower back pain. A literature review of studies implies that heat application is practical in menstrual pain treatment.

• Ginger is surprisingly helpful.

Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties that are soothing to painful menstrual cramps. Such properties that relieve cramps are due to their components. They are namely gingerols and gingerdiones.

These components inhibit the prostaglandin synthesis and leukotriene. Hence, they eventually reduce the menstrual cramps and discomfort.

You should know when to see a doctor!

Seeing a doctor when pain aggravates only makes sense. Natural remedies, indeed, are helpful. However, you must know when it's time for a doctor's visit. Doctors can help in diagnosing if your pain is more than just cramps.

A prescribed drug or medication can also give you severe pain relief. Sometimes, doctors also prescribe birth control pills or the like to manage symptoms. The symptoms that should make you consider seeing a doctor are as follows-

• Very bleeding during periods
• Severe discomfort and pain
• Menstrual pain interferes with daily functioning

Sometimes, severe pain during periods may have an underlying condition. So, seeing a doctor would be effective in handling menstrual health. So, menstrual hygiene initiative programs are essential for women to know whether their menstrual discomfort is normal.

To Wrap Up

Only women and girls know the suffering that comes with menstruation. Not just cramps but also there are nausea, headache, and other discomfort. Dysmenorrhea is what menstrual cramps are called in medical terms. It is a severe health issue that women have to deal with post-puberty till menopause.

Although most of the discomfort is mild, some can be threatening. Dysmenorrhea can be due to fibroids, endometriosis, and adenomyosis. But to know whether the pain is the reason for something serious, menstrual hygiene awareness is essential.

So, it is time now to focus on menstrual health. Natural remedies can help moderate pain, but maintaining overall well-being proper treatment and awareness is critical.