In this week's video i'm going to teach you how to reduce your period pain and how to reduce
that bloating and of course most importantly i'm going to teach you when you need to seek
medical advice now i did ask my advanced clinical practitioner friend joanne which you may remember
from a previous video which we did on birth control pills it's a star in this video but
unfortunately she is super busy she did send the regards however and she gave me loads of useful
tips to incorporate into this video to give the information to you guys so what we're waiting for
let's begin so to begin with what actually causes period pains well this is a very
complicated science and we can make this video super duper long and i don't want to do that
i'm going to summarize this to best of my ability so to begin with you have something
called progesterone which is a hormone those levels drop and then prostaglandin a chemical
is released which causes the wound to contract and this contraction causes the cramping now
these prostaglandins they also reduce the amount of blood flow to the womb so what does
that mean well it means there's going to be less oxygen going there which leads to all the cramping
and the pain it's kind of similar to when you get a cramp in your muscle let's say your leg
if you're running it's a lack of oxygen that's causing that pain which is causing that lactic
acid buildup okay so you now know a little bit of the science behind it all but the next question is
how do you stop those painful cramps those painful periods and all that bloating that comes with it
well don't worry abraham the pharmacist has always got your back so now let's look at
10 top tips to help reduce those period pains and also to help you have a bloat-free period
okay so step number one you need to get yourself a wheat bag or a hot water bottle get it ready i'm
more of a fan of a wheat bag by the way wrap it in a tea towel and then place it on your lower back
or on your tummy abdominal area and what is this going to do well it's going to increase
the blood flow to that area because that heat is going to cause more blood to flow to those areas
remember we spoke about earlier that blood flow is reduced so by increasing the blood flow it's going
to help with those cramping pains and anything associated with period pains step number two
run yourself a nice hot bath you can add things like essential oils to help you relax have a good
time in the bath relax your muscles and this is going to help again with those cramping pains that
we talked about earlier moving on to step number three once you're done with your relaxing bath
you might feel tired you might feel sleepy which is great have a little nap this is gonna help
relax your mind it's gonna again help relax your muscles and overall it's gonna help with
the period pain and the cramping it's gonna take your mind off things step number four once you're
awake it's now time for some gentle exercise maybe like some yoga or some simple stretches again the
purpose of this is to increase blood flow to help with the cramps to help with the bloating to help
with the period pain and we know all this because we spoke about the science right at the start
step number five now that your muscles are nice and relaxed you can give yourself a
nice little easy massage also give your belly a massage give it a rub in a circular motion
all of these are going to help and if you can get your significant other to give you a massage as
well your muscles are relaxed this is a great time to get the blood flowing everywhere now
so far i've been going down the drug-free route because i thought to myself a lot of people might
not have medication at home but a lot of the stuff that i spoke about so far pretty much everyone has
at home and can do however if the drug-free route isn't working so far there are medicines that you
can try which will help so let's run through them then so moving on to step number six painkillers
now there's various different painkillers that you can try for example paracetamol and ibuprofen work
really well you can either take them together or you can take them on their own whichever works
best for you however please do remember before you take any medicine always feed to your healthcare
professional first so they can check that you're safe and suitable to use that medication that is
the most important thing because your safety is the most important thing also remember if
these painkillers don't help you there are also many other different medicines that you
can try as well which are prescription only so the best advice for medicines is always meet
your healthcare professional now feeling bloated when you're on your period is completely normal
but there are a few things that you can do to help with the bloating so let's crack on so let's
continue from the previous steps so step number seven the first thing you need to do is when
you're on your period you need to make sure that you're drinking plenty of water or fruit juice now
what you don't want to be doing is drinking fizzy drinks fizzy drinks will make the bloating worse
also when you're on your period you need to limit your alcohol consumption or completely stop it if
you can alcohol causes water retention and that water retention is going to make the bloating
worse so you need to limit or stop the alcohol step number eight you need to increase your fruit
and vegetable uptake look by doing this you're going to increase your fiber uptake so what does
that mean well it means you're going to stay more regular and it's going to mean that you're going
to be less bloated what you don't want to be doing is having things that high in sugar which are low
in fiber for example cakes biscuits sweets all of these things first of all are no good for you and
second of all will make your bloating worse too because they cause water retention step number
nine you need to reduce your salt intake to help reduce your bloating so avoid things like crisps
avoid things like deadly sliced meat and definitely avoid ready meals like the microwave
ones the frozen ones whichever one ready meals are always notoriously high in salt so try and
prepare your own food now get into the habit of reading the labels that come with foods to
check for their salt levels and i promise you it will make a massive difference and step number 10
smoking if you smoke you need to quit this one's a double whammy because smoking reduces the amount
of oxygen that your blood can supply that can hold and also do you remember the prostaglandins that
we spoke about earlier how it reduces the oxygen supply to the womb so both of these are going to
be causing that but on top of this smoking is also going to cause inflammation it's going to affect
your digestive system so all of these are going to increase the bloat the bloating that you get
with your period pains so you need to quit smoking if you do quit now you might be thinking
to yourself well that's easier said than done abraham because how do i quit smoking it's so
difficult not to worry abraham the pharmacist has always got your back i've done a video on this
topic so if you're interested in quitting smoking i'm going to leave a link to that video up here
and in the description below and i would highly recommend that you watch it so hopefully you're
finding these tips helpful it's going to help with your period pain and all that bloating that can
come with it but the next question is how can we actually prevent period pains in the first place
how can we prevent the bloating well let's look into that so tip number one having a chat with
your healthcare professional about starting a contraceptive pill or an iud having that fitted
these can both help to regulate and help with the period pains but like i said you need to speak to
your healthcare professional about these so they can discuss how it works they can discuss if it's
suitable for you and they can discuss the side effects that can be associated with it as well
so i definitely recommend if you're interested in it speak to your healthcare professional first
and tip number two again looking at preventative stuff so if you know you're someone who has very
heavy periods then again it might be worth speaking to your healthcare professional about
getting a clotting agent prescribed to help slow it down and to help prevent the period pain now
you may have also heard about certain supplements so for example evening primrose oil is one of them
and they say that it can help with period pain and it can help regulate your cycle the truth is
there really isn't enough evidence out there that suggests that they can do this i've had a look at
lots of different evidence and the data about it and it's just not enough information about
it to recommend it now you've also got to remember that these supplements they don't have the strict
manufacturing and research criteria that medicines do so they don't have all the evidence supports
that can support them or all the data behind it to justify it so please remember that but if
you are interested in taking a supplement like that or anything else i would highly strongly
advise you to always speak to your healthcare professional first and get their sort of outlook
on it get their thoughts about it before you do it now please do remember only you know how your
normal periods feel like so if your period pain feels different to how it usually does if it's
more painful if it's just different always speak to your healthcare professional about it because
only you will know that now there are also many different occasions that you need to know about
to speak to a healthcare professional as well which is why i've included it in this video so
let's run through them so firstly speak to your healthcare professional if your period
is unusual in any way so for example if it's heavier than usual if it's late for any reason
if you're having too many in a short period of time and also if you're having any discharge
any different colored discharge for example if it's yellow or green then you definitely need to
speak to your healthcare professional about this the next thing i'd like to discuss is checking
for any lumps in your pelvic area and also if you have any extreme pain or sudden weight loss
these are all red flags that you should be speaking to your healthcare professional about
and please don't be embarrassed to talk to your healthcare professional about these sort of things
they're going to do their best to help you thank you for watching this week's video i really hope
these tips help you you are now a period pain pro you now know all about the science behind why we
get them you know how to treat it you know how to reduce the period pain you know how to reduce the
bloating you know how to prevent the bloating as well and you know all about the red flags too so
you are a period pain pro so tell your friends tell your family tell your loved ones tell
everyone because you now know about periods next thing i want to talk about is please if you have
any suggestions any tips for period pains please leave a comment below too because i'm sure loads
of people who are watching this video will love to read it and i'd love to read it too for some tips
and advice to hopefully give to patients as well also if you have any future ideas for video topics
like this one for example it's from a comment that someone left if you have any future ideas
leave a comment below too again i'll read it i'll write it down and hopefully i'll make a future
video about it now i'm going to stop talking and i'm going to go back always remember that you're
awesome and i will see you next week hey guys thanks for watching this week's video make sure
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