Period pain? How I managed to go pain free!

It is one of the first signs of growing up. You're theoretically able to become pregnant and have a baby. I think we can all remember our first period. What a shock, there is blood on the toilet paper, you're possibly at school and have no clue what to do. Some years later you're now dealing with different things. You have a steady period and you can plan and manage it. But there is a big problem.

My experiences with period (pain)

At the start I never had any/much pain.I got my period when I was 12 years old. When I was 13, I got a special version of the birth control pill. It was obviously not for birth control but should help my acne and would keep my period in normal 28 day cycles as my period came very irregular.( This is completely normal though, it's a new thing for your body as well.) I took the birth control pill until I was 16 years old. Then I started thinking and researching if the pill was good for my body. I don't want to go into detail, I will probably make another post about that. I then stopped taking the birth control pill. It took a while until I had normal and natural cycles again but then the real pain started. On the first day of my period and even on the day before I felt a horrible pain in my uterus. For the lucky people who have never felt that pain: It feels as if someone had put a sword through your lower body and you have a huge inner wound that is pounding inside you. I've been testing certain products and methods for a year now and would like to share them with you now.

My tips for a pain free period

First of all I want to say that every woman is different. That also means that every woman feels pain differently and that my way is probably not your way as well. Try as many things as you can, going pain free is a process.

1. Drink loads of water and/or tea
As I said, sometimes I am in pain even before my period starts. Drinking will help your body to get started. The blood gets thinner so it will be easier to flow out your body and won't get lumpy. There are also certain kinds of teas you can drink to relieve your pain.

2. Go for a walk
I can understand that this is the last thing you would want to do while you're in pain. But going for a walk or even doing an easy workout can help your body to get started as well. Trust me, I really need to force myself to move, too. But half an hour after I feel no pain anymore.

3. Switch to a menstrual cup
A menstrual cup has many advantages at once. You'll save money and you're producing less waste. It will be difficult using it the first few times, but it's worth it. It definitely makes a difference to tampons pain whise. It won't dry you out as much and will just keep you healthy.

4. Take a hot bath
This will help you to mitigate any cramps you are having. It's just a good thing for your whole body, to calm down and get a rest.

5. Accept the pain (for now)
This seems to be a bad tip. But being angry about having pains doesn't make anything better, does it? The pain is there and it won't go away. Sit down and tell yourself that the pain is there. The sound of your heartbeat is really loud in your brain but it cuts it out for you. So why shouldn't the same work with your pain? This is a tip I've read in a Buddhist book and I can imagine that lots of people won't get it. But it's still worth a try.

This is a really sensitive topic and many people don't talk to anyone about it. But remember that half the worlds population, so over 3,500,000,000 women are "suffering" with you. It's a completely normal thing and you don't need to be ashamed of it. Thank you for reading this article, follow my blog if you want to read more about controversial and "forbidden" topics.