Acupuncture For Period Pain
Period pain, known as dysmenorrhoea, is a symptom that occurs with your period and although it is common, it isn’t normal.
Period pain is frustrating, life altering, and down right annoying and you shouldn’t have to suffer from it every time you bleed.
Period Pain
With a quarter of all bleeding adults in Australia suffering from period pain, it is no wonder many of us believe that this pain is ‘normal’. I am sure many of you have even been told by a medical professional that is normal and not to worry about it.
Well I am here to let you know that while period pain is common, it isn’t normal. Your periods shouldn’t be hurting you and you are allowed to seek help for relieve the pain.
Period pain can occur just before and during your bleed, can be sharp and stabbing, dull and ripping, or both, and can cause mild to extreme discomfort, which can disrupt your day to day and your quality of life.
Chinese Medicine Perspective
The period is known as the Tiān Guǐ the ‘heavenly waters’ in Chinese Medicine and is more a mixture of period blood and the ovum (human egg). The Tiān Guǐ is first mentioned in the classic text the Huángdì Nèijīng.
Many Chinese Medicine organs play a role in the development and storing of the Tiān Guǐ, including the Kidneys, Liver, Heart, and Spleen. These are not the same organs we have grown to know in a Western sense, rather they are systems which hold a very deep root with Taoist philosophy. It’s a very different way to look at and heal the body.
Period pain can come from the imbalance of Qi and Blood energy (Xue). Qi and Blood energy can become stagnated or be deficient causing a lack of free flow. And when there is a lack of free flow of Qi, there is pain.
How Can Acupuncture Help?
Acupuncture has been used from thousands of years to help relieve pain and is becoming a popular treatment for pain due to periods.
Acupuncture is the process of inserting fine, single use, sterile needles into acupuncture points on the body. The acupuncture points are chosen according to the Chinese Medicine diagnosis process where I take an in-depth history of your menstrual cycle and your current lifestyle, combining that with the palpation of the 12 Chinese pulses on your wrists and a look at your tongue.
Chinese Medicine is an holistic medicine which looks at the root cause for your condition. Each treatment is individualised works on the underlying reason of why YOU are suffering from period pain. I use a mixture of acupuncture, Chinese herbs, Chinese Medicine dietary advice, Chinese Medicine lifestyle advice, supplements, as well as heat therapies like moxibustion and infrared heat lamps, to work on your underlying constitution.
Helping people with their period pain is something I have loved doing and is the main reason I have people come to the clinic.