A 51-year-old woman came to Raleigh Acupuncture complaining of painful periods. They had started six months earlier with an irregular cycle, heavier bleeding, night sweats, and big mood swings. Her doctor told her she was going through menopause, and the symptoms resulted from drops in estrogen and progesterone. This painful period case review describes how acupuncture helped ease her pain, resolve heat symptoms, improve her mood, and make her feel like her normal self again.
What Causes Painful Periods?
From a Chinese medicine perspective, painful menstruation (a.k.a. dysmenorrhea) results from poor blood circulation in the uterus. Every month blood accumulates along the uterine lining and sheds during menstruation. When blood is flowing properly, there is mild to no pain as it sheds. However, blood stagnation leads to moderate to severe pain, including cramping and sharp, stabbing abdominal pain.
You can tell if blood is circulating well by looking at its color. Bright red blood indicates good circulation, while maroon or purple-tinged blood reveals blood stagnation. Clots are also a telltale sign of circulation, with no or small clots reflecting good flow and moderate to large clots indicating stasis. Many factors can cause blood circulation, including trauma and stress. However, in this painful period case review, the main culprit of dysmenorrhea was a hormone imbalance caused by perimenopause.
Painful Period Case Review
Our patient was not a stranger to discomfort during her period. Over the last thirty-five years, she had managed mild to moderate cramps, with bloating and mild PMS symptoms leading up to and during the first few days of her period. However, nothing could have prepared her for the level of disruption she experienced over the past six months. Coupled with hot flashes, night sweats, and volatile emotions, she was exhausted, overwhelmed, and fit to be tied.
Her intake exam revealed that her pulse was thin and wiry, and her tongue was dark pink, with a red tip and rough edges. In addition, she had constipation, was waking during the night, and had trouble concentrating. These signs and symptoms pointed to a Chinese medicine diagnosis of Liver Qi and Blood stagnation coupled with Kidney yin deficiency, a common pattern imbalance associated with perimenopause.
Acupuncture Treatment for Painful Periods
We selected the following acupoints to address the various aspects of her condition:
Liver Qi and Blood Stagnation (painful periods, irregular cycle, mood swings): SP10, LV3, LI4, BL17, and BL18.
Kidney Yin Deficiency (night sweats, hot flashes, waking during the night, constipation): CV4, KD6, SP6, LI11, ST25, BL23, and GV14.
She came once a week for treatment. After four sessions, it was clear that acupuncture was helping. Her periods were 30 percent less painful, and the blood was significantly brighter. She had less bloating and cramping, and her mood was improving. In addition, she was sleeping better and had fewer heat symptoms. Following her eighth treatment, our patient was happy to report that her last period was 80 percent less painful – it felt like a regular cycle for the first time in eight months. Furthermore, her hot flashes and night sweats were gone entirely, and she was sleeping through the night.
How Long To Get Better?
Typically it takes three months to regulate a woman’s cycle. Regulation includes:
- Restoring a normal timeframe (not early or late)
- Getting a period to return (resolving amenorrhea)
- Relieving dysmenorrhea (painful periods).
Our patient in this painful period case review found relief sooner, after just eight sessions or two cycles. Everyone responds differently, and we design each acupuncture treatment to address the individual patient’s particular needs.
Painful Periods and Infertility
Our patient in this painful period case review was past the age of wanting to get pregnant. But many women struggling with dysmenorrhea also experience infertility. Chinese medicine explains this connection in simple terms – the blood must flow smoothly to get pregnant. In our experience treating infertility, when we resolve the painful periods, women can get pregnant.
It makes sense – good blood circulation is essential for a healthy pregnancy. The fertilized egg must successfully implant into the uterine wall. And the key to successful implantation is having a healthy blood lining in the uterus. By resolving blood stasis, you overcome infertility naturally.
Painful Periods and Mood Swings
Acupuncture treats mood swings by getting the Qi (energy) to flow better in the body. PMS is nothing more than Qi stagnation. Similarly, acupuncture gets blood to circulate better by promoting good Qi circulation. We recognize that the key to resolving blood stasis is first getting the Qi to flow. This connection explains why resolving blood stagnation (painful periods) also improves emotions.
Next Steps
Try acupuncture if you are struggling with painful periods. And don’t forget to mention any other issues you have during your intake exam. Many of those other symptoms are likely tied to your main complaint. Your acupuncturist will treat you as a whole being, interconnected, enabling you to feel vastly better on multiple fronts.
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Additional Resources
Painful Periods Acupuncture Research Study.
First Painful Periods Acupuncture Case Study.
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What our Clients are Saying
I never had painful periods until I moved and started a new job. Very high stress. Every month I started getting migraine headaches and severe cramping. A friend suggested Raleigh Acupuncture and I got treated. It helped three things – reduced my stress, stopped the migraines and totally stopped the painful periods. They were all related and all triggered by my job stress. It was fascinating learning more about my body and how things like work really do take a toll. I’m trying to lead a more balanced life now. I’m continuing acupuncture until I get a less stressful job.
Periods are supposed to be painful, right? Guess what? THIS IS NOT TRUE! Why didn’t I know about acupuncture ten years ago? Do yourself a favor. Check these people out. Don’t be freaked out by the needles. They don’t even hurt. You don’t have to put up with pain every month!!
I suffered from painful periods my entire adult life. They started me on birth control pills as a teenager, and that helped until my mid-twenties. Then they got painful again, like ten out of ten pain with terrible cramping. Luckily my job is flexible, because I would miss two days each month from the pain. I found Raleigh Acupuncture on the internet and liked their website. During the initial visit they explained why my periods were so painful and how Chinese medicine addressed it. It made a lot of sense to me so I tried it. They told me it would take three cycles to regulate my period, but honestly I starting feeling better within a few weeks. I can honestly say that now my periods are not painful at all and my period is “normal”. I am so relieved and grateful. If you have painful periods you need to try acupuncture.