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Lin Zhixiu suggests women to relieve the pain by changing their lifestyle.
Park Jung-eun
Kill the monthly pain
by Park Jung-eun
For women, menstruation is unavoidable. Women generally spend 40 years with the menses from early teens to early 50s, which means they have 450 menstrual periods in their lives. As one period lasts six to seven days, in total that will be about eight years ? one-tenth of an average span of life.
A survey conducted by the obstetrics and gynaecology department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong finds that 34.6 per cent of 1,000 women aged between 20 and 50 have experienced menstrual pain. Of them, 19.7 per cent suffer from strong or severe pain that affects their daily lives.
Hou Zuxin, a freshman of the Chinese University , has been troubled by menstrual pain since four years ago. “I feel like dying at the moment. It's so painful that I cannot think clearly or say anything,” she said.
The pain often comes on the first day. She suffers from a severe pain in the lower abdomen and sweats all over her face though she feels cold.
“Once when I was in secondary school, I could not walk or even hold a cup. I was almost in a faint. The teacher called my mother to pick me up and carry me to a hospital. The pain was eased after I got an injection of anodyne,” Hou said.
This has not happened only once. She went to hospital almost every month when she was in form four.
“Of course I could not attend classes on those days. I spent most of my time lying on bed in the school health centre,” Hou said.
She tends not to take any food during the period because she usually feels cramps in her stomach. Sometimes she throws up, even though she does not eat anything.
In fact, there are two types of dysmenorrhoea, the medical term for menstrual pain: primary and secondary. The primary one is severe pain but not a disease. It is common among women between the late teens and 20s, said Yuen Pong-mo, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Chinese University .
“Usually primary dysmenorrhoea starts about a year after women have menstruations and their cycles become more regular. When the pain is very severe, other menstrual-related symptoms such as headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and dizziness can be seen,” Yuen said.
Primary pain can disappear after giving birth, as childbirth is related to the level of prostaglandin, the chemical substance causing the uterine muscles to contract. When prostaglandins are excessive, that will produce severe menstrual pain, Yuen said.
As for secondary dysmenorrhoea, it is a pain caused by other medical problems such as endometriosis, which is an abnormality in the lining of the uterus, or pelvic inflammatory disease. The pain is more severe than primary dysmenorrhoea and persists continuously after menstruation.
“This condition usually occurs in older women,” he said.
Stress, overwork and lack of sleep can also cause severe menstrual cramps.
“Avoid overwork before and during menstruation. If you become unusually tired or nervous, you may be more likely to experience menstrual pain. Doing heavy sports or overworking right before menstruation affects primary dysmenorrhoea,” Yuen said.
Lin Zhixiu, an assistant professor of Chinese medicine at the Chinese University , points out that if blood circulates through the body smoothly, menstrual pain will not be that severe. However, poor circulation of blood is easily seen among young women, resulting in primary dysmenorrhoea.
“Eating junk food, lack of exercise and drinking small amount of water can cause bad circulation and these are what the young generation usually does,” Lin said. As bad temper tends to disturb the blood circulation, those who have a temper or negative thoughts are more prone to have menstrual cramps, he said.
Exposing the body in a cold condition also affects menstrual cramps because cold condition hinders the blood circulation. Weight also matters too, Lin said. Obese women are easy to have problems with blood circulation.
In that case, menstrual pain can be relieved by losing weight. Yet, women who are too slim are more likely to have period pains because they generally do not have enough protein to produce blood. They may have small amount of menses or even cannot have menstruation, which is considered as a secondary dysmenorrhoea – a disease.
“You can estimate whether you are too slim or too fat with body mass index, by dividing your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in metres. If the result is between 18.5 and 22.9, you are normal. Twenty is optimal for Asian people,” he said.
Lui Tak-hung, a Chinese medicine practitioner of Sun Wah Medicine Company, considers food also causes cramps. In Chinese medicine, food is classified into three groups: hot, mild and cold.
“Those who have severe menstrual cramps should not often eat too hot or too cold food. Green tea and bitter melons are considered as cold food, whereas spicy and fried dishes are hot food. For example, beef with black pepper is considered too hot, because both ingredients are hot food,” he said.
Sugar-rich food is not good either because sugar affects a person's mental state. Some Chinese medicine practitioners indicate that eating a lot of chocolate will lead to fluctuations in one's mental state and thus a woman may have emotional instability during menstruation.
To ease the pain, many women take painkilling drugs. The survey done by the Chinese University 's obstetrics and gynaecology department shows that 40.8 per cent of women take painkillers.
Lam Shu-shan, a student of English and linguistic at the University of Hong Kong , does not take painkilling drugs because she has heard that painkillers are harmful to the body and it sometimes makes women sterile.
Moreover, when people take the pills regularly, they may become used to them and will have to take more painkillers to keep them effective. “Painkillers won't make someone infertile,” Yuen said, adding that infertility is usually not caused by drugs but by some other biological problems.
“Generally, painkillers are safe, unless you take a large amount. Moreover, if you take them only during the menstrual period, there is no harm.”
Birth control pills also help. The pills decrease cramping by reducing prostaglandin production. They can be taken even if birth control is not needed, Yuen said.
“Make sure you take a pill at the first sign of menses or cramping. You don't have to wait until the pain comes if you have menstrual cramps every cycle,” he said.
Overdosing painkillers is not recommended by Yuen, however. When the symptoms are getting worse and the painkillers cannot help, one should see a doctor to find out whether there are any other reasons for the pain, though sometimes severe primary dysmenorrhoea cannot be relieved by painkilling drugs, Yuen said.
He suggested women to ease the pain by putting a heating pad on the abdomen or taking a warm bath. The flow of heat can provide soothing and temporary pain relief.
Meanwhile, Chinese medicine practitioners offer different solutions, such as pressing one's pressure points. Lin said: “Firstly, hold the inside of your left shin with your right hand. Then, to find the point, go a four-finger width above the ankle bone. The point is just above the top finger and behind the leg bone. Press the point for one to three minutes. Apply pressure to the same point on both legs regularly.”
He suggested those who have primary dysmenorrhoea to relieve the pain by changing their lifestyle. “Try to drink plenty of water and avoid smoking and excessive use of alcohol. In addition, keeping one's balance with a proper work and rest pattern is needed,” the Chinese medicine expert said. Regular exercise is also necessary to prevent dysmenorrhoea. Walking, swimming, running, bicycling and aerobic dance may improve blood flow and diminish cramping symptoms. For some women, exercise may inhibit prostaglandins or help release endorphins, the natural painkiller produced in the brain.
However, there are hidden blessings to women behind the monthly battles.
“You don't have to feel sad about being born as a woman. Research results show women who still have menstruation tend to have less heart disease compared with men of the same age. Women who have menstruation generally have higher levels of high-density lipoprotein, which is good cholesterol. That protects women from having heart diseases,” Yuen said.
