DYSMENORRHOEA

DYSMENORRHOEA

Painful or difficult menses is termed as dysmenorrhoea. Usually there is a cramping pain in the lower abdomen, which is occasionally associated with decreased appetite and nausea. The pain normally decreases in a girl after marriage but if it persists, further investigations under the assistance of a doctor are necessary. Women having sedentary habits are more prone to this trouble and so the patient is asked to be in the company of friends and relatives and should take a morning walk for atleast three kilometers a day.

Physical exercises like bending of the waist region and contraction of the pelvic muscles should be resorted to regularly. Hot water bottle or a heating pad can be applied locally over the abdomen to decrease the pain.

HOME REMEDIES
1. Avoid giving sour items, too much of spices, fried things and pulses to the patient. Decrease the salt intake to a minimum.

2. Vegetables like colocasia, potato, yellow pumpkin and brinjal are to be avoided in the diet. Whereas, vegetables like white pumpkin, bitter gourd (karela), surana, drumstick (saijan ki phalli), cucumber, gourd and papaya are useful for dysmenorrhoea.

3. Eat fresh chutney made from mint leaves (pudina) for the pain.

4. Fry five to six cloves of garlic in a little butter and cut it into small pieces and have it the first thing in the morning.

5. Boil a teaspoonful of cumin (jeera) seeds in 250 ml of water and cool and then strain and take this on an empty stomach with jaggery twice a day.

6. Asafoetida (hing) should be first fried in ghee or butter and then made into a powdered form and taken in one teaspoonful doses twice daily with meals. This should then be followed by a glass of warm water. If the pungent smell emitted by it is unbearable, it can be taken after adding it in buttermilk, vegetables, rice or bread.

7. Half a teaspoonful of the powder of sesame seeds, taken with hot water twice daily, acts as an excellent remedy in reducing the spasmodic cramps during menstruation.

8. Grind ajwain to powder and dissolve a teaspoonful of this powder in hot milk and take it twice daily.

9. Boil one to two teaspoonfuls of aniseeds (saunf) with equal amount of jaggery for five minutes; strain it and drink it in lukewarm water twice a day.

10. Regular use of fresh parsley juice, especially in conjunction with beetroot juice or with beetroot, carrot and cucumber juices (75 ml of each) help relieve the cramps, which are a resultant of menstrual irregularities.

11. Vitamin B6 should be taken during this period to help decrease the pain. The sources  of this vitamin are brewer's yeast, carrots, chicken, eggs, fish, meat, milk products, peas, soyabean, spinach (palak), sprouted grains, sunflower seeds, walnuts and wheat germ.