Herbs and Roots

MENSTRUATION AND DISORDERS CONNECTED WITH IT

What is Menstruation?

Menstruation is a periodic change occurring in human beings and higher apes, and consists chiefly in a flow of blood from the cavity of the womb, and is associated with various slight constitutional disturbances. It begins between the ages of thirteen and fifteen, though in warm climates and some races, it may begin earlier and in cold climates later. Secondary sex characteristics like the enlargement of the breasts, and characteristic hair distribution also appear with the onset of menstruation. The duration of the menstrual period varies from two to eight days and is a regular process in the majority of cases. The interval between the two periods is generally 28 or 30 days. Menstruation ceases between the ages of 45 and 50. The final stoppage is known as menopause or the grand climacteric.

In the majority of healthy women, the normal menstrual cyc1e is of twenty-six to thirty days, with the exceptions connected with childbirth. But in some cases disorders like amenorrhoea (the absence of menstruation menorrhagia (excessive bleeding during menses), and dysmenorrhoea (pain attending the process of men¬struation) appear.

Amenorrhoea

Amenorrhoea may be due to anaemia, bad feeding, want of fresh air and all causes which depress the system, and cause loss of flesh, tend to cause diminution and finally stoppage of the menses. Diseases like malaria, aggravated dyspepsia, tuberculosis and sudden fright, great grief may also produce scanty menses or totally stop them. Excessive bleeding during menses may be due to a certain extent to the same general conditions which precipitate scanty discharge of blood. It is well known that the effect of sudden shock or deep grief on women has been observed to result in miscarriages and copious discharge of blood during the monthly periods. In addition, the menstruation may start at an unscheduled time and may continue for longer periods than normal.

Dysmenorrhoea

Dysmenorrhoea may vary from mere discomfort to an agonizing colic, accompanied by prostration and vomiting. Anaemia is sometimes a cause of painful menstruation as well as of stoppage of this function. Occasional pain, especially when it precedes the men¬strual period, is due to irritation in ovary, and in this case it is generally accompanied by pain in the groin. For this type of pain, careful regulation of the bowels, regular exercise and the application of heat may be of advantage.

Most women in our country believe that pain is a necessary accompaniment of womanhood; they go through the agony of painful menstruation thinking this to be a normal condition. The maximum that they do ,is to take recourse to aspirin and other analgesics. Cases have come to me for treatment of headaches which were persistent and had become chronic and the patients, who also suffered from dysmenorrhoea, were surprised when the pain of menstruation vanished when their headache was treated in the naturopathic way.

Painful menstruation is an abnormal state resulting from the wrong type of diet and an unnatural way of living. Too much of addiction to tea and pain-killers to relieve the headache, addiction to refined and fried foods, lack of exercise-all these factors contribute to constipation in some cases of dysmenorrhoea. The chief cause of this malady is constipation and less than normal intake of water. Some girls purposely try to curb their intake of water so that they do not have to visit the toilet to relieve their bladders. This bad habit aggravates constipation which is at the root of painful menstruation. The patient should give up refined foods, polished rice, sugar and potatoes. Foods like fruit and boiled vegetables, particularly greens with plenty of roughage, should be the mainstay of their diet. They will help relieve costiveness.

Treatment

The breakfast of the patient should include milk and fruit and lunch and dinner should comprise of whole meal bread, boiled vegetables with a lot of roughage and at least 2 to 3 litres of water in the day. Condiments and seasonings should be totally given up since they tend to produce acidity and increase costiveness.

Walking and light exercise should be taken regulaely. It would be better if a hip bath is taken before one goes for a walk or takes exercise. The temperature of the water used for the hip bath must be 10 to 15 degrees F lower than the body temperature. Hip bath should be avoided during the menstrual flow, but might be taken if the pain is intolerable.

The patient should avoid high-heeled shoes and tight apparel.

Exercises

Some of the exercises described below will help relieve all problems connected with menstrua¬tion, whether it is pain, their scantiness or profusion or even irregularity:

1. Sit on the floor with your palms touching it and your legs extended outward. Try to raise your waist by putting all the pressure that you can exert 0:Q. the heels of the feet. Repeat it at least ten times.
2. Lie on the floor with your arms parallel to your body. Now lift one leg without lifting your body: see that your trunk sticks to the floor. Then lift the other leg. Repeat ten times for each leg.
3. While lying on the floor, raise your body on your head and heels so that it is arched outwards. Resume the recumbent position and repeat this exercise ten times.
4. Put a pillow below your waist while lying on the floor. Fold your elbows so that your hands touch your chin, Now raise your knees and extend your legs one by one. Repeat it ten times.

This regimen should be continued along with the diet suggested above till the patient is relieved of the symptoms which plague her.