Menstrual Problems

Overview

Menstrual problems affect an estimated 50 % of all women in the United States between the age when puberty starts and menopause starts. Menstrual problems refer to any irregularities in the normal menstrual cycle, which could include an array of symptoms.

Types of Menstrual Difficulties

There are 3 major types of menstrual difficulties: Absence of menstruation known as amenorrhea, excessive monthly period, known as menorrhea, and painful monthly cramps, known as dysmenorrhea.

Symptoms

Amenorrhea: Amenorrhea is seen as a stoppage of the monthly period or a failure of the menstrual cycle to begin once a woman has reached the age of 16, that isn’t caused by pregnancy or menopause. A diagnosis of amenorrhea is usually not given until 3 or more weeks have passed without a menstrual cycle.

Dysmenorrhea: Dysmenorrhea is easily the most common type of menstrual problem, with the widest range of symptoms. Symptoms include pain and cramping during the menstruation cycle, stomach pain, low back pain, pain in the inner upper thighs, spasmodic pain, bloating, breast tenderness, weight gain, headaches, anxiousness, and mood swings.

Menorrhagia: Menorrhagia is characterized by excessively heavy blood flow during a woman’s period or the menstrual cycle lasts an extremely long time.

Causes

The primary causes of menstrual problems are hormonal imbalances (diminished amounts of progesterone, as well as especially extreme levels of estrogen and prostaglandins, which are essential fatty acids that become hormones in your body), nutritional imbalances, poor diet, stress, and, in many cases, the perception by women that menstruation is somehow unnatural or gross. Such a belief is primarily caused by social conditioning and is completely false, because menstruation is actually a vital and natural part of every healthy female’s life cycle and proof of her innate feminine energy.

Contributing elements for amenorrhea includes poor functioning of the ovaries and pituitary glands, drained adrenal glands, hypothyroidism, extreme emotional anxiety or stress, calorie-restricted diets, and extreme exercise or physical activity. Menorrhagia can be brought on by hypothyroidism along with the use of intrauterine devices (devices designed for use inside the womb) and abnormalities in the internal lining of the uterus (endometrium).

Natural Cures

The goal of alternative health practitioners whenever dealing with menstrual problems is to help women achieve stability in body, mind, and spirit, by utilizing a combination of the following therapies, all of which also lend themselves to self-care approaches.

Ayurveda: Red raspberries and also the ayurvedic natural formulas shatavari and manjistha taken together in equivalent amounts are recommended for women who suffer from menorrhagia.

Diet plan: Avoid just about all commercial, prepared, fried, and nonorganic food, as well as alcoholic beverages, coffee, caffeine, sugars, sugar substitutes, preservatives, food dyes, dairy products, wheat products, and refined carbohydrates. Do not consume saturated, trans-, hydrogenated or partly-hydrogenated fats and oils. Rather choose coconut butter or oil, extra virgin olive oil, high lignin flaxseed oil, and unrefined hemp seed, walnut, and sunflower oils.

Drink plenty of pure, filtered drinking water throughout the day. Emphasize organic, clean fruits and vegetables, organic whole grains and legumes, nuts and seeds, and (sparingly) organic, free-range poultry as well as wild-caught seafood. Fermented soya products such as miso soup and tempeh are also advised, but avoid other soy products such as uncooked tofu, soy milk, and soy powder, which have been shown to end up being over-hyped and lacking essential vitamins and minerals. Also restrict your intake of oils to coconut, hemp seed, unprocessed flaxseed, olive oil, sunflower, as well as walnut.

Women who suffer from amenorrhea should also try to improve their daily food intake by five hundred calories for one month to see if this helps rectify the problem. This strategy is particularly advised for women that exercise for extended amounts.

Women with menorrhagia should minimize their consumption of carbohydrates, eating only complex carbohydrates until their period returns to normal, restrict carbohydrate intake to one meal per day.

Certain seafood such as mackerel, salmon, and bass, are excellent meals for women who suffer from monthly cramps. Women with severe cramps should also avoid eating red meat.

Additionally, undergo screening for potential food allergies and sensitivities and avoid foods to which you test positive. Think about a rotation diet or elimination diet to further decrease the likelihood of food allergies.

Nutrition and diet are key players in the healing as well as elimination of disease. For a total, nutrition packed, whole foods eating plan, read the Whole-foods Diet. Oftentimes, an uncooked food plan can be extremely advantageous. To learn more, study Raw Meals Diet.

Herbs: For menstrual cramping (dysmenorrhea), a mix of black cohosh, blackhawk, and skullcap in equal amounts, taken as a tincture can help relieve signs and symptoms. Dandelion leaf tea may also be used to relieve water retention as well as bloating. Other helpful herbs for dysmenorrhea include lavender, chaste tree fruit, cramp bark, ginger, ginkgo biloba, hops, red raspberry leaf, and white willow bark.

For amenorrhea, helpful herbs include blue cohosh, chaste berry, unicorn root, pennyroyal, rue, and tansy.

Lady’s mantle, partridge fruit, and yarrow are recommended for menorrhagia.

Homeopathy: For menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhea), the homeopathic remedies Chamomile, Lachesis, and Sepia may all be used to relieve symptoms.

Homeopathic remedies for treating amenorrhea include Aconite napellus, Calcarea carbonic, Ferrum phos., Kali sulphuricum, Natrum muriatic, and Sepia.

China, Crocus sativa, Sabina, and Secale cornutum are all recommended for menorrhagia.

Juice Treatment: Fresh squeezed blueberry and huckleberry juice can help to ease monthly cramps.

Organic Hormone Alternative Therapy: Applying natural progesterone cream to your breasts and wrists twice a day (half a teaspoon for each application) 2 to 3 weeks prior to your menstrual period may relieve symptoms of menorrhagia, and in some cases cause symptoms to disappear completely after three or more months.

Nutritional Supplements: The following nutrients might help relieve and stop menstrual problems: Vitamin A, beta-carotene, vitamin B-complex, vitamin B3, vitamin B6, vitamin C, flavonoids, vitamin E, calcium supplement, magnesium, potassium, zinc, evening primrose, and gamma linoleic acidity (GLA).

Topical Treatment: Using warm castor oil packs positioned on the lower abdominal region for one hour 3-5 days per week, beginning fourteen days before the monthly period and lasting throughout menstruation, can often significantly reduce pain associated with cramps.

Hot water bottles or heating patches placed on the abdomen during cramping can also help.

Alternative Professional Treatment

The following expert care therapies are also efficient for preventing and dealing with menstrual problems: Acupuncture, Biofeedback Training, Bodywork and Massage, Chiropractic, Detoxification Therapy, Energy Medicine, Environmental Medicine, Led Imagery, Hypnotherapy, Light Therapy, Mind/Body Medicine, Naturopathic Medicine, Qigong, Tai Chi, Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well as Yoga. (See Resources for more information about these and other Alternative Treatments).