What can you do about all that pain you experience with your period? Do you have stomach cramps, lower back pain, migraines, and pain in your thighs? If you do you know how miserable period pain can be.

What can be done? What are the medicinal remedies including over the counter? What are the natural and home remedies for menstrual pain? Do any of these remedies work?

Let’s take a look.

Menstrual Cycle Pain and Symptoms

Pain during the menstrual cycle that interferes with a woman’s routine daily activities is classified by the NHS as Dysmenorrhea. There are several different kinds of pain associated with a woman’s menstrual cycle.

• Cramps

These can be simple, light cramping in the abdomen or they can be debilitating and require bed rest and pain medication of some sort. This pain can become so severe that depending upon further medical testing more intensive and invasive procedures may be required.

• Migraine headaches

Women who get migraine headaches with their menstrual cycle suffer greatly every month. Many days of work are lost when women are bed ridden for 24-48 hours. Medication for migraines might be needed as well.

• Thigh pain

This pain goes along with the cramping but actually can occur prior to the cramping or by itself without any other period pain.

• Lower back pain

This pain can be almost as debilitating as the cramping for some woman, sending them to bed with medication until the pain subsides.

When it comes to any kind of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or disorder, it is important to remember that every woman is different and no two women experience exactly the same symptoms and pain.

Therefore any menstrual pain relief activities will not necessarily help every woman in the same way or help every woman at all.

There are other symptoms associated with the menstrual cycle that are not actually pain such as:

• Bloating

Many women experience swelling and bloating in the abdominal area as the body holds fluids prior to and during the menstrual cycle. Bloating can also be due to gas in the digestive system.

• Nausea

This symptom and vomiting are tied to the possible gas in the digestive system as well.

• Moodiness

Many women do not experience pain but do experience changes in their moods and swings in their emotions. At one point in time this moodiness along with the cramping was titled Premenstrual Syndrome. These mood swings are unpredictable and can be somewhat volatile. It is hard for people around a woman who is experiencing menstrual cycle moodiness because you never know how she is going to react to anything. More importantly the woman herself does not know and neither does she know why she is feeling what she is feeling.

• Vomiting

Much like nausea during the menstrual cycle, this can be caused by gas.

• Either constipation or diarrhea

These might be the most common effects of the woman’s period other than cramping.

• Fatigue

Many woman experience extreme fatigue either before or during their period. This fatigue can be so bad it can cost a woman some work time.

• Sensory sensitivity

light, sound, touch, smell – These symptoms of the menstrual cycle usually accompany or are accompanied by the migraine headaches we discussed previously. Prescribed medication is probably the best treatment and it is fast.

Causes of Menstrual Pain and Symptoms

So what is the cause of all this period pain and menstrual cycle discomfort?

When a woman is menstruating, there is a thickening in the endometrium as the body gets ready for the possibility of a pregnancy. Then when the woman ovulates this thick layer of endometrium is shed by the body. During this process the body releases prostaglandins which are natural anti-inflammatories but they slow down the supply of blood to the endometrium and cause it to die and shed prematurely. All during this time in the menstrual cycle the uterus is contracting painfully. This process is the cause of most of the pain a woman might experience. There is also a condition known as endometriosis where the excess lining is not shed.

Medications: Pharmaceutical and OTC (Over the counter)

NSAIDS – Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs are often the first line of defense when it comes to period pain. These drugs have been used for many years for menstrual pain in both prescription and over the counter form. Cox2-inhibitors are also used but all these drugs have side effects. Just two tablets a day usually are enough.

“The class of painkillers that includes ibuprofen and naproxen seems to work well against menstrual cramps, and may be more effective than acetaminophen, a new research review suggests.” – Source: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, January 2010

Hormones – Hormonal contraception medications and IUD’s are very effective against this type of pain.
Transdermal Nitroglycerin – There is beginning to be some evidence that a transdermal nitroglycerin patch can help to alleviate pain, in particular the cramping.

Natural Medicine and Home Remedies

There are a wide variety of natural and home remedies available for dealing with pain without drugs. These herbs and other products are available at most health food stores.

Parsley – This is a very effective remedy for pain and other issues. Usually the use of parsley is able to curtail the cramps that come with the menstrual cycle. The way it is usually digested is as a juice.

Ginger – The use of ginger will help with pain and also will actually stop the flow of menstrual blood. The ginger is boiled in water and has sugar added to it. Drink this three times a day.

Sesame Seeds – Make powder out of the sesame seeds and drink it in hot water two times a day.

Papaya – This fruit will help reduce the uterine contractions and thus reduce the period pain from cramping.

Marigold – This is the Marigold herb not the flower and should be given as an infusion twice a day to control pain.

Banana Flower – This flower should be cooked and eaten with cottage cheese. This will help with excessive bleeding during the menstrual cycle.

Mango Bark – A little bit of fresh juice from the mango bark is another remedy for excessive bleeding during menstrual cycle.

Indian Barbary – Another excessive bleeding remedy is Indian Barbary.

Diet – A healthy diet makes a huge difference when dealing with pain and problems. There are many ways to do this but an all fruit diet might be a starting point. Because all of the menstrual cycle issues are systemic, you need a systemic solution. A diet that is aimed at the entire system is all fruit for five straight days. If you are thin you might add milk to the fruit for protein and calories. Follow this with healthy well-adjusted foods.

Dong Quai/Pulsatilla vulgaris – These are a couple of herbs that will assist with calming the reproductive system throughout the menstrual cycle.

Lemon Balm/Sweet Fennel – These two herbs combine to stabilize your mood during your period and to promote water balance which helps with pain and bloating.

Calc. carb, Sepia and Belladonna – This combination of herbs will help the moodiness, energy and fatigue issues during the menstrual cycle.

Exercise and Other Remedies

There are other home remedies besides herbal, fruits, and dieting for menstrual problems. Some of these will work and some will not as it varies from woman to woman. Some will work well for some women and not work at all for other women. It is really a case of trial and error to find out if they will work for you. Here are some tips and ideas.

Hot Water Bottle – this is an old remedy for cramps. It is actually a very good, effective and quick old wives tale remedy.

Exercise – This is a very important remedy or even preventive for pain. There are several exercises you can do for this.

Try stretching exercises for the period cramping pain and the back and thigh pain. Any type of exercise will help due to the endorphins that are released during it. You can play tennis or volleyball. You can go to an aerobics or dance class.

Just exercise on a regular basis and it will greatly affect your pain and might eliminate it all together. Aerobic exercise is the type that will have the most impact on pain. Just follow the typical recommended regime of three times a week for thirty minutes every time. Walking is also very effective for cramps caused by the menstrual cycle.

Yoga and Meditation – There are some very effective and easy to start out with yoga positions that will help to alleviate menstrual pain. Here are just a couple of examples:

The Cat – This yoga based exercise will relax the large and small back muscles and it will also help with nausea and vomiting that accompanies menstrual pain. To do this sit with your knees crossed and your hands on your thighs. Raise your arms and point your palms toward the floor. Now move up onto your knees and bend forward so that you can place your hands on the floor with your legs and arms at right angles from the floor. Arch your back up as if you were an irate cat. Drop your head downward so that you are looking at your navel. Repeat this at least three times.

Acupressure/Massage – a couple other nontraditional remedies for pain would include acupressure on the pressure points for all the different maladies the menstrual cycle can cause. A full body massage is best but one focused on just the places that hurt will be better.

All of these remedies will help you to deal with period pain and symptoms and perhaps be able to alleviate menstrual issues.