Period Pain Symptoms: a case study
Zoe is a 23-year-old patient of mine who suffers debilitating period pain. Five days before the start of her period her mood shifts to anxious and snappy. Her stomach starts to bloat; her digestion slows down; her breast are tender and she experiences low back pain.
The day before her period she feels exhausted. The day of her period her cramps are debilitating and often so bad she vomits. She alternates between heating pad on her lower abdomen and hot baths. While taking Advil relieves some of her pain, the irritation to her stomach is not worth it. Zoe dreads her period and the intense pain that comes with it.
Zoe’s not alone. While it’s common to experience some period pain and associated PMS symptoms, about 10% of the female population experience the kind of pain and discomfort that causes them to lose a day of school or work. Confined to their bed and bathroom, they are unable to function through the pain.
Conventional Treatment
Zoe started seeing me two months ago. While most doctors recommend birth control to manage this depilating pain, she wanted to strictly treat the pain and not the side effects associated with birth control.
Chinese Medicine Approach
Because Zoe experienced lower abdominal pain before and during her period, in Chinese medicine speak we need to move qi and blood to eliminate stagnation and stop her pain.
Acupuncture and the formula Xiao Yao San starting 5 days before her period will eliminate her pain and PMS symptoms.
There are different types of period pain and symptoms. For example, if a patient presented with intense stabbing pain before and or during her period along with dark purple menstrual blood and large clots then the treatment would be altered to eliminate the clots. The formula taken here would likely be Ge Xia Zhu Yu Tang depending on her pulse and the colour of her tongue.
Acupuncture Considerations
When using acupuncture and Chinese herbs to treat painful periods, it’s important to understand the constitution of the patient and what specifically is causing their pain. The pain can be caused by cold in the uterus, too much dampness (think yeast), too much heat or the patient is depleted. Not enough qi, blood, yin or yang.
How Long Does It Take to Regulate Period Pain?
It will take a minimum of three menstrual cycles to regulate a woman’s period. If the period pain does not subside after three treatments with acupuncture and herbs, it is likely the woman has endometriosis.
Additional Recommendations
I also recommend that my patients drink ginger tea especially a day or two before the start of their period. It warms their stomach and will settle any nausea they may be experiencing.
If you’re suffering debilitating pain I would strongly encourage you to seek the help of a Chinese Medicine practitioner. You need one who can prescribe herbs and perform acupuncture.
