Let’s be blunt: period pain sucks. Many women have their work and personal lives disrupted every month by painful abdominal cramps due to endometriosis and/or fibroids. The degree of discomfort some women experience can lead them to regularly miss...
Let’s be blunt: period pain sucks. Many women have their work and personal lives disrupted every month by painful abdominal cramps due to endometriosis and/or fibroids. The degree of discomfort some women experience can lead them to regularly miss work and forego other important activities. It turns out that acupuncture can help manage these symptoms naturally, in many cases.
Symptoms can include:
Abdominal Cramps Heavy Periods Abnormal Spotting Abnormal SweatingAcupuncture is a safe technique that can be used to reduce and manage the symptoms associated with menstrual-related abnormalities such as endometriosis, fibroids, and so on. Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine have a long history of assisting with women’s health issues.
In Chinese medicine, the symptoms experienced by the patient help define what the underlying health issue is, allowing a skilled practitioner to find the root cause of the problem.
Traditional Chinese medicine has its own unique vocabulary to explain problems throughout the body that can manifest as health problems. Terms like “hot”, “cold”, “blocked”, or “flowing” are very simple translations of a complex traditional medicine theory that takes years of study to fully comprehend. This article will try to make you more familiar with some of these terms.
For example, a patient who experiences menstrual cramps as sharp stabbing pains and has clots in her menstrual blood would be diagnosed as having blood stagnation in Chinese medicine. “Blood stagnation” is not to be taken literally; rather it evokes the idea of blood being stuck in some part of the body, which is causing the symptoms.
In the case of endometriosis, the tissue that normally lines the uterus grows outside in other areas of the body nearby and cannot be shed monthly during a menstrual period. This is also considered a case of blood stagnation in the view of Chinese Medicine.
Another example of a term used in Chinese medicine to classify symptoms is “cold”. Cold energy stuck in the uterus or lower abdomen may cause someone to feel chronically cold and the person would experience spasmodic lower abdominal menstrual pain that is relieved with heat. Patients can also present with a combination of these, such as having both cold and blood stagnation symptoms simultaneously.
As you can see from these relatively simple terms, Chinese medicine views many symptoms and their corresponding treatment differently from other medical modalities.
Why try acupuncture for treating period pain?
Acupuncture is a non-pharmaceutical approach, is pretty painless and relaxing, and it can be very effective in assisting with menstrual issues. But how does it work? Acupuncture’s roots are in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Here is my very simplified view of health in Chinese medicine and acupuncture:
Smooth flowing energy (qi) and blood in the body = health
Unsmooth energy (qi) flow and blood in the body = problem
Painful, heavy, or abnormal periods are examples of unsmooth energy and blood flow in the body. I think this is obvious to most women.
Acupuncture is the Chinese Medicine technique used to re-establish the smooth flow of qi and blood in the body. Acupuncture points are found along meridians all throughout the body. Meridians are described as pathways where qi and blood flow in the body. Note that these pathways do not follow the anatomy in obvious routes (not along a blood vessel or bones), but rather they are dotted by various acupuncture points throughout the body that are determined by Traditional Chinese Medicine theory.
It is common in Chinese medicine treatments of gynaecological conditions to use acupuncture points along the liver meridian because its pathway passes through the groin and is related to the reproductive system.
The liver energy in the body is associated with stress management and also helps with smoother blood and qi flow during the menstrual cycle. It can be depleted during stressful times, and this can cause problems during the menstrual cycle such as painful cramps and lowering the body’s ability to manage stress. This explains why many women are susceptible to mood swings, anxiety, or are easy to anger prior to and during their period. Left untreated, the symptoms can start to build up.
Why should I consider treating my menstruation pain?
You want relief from severe symptoms that are preventing you from working or other activities. You want to manage the symptoms so they improve and also prevent the development of secondary symptoms. Some women with chronic heavy periods start to develop anemia. In Chinese medicine, heavy periods leading to anemia can be associated with hair loss, insomnia, and anxiety. A woman’s fertility could also be impacted by menstrual irregularities.What can I expect from an acupuncture treatment for my menstrual pain?
After discussing your symptoms with your acupuncturist, a customized treatment plan will be set up. The acupuncture points selected would generally be found on your lower legs and lower abdomen and activated for 20-30 minutes during which time patients often relax or have a nap.
The other TCM modalities that may be used for your treatment include Acutonics (tuning forks) and/or Auricular Medicine (ear seeds).
A custom Chinese herbal formulation can also be compiled by your practitioner for your specific symptoms. Chinese Medicine has very efficient herbal formulas that are quite different from other holistic supplements and are designed to manage severe menstrual cramps and heavy periods.
How long will it take for the acupuncture to help?
Individuals with severe symptoms would be recommended to come for treatment once a week for a month and then reassess their symptoms. The initial weekly treatment schedule is recommended in order to build momentum to successively elicit a response from the body. Most individuals experience benefits within the first month of treatment. The menstrual cycle occurs once a month and therefore symptoms can only be assessed a month at a time.
For a chronic patient suffering with endometriosis or fibroids, it would be reasonable to anticipate at least two menstrual cycles to gain steady benefits from acupuncture treatments.
Self-Care tips for period pain:
For women who get relief from their painful periods with heat (and who also generally always feel cold), I recommend avoiding all raw and cold food and beverages a week prior to and during their period. The cold energies of these food and drinks can exacerbate abdominal cramps (think of winter time: cold prevents things from flowing smoothly). They can try drinking ginger tea, evidently a warming substance, prior to and during their period as it may assist in alleviating symptoms. Also, placing your feet in a warm foot bath can also assist with symptom relief as it adds warmth to the meridians (including the liver meridian) that are related to menstruation.
Some women experience their menstrual flow as feeling hot and having a bright red colour. If you experience this “hot flow”, it is recommended to avoid spicy foods before and during their period. The spicy nature of the foods can exacerbate the “hot flow” symptoms.
Acupuncture is a treatment modality distinct from other holistic therapies because of its unique treatment style rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine. It has been helpful for many people when “all else has failed.”
To find out more about what acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine can do for you, you might consider booking a free 15 min meet and greet with me by calling our clinic at 403-452-0029 or by booking online.
Either way, I hope you have found this helpful, and I hope you find relief if you are experiencing period pain.
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