What can we do besides “drink more hot water” when the pain during menstruation is unbearable?
I’m sure many women have experienced menstrual cramps, some of which may be occasional and vague, some may be double pain, or some may be a combination of vomiting and pain. It is often said that you should “drink lots of hot water” for menstrual cramps, but is that enough? Apparently not.The causes of dysmenorrhoea can be divided into several common categories: cold and clotting, stagnant Qi and weak Qi and blood, and there are different ways to deal with them.
In most cases, the pain can be relieved by warming up the area, such as using a warm water bag, baby warmers or drinking hot water. Women in this category often have other symptoms such as cold hands and feet, fear of cold, delayed menstruation, dark menstrual blood and low menstrual flow. For this type of women with dysmenorrhoea, we can choose some warm food therapy recipes, such as Angelica Ginger and Lamb Soup, which is done by washing and cutting 500g of lamb, slicing 30g of ginger and frying it slightly in a pot, adding the lamb and then spooning it up, then washing 20g of Angelica, tying it with gauze and putting it into a casserole with the fried ginger and lamb, boiling it on a high flame, and then changing it to a gentle flame for 2~3 hours The mixture is ready to use. A small amount of seasoning can be added before serving.
If some women feel painful swelling in their bellies during their periods, and cannot be rubbed or even touched, and they are usually impatient and irritable or prone to anxiety and depression, and have obvious breast swelling and pain, then we consider it to be related to “qi stagnation”, where the qi in the body is blocked and does not work, and that is why they feel swollen and painful. At this time, we can choose some dietary remedies to relieve the stagnation of qi and blood, such as Two Flowers Menstrual Tea, which is made by slightly grinding 9g of dried moon flowers, 9g of dried rose flowers and 3g of black tea into a coarse powder and brewing it with boiling water a few days before the onset of menstruation.
The last common cause is “weakness of Qi and blood”. Women with this condition often suffer from vague pain in the lower abdomen, which can be relieved slightly by rubbing and pressing. This is often accompanied by fatigue and weakness, low menstrual flow, pale colour and pale lips. In this case, we can choose to stew the hen with ginseng, mainly 20g angelica body, 10g ginseng into the cleaned hen belly, and put into a casserole, add appropriate amount of onion and ginger, wine, etc. seasoning and add appropriate amount of water, boil with martial fire and then change to simmer.
The above are the main dietary treatments for dysmenorrhoea, but it is important to note that the above methods must be applied only if they correspond to the symptoms mentioned above. If you have a fear of heat, hot hands and feet, dry mouth, bitter mouth and other symptoms similar to fire, you are not suitable to take Angelica Ginger Mutton Soup or Ginseng Stewed Hen. Although dietary therapy is good, it should be consumed occasionally and not in excess.
In addition to food therapy, there are also acupuncture points that can be used to deal with menstrual pain, such as foot San Li and San Yin Jiao. With the body sitting upright and the knees bent, the foot San Li is located four fingers’ width down from the outer knee eye (calvarium); San Yin Jiao is located four fingers’ width up from the tip of the inner ankle. You can use your thumb to press down vertically on the above two areas, or you can rub in a circular motion and be able to feel localised soreness and swelling.
These are the ways to deal with menstrual pain. We hope that women can get rid of menstrual pain as soon as possible and have a healthier body so that their periods are no longer unbearable.
