Sexual Health Information: Dealing With Menstrual Pain

Monthly periods are natural part of woman's life, for these involve the biological and physiological cycles of a female body. The pain, however, that is associated with menstruation is what makes it the most dreaded monthly period of most young girls and women.

The common problems associated with menstrual period are headaches, cramps, and PMS. Although these are generally normal and harmless, the pain of such problems can affect a girl or a woman's life and productivity.

PMS, or premenstrual syndrome, refers to the emotional and physical changes and symptoms that every woman experiences before the monthly menstruation starts. When a woman has PMS, she may suffer from the following:

* depression
* stressed out
* excessive fatigue
* irritability
* body pains

Many health practitioners claim that PMS has something to do with the changes in a woman's hormone levels. Some suffer from PMS, while there are those who do not experience any symptom at all. One popular theory is that those who always suffer from PMS are more sensitive to the hormonal changes in the body.

On the other hand, cramps is also one of the problems that is experienced by most women during their monthly menstrual cycles. The pain usually triggers during the first few days of the menstrual period. Fortunately, cramps only lasts for a dew days and can easily be treated with medications such as ibuprofen.

Moreover, headache is also a common complaint of most female teens and women before or during their menstrual period. Like the PMS, headache is also associated with the hormonal changes in a woman's body. If pain becomes unbearable, pain relievers are also recommended.

The following are some basic sexual health information on how to best cope with PMS, cramps, and headache:

1. To ease or relive menstrual pain, take a hot bath or shower to relax the muscles in the stomach and the lower back.
2. Listening to a soothing or relaxing music is also a perfect way to keep one's mind off the pain.
3. Practice slow and deep breathing. This will surely help make the tense muscles to relax.
4. Exercising is also a superb way of dealing with dreaded premenstrual symptoms, headaches, and cramps. However, only perform simple and gentle exercises like walking, jogging, or swimming.
5. Another effective way of relieving pain and tension due to menstrual cramps is to massage the lower back part of the body.
6. Food intake also affects one's susceptibility and sensitivity to pain brought by menstrual cramps or headache. Hence, it is best to regularly keep track of one's caffeine, salt, and sugar intake. Eating foods that are high in calcium such as vegetables and yogurt is also advisable.
7. Best muscle relaxants and pain relievers are magnesium and calcium, so maintained intake of these supplements will definitely help ease menstrual pain.
8. Herbal supplements are also recommended to women who are always suffering from cramps and headache during their periods. Cramp bark and viburnun opulus are among the most advised herbal supplements to help relieve menstrual pain.
9. Try to avoid standing for a long period of time. Standing for a long time will only worsen back pain and cramps.