It’s that time of the month — the time that many women regard with dread and discomfort. Many experience pain so intense they have to miss work or school. Scores of women get headaches or experience Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) or depression right before their cycle starts. For some women there are true hormonal imbalances such as elevated prostaglandins. Structural issues like uterine fibroids or endometriosis could also be factors. These should be evaluated by a doctor, with an integrative approach combining biomedicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) often being the most effective. However, for most women, treatment with a TCM approach can do wonders to ease pain and suffering and mental health surrounding the menstrual cycle. Let me show you how this can be achieved.
Table of contents
- How Does Traditional Chinese Medicine View the Menstrual Cycle?
- How Does Biomedicine View the Menstrual Cycle?
- What Causes Painful Period Pains?
- How TCM Can Help You Regulate Your Menstrual Cycle
- Simple Steps You Can Take for a More Comfortable Flow
- You Deserve to Feel Better — Even on Your Period
- Ready to Experience Fabulous Menstrual Cycles?
How Does Traditional Chinese Medicine View the Menstrual Cycle?
The specialty of Fu Ke, or gynecology, is one of TCM’s most widely practiced and most effective specialty in terms of patient outcomes. TCM views the menstrual cycle as a vital indicator of a woman’s overall health (think of it like a monthly report card), reflecting the balance of Qi, Blood, Yin, and Yang within the body’s organ systems. In addition, menstruation is a chance for a woman to release toxins that can build up. Each phase of the cycle—menstrual, follicular, ovulatory, and luteal—is associated with predictable shifts and patterns in these substances.
The menstrual phase involves the downward movement of Blood and Qi to cleanse the uterus and the body in general.
The follicular phase focuses on nourishing Yin and Blood to prepare for ovulation.
The ovulatory phase emphasizes the movement of Qi to facilitate the release of the egg.
Finally, the luteal phase requires nourished Blood and a balance of both Yin and Yang to maintain a stable uterine lining.
If Yin and Yang don’t meet in pregnancy, the cycle begins anew with the menstrual phase where Blood is shed.
How Does Biomedicine View the Menstrual Cycle?
From a biomedical perspective, the menstrual cycle is viewed as a complex interplay of hormones that orchestrate changes in the ovaries and uterus. The cycle is primarily governed by the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis, involving the release of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and luteinizing hormone (LH).
FSH stimulates the growth of ovarian follicles, leading to estrogen production, which in turn prepares the uterine lining for potential implantation. A surge in LH triggers ovulation, the release of an egg.
After ovulation, the corpus luteum forms and produces progesterone, further stabilizing the uterine lining. If pregnancy doesn’t occur, estrogen and progesterone levels decline, causing the endometrium to shed, resulting in menstruation.
What Causes Painful Period Pains?
Dysmenorrhea is the medical term for menstrual pain and cramping. Approximately 80% of women experience menstrual pain and discomfort. This number is staggering, especially because it can take women years to get a diagnosis of dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation).
From a biomedical perspective, there can be primary dysmenorrhea or secondary dysmenorrhea. Primary dysmenorrhea has an onset right after menarche, the first menstrual cycle. Secondary dysmenorrhea often happens later and has other root causes like fibroids or endometriosis.
Painful periods can significantly impact someone’s life, causing them to miss out on things because the pain is so intense. From a TCM perspective, dysmenorrhea often involves Stagnation of Blood and Qi, Liver Qi Stagnation (caused by high stress), and cold in the uterus. Thus, treatment for painful periods will often depend on the cause. For example, if the uterus is cold, warming herbs, moxibustion, and acupuncture are prescribed to great effect.
How TCM Can Help You Regulate Your Menstrual Cycle
Whether your period is late, early, or right on time, acupuncture and customized herbal medicine formulas can greatly improve your menstrual cycle by balancing hormones and reducing pain.
Many of our patients also come for treatments the week before they expect their period for a PMS treatment. This greatly improves their mood, headaches, GI discomfort, and other PMS symptoms. Acupuncture also improves blood flow to the uterus and ovaries, which can also help ease discomfort, and improve fertility. Actually, the first step in supporting fertility with acupuncture and herbal medicine is to regulate the menstrual cycle so that it comes regularly with little pain, discomfort, or other symptoms.
We want your period to just show up, on time, and unannounced and with no irritability or pain. This is very possible with customized acupuncture and herbal medicine.
Simple Steps You Can Take for a More Comfortable Flow
Your period doesn’t have to be a time of dread! With a few simple adjustments, you can support your body and have a more easeful, pain-free flow.
- During the week before and during your period, it is best to avoid cold drinks — cold drinks go right to the uterus and actually make cramps worse. Ouch!
- Avoid too much raw food like salads and smoothies the week before and during your period. Similar to cold drinks, raw and cold foods cause blood flow to the uterus to become restricted and this makes pain worse.
- Drink warm tea like ginger and brown sugar tea — the brown sugar helps relieve cramps and improves blood flow
- For pain relief and prevention, use a heating pad on your lower abdomen — I hope you’re sensing a theme, cold is bad, heat is good for menstrual pain and periods!
- Take a warm bath or shower to help with pain and cramping.
- Do some gentle exercise to keep Qi flowing.
- It’s considered best practice to avoid sex while on your period. Having sex while on your period can be more uncomfortable and it can make cramps and pelvic pain worse. In addition, from a TCM perspective, Blood flows down and out during your period and sex causes Blood to flow up — which is counterproductive and can cause a longer cycle or more pain.
- Let your flow flow! Avoid menstrual cups and tampons, which literally obstruct your flow and make cramps worse. I advise you to embrace organic, chlorine-free pads and menstrual underwear and just embrace your bloodflow.
- After your bleeding stops, be sure to nourish your body with iron-rich foods and protein. Eggs, red meat, chicken, salmon, and dark leafy greens are all great options.
You Deserve to Feel Better — Even on Your Period
Our goal is to get you to enjoy, or at least feel pretty good during that time of the month — and to have an easy, breezy period. It is very possible to have your period just start without prior cramping, irritability, and discomfort.
From a TCM perspective, ensuring an easy and pain-free menstrual cycle involves harmonizing Qi and Blood and nurturing the Kidney, Liver, and Spleen organ systems. We can do this with acupuncture and herbal medicine.
You can help by prioritizing a balanced diet of warm, cooked foods, rich in iron, protein and essential nutrients, while avoiding cold, raw, or processed items that can weaken the digestive system and lead to Blood stagnation and worse menstrual cramps. Incorporate gentle exercises like Yoga, walking, Qi Gong, or Tai Chi to promote the smooth flow of Qi and Blood throughout the body.
We also want to help you manage stress through getting enough sleep, getting acupuncture, exercise, therapy, mindfulness practices, or meditation, as mental health directly impacts Liver Qi, which governs menstruation. Don’t forget to trust in the wisdom of TCM and let your body’s natural processes with Qi and Blood flow.
Ready to Experience Fabulous Menstrual Cycles?
You deserve to have pain-free periods. If you’re ready to try something different to support YOU during YOUR menstrual cycle, then give acupuncture and herbal medicine a try. Your acupuncturist will use your tongue, pulse, medical history, and current symptoms to create a custom treatment plan that is just for you — because YOU deserve to feel better. To get started, head to our booking page and schedule your first appointment. If you’d like us to check your insurance benefits, we’d be happy to take care of that for you. Our acupuncture clinic in Washington, DC is in-network with CareFirst/BlueCross and Aetna.
About the Author
Hi! I’m Elyse, the go-getter who founded Cherry Blossom Healing Arts. I’m 100% a healer who loves to help people feel better! I absolutely love practicing acupuncture in Washington, DC.
