Ice For Menstrual Cramps

Adequate calcium intake may also help relieve menstrual cramps.

Ice for menstrual cramps. Severe menstrual cramps can affect your daily life. If a build up of blood in your pelvis is causing your cramps use an icepack to help draw the blood out of the pelvis and toward the extremities. Painful cramps can also be managed with ice packs. Foods like milk cheese and ice cream contain arachidonic acid an omega 6 fatty acid which can increase inflammation.

Ice packs are effective at numbing and reducing pain. These packs ease inflammation and swelling too. Studies have found that physical exercise may help reduce the pain of menstrual cramps. Effectiveness of ice packs lies in the time gap in its application.

Heat and cold therapy both are useful in different types of injuries including muscle cramps. Cold packs reduce bleeding as they cause blood vessel constriction and subsequent reduction in the loss of blood. Heat is to be applied in chronic cases of cramps while ice is to be applied within 48 hours of the cramping injury. In a study of young women those who took a supplement containing 1 000 milligrams of calcium per day beginning on day 15 of their menstrual cycle until menstrual pain stopped in the following cycle experienced less intense menstrual pain than those who took a placebo.

A number of studies have indicated that vitamin e omega 3 fatty acids vitamin b 1 thiamin vitamin b 6 and magnesium supplements might reduce menstrual cramps. March 26 2001 women have often turned to the soothing warmth from a heating pad to help ease the pain of menstrual cramps doctors however say they are still trying to determine if the. According to yvonne bohn md ob gyn at providence saint john s health center in santa monica california there s no definitive support for using heat on menstrual cramps but she does recommend it. Soaking in a hot bath or using a heating pad hot water bottle or heat patch on your lower abdomen might ease menstrual cramps.