Hey Ladies, let’s talk about painful periods.
Period Cramps.
Pain.
Fatigue.
Mood swings.
I’m one of the many who experience unbearable period pain during that time of the month. Sometimes it’s bad enough that I need to take a leave of absence from whatever I’m doing. Fortunately, I’ve gotten it majority under control. As someone who knows the torture, let me share my tips with you so you can ease your period pains.
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Tips for Period Cramps Relief
In Chinese culture, there’s the concept of yin (cold) and yang (hot). Periods are painful because of too much yin in the body. Therefore, the strategy is to avoid the yin.
Drink brown sugar and ginger water
It’s common practice for Chinese girls to drink warm brown sugar water with ginger during periods. Brown sugar and ginger are both considered yang in nature. That’s why this drink will warm up the body and reduces the discomforts. If you have painful period cramps, I definitely recommend drinking this. I don’t know how many times this simple drink saved me.
Keep your drink in thermal cups such as the S’well travel mug so you can have access to hot drinks at anytime!
Drink more water & avoid caffeine
Warm brown sugar & ginger water might not be readily available everywhere, but hot water is. Drinking warm water can increase blood flow and reduce bloating, resulting in less pain.
Avoid caffeinated drinks during your period. Caffeine can narrow blood vessels which equals worse period cramps. Why would you want that?
Avoid eating cold food
Avoid eating cold and raw food. This might be torture in disguise for fans of iced drinks, ice cream, sushi… the list goes on. However, these foods are things that make period cramps worse. It’s overly yin in nature, so eating too much is no good.
Wear comfortable clothes
Periods are a pain to deal with. Make it easier on yourself and wear some comfortable warm clothes. This means hoodies, sweatpants, or anything (warm) your heart desires.
Keep your feet warm
Happy feet are a happy you! Wear warm cozy socks to keep in the body warmth.
Have a supply of heat pads
Bundle up around your belly area and keep it warm! I use heat pads every time I have a painful cramp. It really helps a lot, and it keeps my belly cozy for hours. That’s why my stash of heat pads is always in stock.
For larger area coverage, you can get an electric heating pad. I use these through the night and the auto shut off feature is extremely useful.
Enjoy a hot shower
Relax and warm up your entire body by enjoying a nice hot shower. Along with feeling refresh, you will also get temporary relief from period cramps.
Traveling with Periods
Periods at home are already annoying. But traveling with it? Ugh.
That’s why in the best possible scenario: Know your cycle and plan around it.
If you are flexible in your traveling dates, set it on days where it avoids your period completely.
Of course, this might be impossible when traveling in a group or on a business trip. So what can you do?
Schedule your activities so that on the days with the heaviest flow, you are not overexerting yourself with heavy activities. Plus bring along a period to-go kit.
Must have products in a period to-go kit
- A thermal cup – so you can have access to warm water at anytime. This S’well stainless steel travel mug keeps your drink hot for 12 hours!
- Heat pads – keep in your luggage. It’s useful during colder days too! If you have space, consider bringing along an electric heat pad.
- Menstrual cups – eco friendly & safer alternatives to pads/tampons. DivaCup is highly recommended!
- Period panties – double insurance. No one enjoys seeing red stains on a white hotel sheet. I swear by these panties from Thinx.
- Brown sugar ginger tea packs – easy to carry around.
- Warm socks – wear fuzzy soft socks to keep your feet warm
That’s all I have for now. If you have any other tips for keeping painful periods away, share them below!