For women, menstruation often brings a lot of inconvenience. They may experience acne, oily skin, bloating in the waist and abdomen, feeling cold all over, and some women also suffer from varying degrees of menstrual pain, which can be unbearable. So, what methods can be used to relieve the discomfort during menstruation?
Relieving Menstrual Pain with Fennel
During menstruation, some women experience intermittent abdominal pain and irregular menstrual flow. Some people simply attribute this to cold in the uterus and drink ginger water with brown sugar every day. Although there may be some improvement, the symptoms return when they stop drinking it. In this case, Fu Qingzhu proposes a unique insight - he believes that it is caused by discomfort in the liver. The liver belongs to the wood element in the five elements and has the function of storing blood. Women are weak during menstruation and are most afraid of wind and cold. If wind and cold enter the body, it can block the flow of liver qi, and when liver qi is blocked, it can also block the flow of menstrual blood, resulting in intermittent and painful periods. Therefore, to solve this problem, it is necessary to treat the blockage of liver qi and promote its smooth flow.
In this case, you can try fennel. Fennel is a common kitchen spice used in cooking fish, stewing meat, and making braised food. It has a pungent and warm taste and belongs to the liver, bladder, and stomach meridians. It can warm the kidneys, warm the liver, promote qi circulation, and relieve pain. Why can it promote liver qi circulation? Because of its warm nature, it can dispel cold. If wind and cold persist in the liver, it needs a strong warm force to expel them. Fennel's warmth is good for promoting qi circulation, and its pungent taste helps to quickly dispel cold. By dispelling the damp and cold in the liver, the liver qi can flow smoothly, the function of storing blood can be restored, and the intermittent and painful menstrual symptoms can be effectively improved.
It is very simple to use fennel to assist in the treatment of menstrual pain. There is no need to use expensive Chinese herbs. Take 15 grams of fennel, 20 grams of ginger, and 30 grams of brown sugar 10 days before menstruation. Boil them in water and drink it. One dose per day is enough. By replacing tea with this drink, it can warm the meridians, dispel cold, and promote blood circulation, thereby resolving stasis and relieving pain. In fact, there is no need to deliberately supplement, it is enough to add fennel as a seasoning to dishes. It not only enhances the taste of the dishes but also provides nourishment in daily life. It can be said that fennel has a regulating effect on all cold symptoms. It can even kill bacteria and parasites. It can alleviate symptoms of coldness in the body, such as cold hands and feet, cold stomach, or abdominal pain, and even diarrhea in summer.
During menstruation, you can also try boiling tea tree roots and lonicera roots, adding 15 grams of fennel, and placing them in a container. Add one plucked hen (without feathers and internal organs), appropriate amount of yellow wine, rice wine, and salt. Stew together for 2-3 hours, cool and remove impurities, then add a little brown sugar and drink it. The chicken meat has a spicy and rich flavor, which is very suitable for appetizing and nourishing women who have menstrual pain and loss of appetite. It can warm the meridians, dispel cold, and also regulate menstrual pain and infertility.
Fennel can not only be consumed but also used in other ways to nourish qi, blood, and regulate menstruation. Take 15 grams of cinnamon, cloves, evodia, angelica, and fennel, 6 grams of dried ginger, Chinese prickly ash, and salt. Steep the herbs in water and soak the feet for 30 minutes. Before soaking, you can steam your feet with hot air for a while and then start soaking when the water temperature is suitable. It is best to soak until there is a slight sweat on the whole body. During foot soaking, stir the herbs in the herbal soup with your feet, press the acupoints on the soles of the feet with the herbal residue, and promote the circulation of qi and blood through the hot stimulation of the feet. This can also relieve the damp and cold in the liver and regulate the intermittent and painful menstruation.
Relieving Abdominal Pain before Menstruation with Paeonia Rubra
Some women experience abdominal pain several days before menstruation, and when the menstrual flow comes, the blood is mostly dark purple or black. They often use hot water bags and drink plenty of longan and brown sugar water to relieve the pain. It can be easy to bear during winter, but in summer, it's already hot, and the feeling of having to use a hot water bag to relieve the pain and sweat all over is unbearable. Some people attribute this abdominal pain to individual differences, while some older people mysteriously say, "It will be better after marriage." However, many women find that the pain remains the same even after marriage. What is going on?
Fu Qingzhu does not agree with the view that coldness causes abdominal pain. He believes that it is related to the accumulation of internal heat. According to traditional Chinese medicine, if the flow is smooth, there is no pain, but if there is pain, it means there is a blockage. The pain caused by this blockage is mainly due to the stagnation of liver meridian.
The liver belongs to the wood element in the five elements and is most afraid of fire. When the liver qi is smoothly dispersed, the blood and qi flow smoothly. However, when the liver qi stagnates, it can cause internal fire to burn, and the hotter it burns, the liver cannot store blood, so the hot internal fire has to be released along with the liver qi, resulting in dark purple menstrual blood, which is the result of liver stagnation and internal heat. If you want to regulate premenstrual abdominal pain, you need to soothe the liver and release the stagnant liver fire with cooling substances.
For the abdominal pain caused by liver stagnation and fire, you can try using paeonia rubra. Paeonia rubra is the dried root bark of peony. Fu Qingzhu often uses it in his treatment of menstrual pain, such as the Xuan Yu Tong Jing Tang, the miraculous formula for treating premenstrual abdominal pain, and the Peony Bark Powder in the "Good Recipes for Women". Paeonia rubra has a bitter and cold taste and belongs to the liver and kidney meridians. It can clear the heart, nourish the kidneys, and promote the circulation of the heart meridian. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" praises it for "nourishing yin and reducing heat, resolving blemishes and toxins, promoting throat, and relieving urinary blood stasis." Its bitter and spicy nature can disperse and resolve stagnation, which is suitable for liver stagnation and fire.
You can try paeonia rubra and mulberry leaf tea for menstrual pain. Take 20 grams of paeonia rubra, 10 grams of mulberry leaves, and a little white sugar. Steep them in a large cup of hot water and drink it. Mulberry leaves have a sweet and cold taste and belong to the lung and liver meridians. The sweetness can nourish blood, and the coldness can cool the blood. The combination of sweetness and coldness can promote qi circulation and nourish yin. It has the effects of dispersing wind and heat, clearing heat, and cooling blood. It can not only regulate premenstrual abdominal pain caused by liver stagnation but also has a certain effect on hypertension.
In daily life, we can also use paeonia rubra to make health pillows. Take 500 grams of gypsum, 400 grams of paeonia rubra, 300 grams of rehmannia, 200 grams of white peony, 100 grams of anemarrhena, and 10 grams of borneol. Crush the gypsum, then dry and grind the other four herbs into coarse powder, mix them with borneol, and stuff them into a pillowcase. This pillow has the effect of clearing heat, cooling blood, soothing the liver, and nourishing the spirit, making it the best treatment for blood heat and liver stagnation. However, although paeonia rubra is good, it is ultimately a cold substance and should not be used excessively. It should be used with caution in cases of blood coldness, stomach coldness, pregnancy, and excessive menstrual flow.
