If I was the betting type, I would be willing to wager huge sums of money that most women you know experience period pain or discomfort of some kind associated with their menstrual cycle. Maybe you do too. But what if you found out that pain is not a necessary part of menstruation, that we’ve been hoodwinked?
Period Pain is Not Normal, Period!
For a whole host of unhealthy reasons, the human race has normalised common health issues that are not normal. For example, taking blood pressure medication is very common, so does this mean heart disease is normal? Heartburn is common.. Is taking antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication normal? We all know how common that is! More than 60% of American adults are either obese or overweight. 60% is more than 50% right?
So by definition perhaps this does actually mean that it has become normal now to be either obese or overweight. But is it ok? Are each of these obese or overweight individuals comfortable in their body, do they feel they have freedom of movement, enough energy to get through their day and to maintain their exercise routine? Is their digestion healthy and is their self esteem strong? Are they free from taking debilitating medications? Of course only each individual can answer these questions for themselves, and hopefully they will do this honestly.
Pain is one of the ways our body communicates that there is a problem. In this way we can view pain as almost like a symptom. Our body is yelling to us ‘HERE’! ‘THERE’S A PROBLEM OVER HERE!‘ It’s pointing and gesturing wildly, crying out to us to sort this problem – but then we take a painkiller and muzzle it!.. Of course there is certainly a role for painkillers & there is no reason to suffer pain. But unless we want to continue taking regular painkillers, the onus is on us to track down the source of that pain and address it. We need to treat the root and not just the branch.
For the rest of this article I will use the words ‘healthy’ or ‘balanced’ rather than the word ‘normal’. We have seen how the word ‘normal’ has become ambiguous and can even be dangerous because it can psychologically lull us into feeling complacent or helpless, but you and I are more powerful than that! Let’s take this bull by it’s horns and find out what a healthy menstrual cycle looks like:
Traditional gynaecology has a long history in Chinese medicine. For example, one highly respected text named ‘The Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Chest’ which was first published in AD220, contains three chapters on gynaecology. This honoured tome discusses over 30 herbal prescriptions specifically for gynaecological conditions and because of their efficacy, today many of these formulas are still widely used all around the world.
Chinese Medicine Physicians Have Had Literally Hundreds of Years to Get Their Heads Around Menstrual Cycles.
- Chinese medicine teaches us that a healthy cycle is regular. Ideally it would be 28 days but it may vary between individuals. It’s the regularity that is most important, we prefer your cycles are routinely the same length pretty much at about 28 days.
- The volume of blood loss should not be too heavy nor too light. We prefer a good ‘robust’ volume. We want the blood to be red, not watery or brown or black. There would be no clots and the blood is neither thick nor diluted.
- There should be no pre-menstrual symptoms, for example: irritability, depression, mood swings, breast distension, nausea, constipation, food cravings, headaches or fluid retention. No. No. No. None of this.
- There may be mild discomfort but your period should be pretty much painless (so should ovulation be). During a consultation your acupuncturist/herbalist may ask you questions such as: is the pain before, during or after your period? Is it dull, spasmodic, sharp or stabbing? Where is it? Is it relieved by heat?
Summary
Your menstrual cycle is considered to be healthy and balanced the more regular it is (preferably at about 28 days), the period is not too heavy, nor too light. There is no period (or ovulation) pain and there are no clots. The blood is red. There is no PMS.
Any deviations from the above give us information about where the imbalance is. As we discussed earlier, once again your amazing body is actually communicating to us what the problem is by expressing these symptoms and so by listening, your practitioner should be able to address these anomalies. It is possible your practitioner may prescribe some herbs for you to take alongside your acupuncture treatments.
Knowing what a balanced cycle looks like, what we are aiming for, means that as you go along, you will accumulate enhanced skills in monitoring your own cycle and so you will be better able to assess if you are making progress with your treatment.
It may take some time, and often does, but if you are able to stick with your treatment your cycle should begin to more closely resemble our description of healthy.
A word of caution though – unless you are actually hoping to get pregnant, the healthier your cycle becomes, the better it works.. so you might like to take this into account.
“Normal is the wrong name often used for average” – Henry S Haskins
“Let’s Not Settle For Normal” – Dr Tim Elmore
normal
adjective
1.
conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected.
“it’s quite normal for puppies to bolt their food”
synonyms: usual, standard, typical, stock, common, ordinary, customary, conventional, habitual, accustomed, expected, wonted, everyday, regular, routine, day-to-day, daily, established, settled, set, fixed, traditional, quotidian, prevailing More
noun
1.
the usual, typical, or expected state or condition.
“her temperature was above normal”
References
www.google.com.au (normal definition)
‘Obstetrics & Gynecology in Chinese Medicine’, Giovanni Maciocia, Elsevier Churchill Livingstone 1998
https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/artificial-maturity/201302/common-not-normal
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_S._Haskins
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity_in_the_United_States
http://www.grubstreet.com/2018/03/americas-obesity-rate-hits-record-high.html
If I was the betting type, I would be willing to wager huge sums of money that most women you know experience period pain or discomfort of some kind associated with their menstrual cycle. Maybe you do too. But what if you found out that pain is not a necessary part of menstruation, that we’ve been hoodwinked?
Period Pain is Not Normal, Period!
For a whole host of unhealthy reasons, the human race has normalised common health issues that are not normal. For example, taking blood pressure medication is very common, so does this mean heart disease is normal? Heartburn is common.. Is taking antidepressants or anti-anxiety medication normal? We all know how common that is! More than 60% of American adults are either obese or overweight. 60% is more than 50% right?
So by definition perhaps this does actually mean that it has become normal now to be either obese or overweight. But is it ok? Are each of these obese or overweight individuals comfortable in their body, do they feel they have freedom of movement, enough energy to get through their day and to maintain their exercise routine? Is their digestion healthy and is their self esteem strong? Are they free from taking debilitating medications? Of course only each individual can answer these questions for themselves, and hopefully they will do this honestly.
Pain is one of the ways our body communicates that there is a problem. In this way we can view pain as almost like a symptom. Our body is yelling to us ‘HERE’! ‘THERE’S A PROBLEM OVER HERE!‘ It’s pointing and gesturing wildly, crying out to us to sort this problem – but then we take a painkiller and muzzle it!.. Of course there is certainly a role for painkillers & there is no reason to suffer pain. But unless we want to continue taking regular painkillers, the onus is on us to track down the source of that pain and address it. We need to treat the root and not just the branch.
For the rest of this article I will use the words ‘healthy’ or ‘balanced’ rather than the word ‘normal’. We have seen how the word ‘normal’ has become ambiguous and can even be dangerous because it can psychologically lull us into feeling complacent or helpless, but you and I are more powerful than that! Let’s take this bull by it’s horns and find out what a healthy menstrual cycle looks like:
Traditional gynaecology has a long history in Chinese medicine. For example, one highly respected text named ‘The Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Chest’ which was first published in AD220, contains three chapters on gynaecology. This honoured tome discusses over 30 herbal prescriptions specifically for gynaecological conditions and because of their efficacy, today many of these formulas are still widely used all around the world.
Chinese Medicine Physicians Have Had Literally Hundreds of Years to Get Their Heads Around Menstrual Cycles.
- Chinese medicine teaches us that a healthy cycle is regular. Ideally it would be 28 days but it may vary between individuals. It’s the regularity that is most important, we prefer your cycles are routinely the same length pretty much at about 28 days.
- The volume of blood loss should not be too heavy nor too light. We prefer a good ‘robust’ volume. We want the blood to be red, not watery or brown or black. There would be no clots and the blood is neither thick nor diluted.
- There should be no pre-menstrual symptoms, for example: irritability, depression, mood swings, breast distension, nausea, constipation, food cravings, headaches or fluid retention. No. No. No. None of this.
- There may be mild discomfort but your period should be pretty much painless (so should ovulation be). During a consultation your acupuncturist/herbalist may ask you questions such as: is the pain before, during or after your period? Is it dull, spasmodic, sharp or stabbing? Where is it? Is it relieved by heat?
Summary
Your menstrual cycle is considered to be healthy and balanced the more regular it is (preferably at about 28 days), the period is not too heavy, nor too light. There is no period (or ovulation) pain and there are no clots. The blood is red. There is no PMS.
Any deviations from the above give us information about where the imbalance is. As we discussed earlier, once again your amazing body is actually communicating to us what the problem is by expressing these symptoms and so by listening, your practitioner should be able to address these anomalies. It is possible your practitioner may prescribe some herbs for you to take alongside your acupuncture treatments.
Knowing what a balanced cycle looks like, what we are aiming for, means that as you go along, you will accumulate enhanced skills in monitoring your own cycle and so you will be better able to assess if you are making progress with your treatment.
It may take some time, and often does, but if you are able to stick with your treatment your cycle should begin to more closely resemble our description of healthy.
A word of caution though – unless you are actually hoping to get pregnant, the healthier your cycle becomes, the more fertile you will probably be so you might like to take this into account. Acupuncturists and Chinese herbalists address fertility issues by regulating the cycles of your menstruation and in fertility treatment the first step is balancing your cycle. In this way ovarian health is strengthened, your blood flows smoothly and hormones find a better state of dynamic balance.
“Normal is the wrong name often used for average” – Henry S Haskins
“Let’s Not Settle For Normal” – Dr Tim Elmore
normal
adjective
1.
conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected.
“it’s quite normal for puppies to bolt their food”
synonyms: usual, standard, typical, stock, common, ordinary, customary, conventional, habitual, accustomed, expected, wonted, everyday, regular, routine, day-to-day, daily, established, settled, set, fixed, traditional, quotidian, prevailing More
noun
1.
the usual, typical, or expected state or condition.
“her temperature was above normal”
References
www.google.com.au (normal definition)
‘Obstetrics & Gynecology in Chinese Medicine’, Giovanni Maciocia, Elsevier Churchill Livingstone 1998
https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/artificial-maturity/201302/common-not-normal
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Henry_S._Haskins
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity_in_the_United_States
http://www.grubstreet.com/2018/03/americas-obesity-rate-hits-record-high.html
Come & See Us
We offer acupuncture treatments & Chinese herbal medicine with a clinical focus on pregnancy & a range of women’s health issues.
Come & See Us
We offer acupuncture treatments & Chinese herbal medicine with a clinical focus on pregnancy & a range of women’s health issues.
Come & See Us
We offer acupuncture treatments & Chinese herbal medicine with a clinical focus on pregnancy & a range of women’s health issues.