NATURAL PRACTICE

PAINFUL PERIODS

These are generally of two types:

Spasmodic pain, common in teenagers

Congestive pain, common in older women

Other causes of pain can be problems such as endometriosis, fibroids or infections.

Spasmodic pain usually occurs with the period, but congestive pain can begin a week or more before the period.

Herbal treatment will depend on the cause. Where appropriate, relaxants to the reproductive area or tonics, will be used along with hormone balancing remedies and liver remedies.

For congestive dysmenorrhoea, more herbs will be used to aid elimination and relieve toxicity in the body.

In the short term, herbs can be used to alleviate the pain when it occurs. However, the aim is to treat the body for a few cycles to correct the underlying causes. Ideally this should produce a long term benefit without the need for continued treatment.

DIET: As always, attention would be paid to your diet to ensure that you are eating a diet which will encourage your body to be well.

SUPPLEMENTS: In some cases these may be essential to correct underlying nutritional imbalances which are resulting in symptoms.