How To Get Rid Of Period Cramps

Hello. I'm Doctor Gemma Newman and I'm a G.P and broadcaster and today I'd like to help you with a few top tips to improve your health.

I'd like to talk to you about how to stop period pains. Now period pain is a very common problem and pretty much every woman suffers to some degree at some stage in their lives but some women get it worse than others and I've got a few top tips to make you feel much better during your period. The first thing I want to say though, is that it's really important to see your own doctor in a few circumstances and I just want to go through those with you now so you know what to do.

If your period pain is new in your thirties or forties, or if you have bleeding in between your periods, if you have bleeding after sex, if you have pain during sex which is associated with your period pain as well, if your having infrequent periods or if your having any kind of fever, it's important to go and see your doctor as there may be an underlying problem as to why you're getting more severe period pain. However most of the time especially if you've always had the pain, or it's worse when you're in your teens or twenties, it's probably more likely to be normal period pains. And the good news is these do tend to ease off a little bit as you get older and also after having children.

But what can we do now to sort out your period pain? Well the first thing I'd suggest and what makes a lot of people feel better is a simple hot water bottle or a hot bath. That tends to ease the cramps you're getting in the bottom of your tummy. If that's not quite doing the trick then you can move onto things like herbal teas.

Chamomile will help you feel more relaxed, and peppermint will also help with bowel spasm which you can sometimes get during a painful period and in fact diarrhea is one of the symptoms you can get associated with period pain. If that's not quite doing it for you then you can move on to certain painkillers. I'd start off with paracetamol, two tablets up to four times a day.

What I would actually recommend that works a little bit better than paracetamol is anti inflammatory painkillers. Now you can take those on the day that your period starts, or some women prefer to take them on the day before and this is thought to reduce the severity of your period pains. I would advise you to take them regularly for about two to three days as this provides a better pain blockade than if you just take them as and when.

So anti inflammatory painkillers would include things like ibuprofen, indomethacin and diclofenac. Some of those you would have to get from your doctor, others you could buy over the counter. Just a word of warning anti inflammatory painkillers are not suitable for everyone and if you have something like asthma or stomach ulcers or other medical conditions it's always worth speaking to your doctor first before you take them.

But on the whole anti inflammatories are a very good option so I would suggest that works very well for period pain. What else can you try? Well if your period pain is particularly bad some would say exercise helps a little bit as well. A little bit of light exercise does tend to improve milder period cramps.

If it's particularly bad you might want to go onto something a bit more medicated. An example of an intervention that would help you, that you have to go to your doctor for, would be forms of contraception. Now obviously contraception works to stop you from getting pregnant, but sometimes it can also reduce period pain.

The first port of call is often the contraceptive pill or the pill. Now again, that's not suitable for everyone and you have to go see your doctor and discuss whether that's suitable for you. however the pill is quite good because its designed to reduce the amount of cramps that you get, reduce your menstrual flow and it also helps to regulate your cycle.

The other option which is excellent is a kind of hormone coil, or IUS, whic