Menstrual Problems

ByStef Cordes & Lisa Baird
On one side, several people sleeping in recliners under red blankets. In the back of the room, a practitioner sitting on a stool facing a patient sitting upright in a recliner.
photo by Vanessa Tignanelli

Menstruation does not have to suck. Monthly bloating, mood swings, exhaustion, irritability, excessive blood loss, migraines and debilitating pain associated with bleeding can all be treated effectively with acupuncture. We suspect that societal taboos around menstruation contribute to the tendencies among much of the population to keep relatively quiet about menstrual problems. Please don’t.

Our monthly cycles are a normal and healthy part of our experience. It is normal and healthy to feel changes at different times of the month as various hormones rise and fall. But there’s a huge difference between feeling a bit introverted & quiet as estrogen drops before menstruation, and uncontrolled irritability, or feeling so sensitive that it’s hard to function or maintain healthy relationships. If you are having severe mental and emotional PMS symptoms, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Hormones are powerful, and when they’re out of balance this affects us on multiple levels.

Acupuncture can help. Acupuncture is so effective for balancing hormones that improved periods is sometimes a side-effect of acupuncture treatment! We’ve treated people for entirely separate issues–people who hadn’t even told us that they struggled with PMS, or heavy bleeding, for example–who have mentioned that their periods got better as we treated them for other issues: reduced bloating, digestive upset, migraines & mood swings, and lighter flow.

Finally, yes, acupuncture is very effective for period pain. If you get period cramps we generally recommend treatment every week or even two or three times a week, depending on severity, for at least a couple of months. It doesn’t always happen quickly, but we usually see great results treating period pain with regular acupuncture. (It’s worth noting though that there may be a serious underlying issue causing extreme period pain, so if your period pain is very severe, we recommend that you get it checked out by your doctor in addition to receiving acupuncture.)

If you have questions about how acupuncture can help you have a better experience of menstruation, please get in touch.

On one side, several people sleeping in recliners under red blankets. In the back of the room, a practitioner sitting on a stool facing a patient sitting upright in a recliner.
photo by Vanessa Tignanelli

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