How To Alleviate Painful Menstrual Cramps

Cramps for many women are highly painful and can cause many other body aches, such as back and leg pain. Sometimes it can be thoroughly the worst part of the whole month when menstrual cramps set in and seems like there is no solution. But, if you take a few measures, you can relieve the intensity of your cramps and feel back to normal in no time.

First, the first moment you feel even a twinge of pain, run to the medicine cabinet and take two Ibuprofen. This must be done immediately, otherwise the pain will heighten and soon it will be too terrible to control. Think of it as a race against the pain, and be aware of when you feel the first sign of any discomfort. You must eat something with the Ibuprofen, or else you will create more pain for yourself as the acidity in your stomach will make it hurt. So, eat something and take your medicine fast and you will see that the pain that follows will be quelled to great lengths.

Even if you take medicine around the clock as instructed, you might still fee pain, back aches, and leg aches. The best way to relieve this is to exercise. Laying down in one places will only make it worse and will not cause your muscles to relieve themselves. If you go for a walk or even perform some exercises, you will notice that the severity of your cramps diminishes. This is actually something you should do all the time. Exercising as a daily part of your life, is something that will make your cramps much less intense when your period does come around.

Another way to reduce your painful cramps is to take oral contraceptives for that effect. Sometimes they are prescribed by doctors to help eliminate cramps, but be sure you are aware of all the various side effects that could result before using them to prevent your cramps.

There are ways you can improve your diet to help you reduce cramps whenever your period begins. If you have a diet rich in zinc, calcium, or B vitamins, you will be helping yourself deflect the pain of cramps during your period. Also, herbal remedies like Viburnum prunifolium, Scutellaria, and Cimicifuga raemosa have certain effects that will help reduce your cramps.

If your have a lot of discomfort, taking a warm bath might help ease your pained muscles and bring some relaxation to you. A warm shower or anything where your body is contacted with warm water will help soothe the painful contractions and lower the pain and aches.

A warm heating pad placed on your lower abdomen can also help reduce the intensity of the cramps and bring you some relief. You can get purchased heating pads that you plug in with adjustable heat levels controlled by a small device attached to it. This can help you decide if you need it to be really hot or just mildly so. If you don' t have a heating pad, you can certainly fashion one yourself. You can take a bottle and fill it with hot water then wrap it with a sock. Or you can iron some towels and sheets till they are hot and then place them against your stomach.