What to do if you have a headache during menstruation

Women often experience headaches during menstruation, which is a normal physiological phenomenon. During menstruation, women will experience deficiency of qi and blood, and the competition for the secretion of estrogen during menstruation will cause many complications in women. Therefore, women do not need to worry too much about symptoms of headaches during menstruation. They just need to rest more and keep warm. Generally, the headaches will recover automatically after the menstrual period.

What causes menstrual headaches?

Modern medicine believes that the causes of menstrual headaches are both physiological and pathological. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that headaches are related to qi and blood deficiency during women's menstrual period.

Modern science believes that menstrual headaches are related to the decrease in serum estrogen concentration during menstruation. Due to the influence of women's physiological factors, the estradiol concentration in women's serum will decrease during and before and after menstruation. This change will cause changes in vascular tension, causing headaches in some women who are sensitive to this. After menstruation, the estradiol concentration in the serum returns to normal and the patient's headaches can also be relieved. There is another possibility that estrogen (including estradiol) can stimulate the secretion of prolactin, thereby directly or indirectly stimulating the secretion of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins act on blood vessels, causing vascular contraction and dilation. This change also shows cyclical changes due to the influence of estrogen, thereby triggering headache attacks.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that menstrual headaches are related to qi and blood deficiency and excessive liver fire, and qi and blood deficiency is the main cause of menstrual headaches. During menstruation, women lose a large amount of menstrual blood, which leads to loss of Qi and blood. Deficiency of Qi and blood leads to poor blood circulation, blood stasis causes blood obstruction, and obstruction causes pain. If not treated in time, it will turn into periodic or other types of more severe headaches.

Some disappointments in real life can also become the trigger for menstrual headaches. In real life, work pressure is high. Female friends will inevitably encounter some unpleasant things or some difficult problems in their family life and work. In addition, the intense life and work pressure in modern cities puts the brain nerves in a state of tension. Mental fatigue, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, and some women even go without eating for a long time to lose weight. These bad living habits may lead to endocrine disorders and then cause premenstrual syndrome.

What are the symptoms of menstrual headaches

Menstrual headaches are usually characterized by migraine attacks during menstruation. Menstrual headaches occur with a frequency of about a few minutes to an hour, with a hopping pain on one side of the head that gradually intensifies until nausea and vomiting occur, at which point the feeling will improve. The headache will be relieved in a quiet, dark environment or after sleep. Neurological and mental dysfunction may occur before or during a headache. According to studies, migraine sufferers are more likely to suffer local brain damage, which can lead to stroke, than ordinary people. The more migraines they have, the larger the area of ​​the brain that is damaged.

In addition to occurring during menstruation, menstrual headaches may also occur before or after menstruation. The characteristic of the headache is that it starts from one side of the temporal region and quickly spreads to both sides, presenting as a stabbing or distending pain, accompanied by nausea and vomiting. Each headache lasts from 30 minutes to two hours, and the headache worsens when the mood is bad. Some patients also have headaches accompanied by irregular menstruation, scanty and dark-colored menstruation, blood clots, pain in the lower abdomen, flanks, and breasts, and warmth. Studies have shown that 63% of women’s headaches are related to menstruation, and the onset of headaches is most closely related to menstruation. Therefore, menstrual headaches should be the focus of prevention and treatment of women's headaches.

How to treat menstrual headaches

Traditional Chinese medicine has unique insights into the treatment of menstrual headaches. It can help relieve menstrual headaches through methods such as foot acupoint massage and symptomatic medication. Western medicine uses topical medications in treatment.

Chinese medicine health experts believe that the human head has corresponding acupuncture points on the feet, so regular foot massage or foot washing can stimulate the acupuncture points on the feet, thereby dredging the meridians and improving the body's resistance. The Yongquan point is located in the depression in the center of the sole of the foot. Regular massage can help relieve menstrual headaches. The specific massage method is: sit on a chair of appropriate height before going to bed, relax your whole body, let your feet hang naturally, move your feet back and forth on the sports massage wheel, or massage the Yongquan acupoint with your hands. But be careful not to use too much force. Gradually increase the speed and strength. When using it, be sure to alternate between sports massage methods. You can do exercise massage on one foot; or exercise massage on one foot and static acupoint stimulation massage on the other foot; or move both legs and feet in the same direction; or move both legs and feet in opposite directions. It is best to use it regularly, massage twice a day, each time for 20-30 minutes. When doing foot massage, you can use a uniform penetration therapy, using your knuckles to massage with even force and speed. Do not lightly scrape the surface, and do not press repeatedly in one place, and do not use too much force.

Menstrual headache will be aggravated by fatigue, the menstrual volume will become less and lighter in color, accompanied by fatigue, sore limbs, mental fatigue, poor appetite, more and thinner leucorrhea, pale tongue with thin white coating, weak and thready pulse, etc. These are symptoms of weak constitution or long-term illness that depletes the vital energy. When menstruation comes, the vital energy becomes further deficient, and the clear orifices are not nourished, causing headaches. You can choose Yiqi Congming Pills, which is composed of Codonopsis pilosula, Astragalus membranaceus, Licorice, Vitex rotundus, Pueraria root, Cimicifuga heracleifolia, White Peony Root, Phellodendron chinense, etc. It has the effects of replenishing the middle Qi, raising yang and relieving pain. Take 6 grams each time, 3 times a day. Other medicines with similar effects such as Buzhong Yiqi Pills and Renshen Yangrong Pills can also be used as reference.

In Western medicine treatment, doctors generally use a topical progesterone lotion. The usage of this medicine is to apply a thin layer on the skin every day 10 days before the menstrual period, which can help the human body suppress the drastic fluctuations of hormones during menstruation; or three days after the last menstruation, boil eggs with angelica and eat them (once a day for three consecutive days, 5 grams of angelica each time to boil one egg), which can help women stay away from menstrual headaches.