How Osteopathy Can Help Period Pain

How to find relief from your period pain with Osteopathy

Although many women commonly experience pain before or during their menstrual cycle, excessive pain is not considered to be normal. Up to 90% of women are thought to suffer with some form of period pain but around 20% of women suffer with cramping severe enough to interfere with their daily activities. This is a huge number of women suffering every month but you don’t need to suffer in silence.

Dysmenorrhoea is the medical term used to describe severe period pain that interferes with daily life and is divided into primary and secondary dysmenorrhoea. Primary dysmenorrhoea describes period pain without any underlying pathology whereas secondary dysmenorrhoea refers to period pain which is caused by an underlying condition such as endometriosis or fibroids.

The symptoms of period pains vary greatly from abdominal cramping, lower back pain, leg pain, headaches, nausea, vomiting, bloating, irritability, constipation or diarrhoea.

The cause of pain during the menstrual cycle is through to be due to pelvic congestion, caused by constriction of blood supply to the muscles of the uterus. This can also lead to tightness in the muscles in surrounding areas such as the lower back and abdomen.

Osteopaths can effectively treat these structural imbalances to improve the functioning of the body to remove congestion and improve blood supply and drainage in and out of the pelvis. During treatment they will look to release any areas of tension throughout the body to ensure good mechanics of the whole of the pelvis as well as the pelvic floor and lower back.

Several recent studies have found significant improvements in both the intensity and duration of period pain, meaning that you don’t need to just ‘put up’ with period pain - your osteopath may be able to help ease your symptoms with manual treatment and also be able to provide you with a tailored exercise and relaxation programme to help manage your symptoms.

Period Pain Treatment in Guildford

Sally is our specialist Women’s Health Osteopath at Surrey Osteopathic Care. Sally suffered with severe period pains linked to endometriosis and with no relief from painkillers looked to Osteopathy to help. With a combination of treatment and some dietary changes Sally has now mostly overcome the symptoms she was suffering with and uses her experience as well as her expert knowledge to help other women suffering with similar symptoms.

You can book your appointment here