What are the reasons for headaches before and after the menstrual period and what should be done?
This article explains the reasons and corresponding methods for dealing with headaches before and after menstruation. I hope it will be helpful to you. Let's start the formal explanation! Why do headaches occur before menstruation? What are some methods to relieve menstrual headaches? Headaches before menstruation occur because a large amount of prostaglandins are released in the blood, causing blood vessels to dilate and smooth muscles to relax. This disrupts the normal function of blood vessels and is also caused by a decrease in estrogen levels.
Methods to relieve headaches include head massage, applying a cold pack, and wrapping a towel around the head. What is the cause of menstrual headaches? How to relieve menstrual headaches Menstrual headaches are a common and recurring disease during menstruation, which seriously affects women's physical health. It belongs to the category of premenstrual tension syndrome in Western medicine.
What is the cause of menstrual headaches? Menstrual headaches occur before or after the onset of menstruation or during the menstrual period. The headache starts from one side of the temple and quickly spreads to both sides, presenting as stabbing or throbbing pain, accompanied by a feeling of nausea and vomiting. Each headache lasts from 30 minutes to two hours, and the headache worsens when in a bad mood. Some patients also experience irregular menstruation, low flow, dark color, presence of clots, lower abdominal pain, and distension in the flanks. Research shows that 63% of women's headaches are related to menstruation, and the relationship between headaches and menstruation is the closest. Therefore, menstrual headaches should be the focus of prevention and treatment for women's headaches.
Menstrual migraines occur periodically during the menstrual cycle, usually lasting several minutes to about an hour. During an episode, there is a throbbing pain on one side of the head that gradually intensifies. Nausea and vomiting may occur, and the pain usually subsides after these symptoms appear. The headache tends to improve in a quiet, dark environment or after sleep. The pain can be localized to one area or spread to the entire half of the head. During severe headaches, there may be a pulsating sensation in the blood vessels or a feeling of the eyeball popping out. The pain typically reaches its peak within 1-2 hours and lasts for 4-6 hours or even several days in severe cases. Neurological and psychological dysfunctions may accompany the headache before or during an episode. Research has shown that migraine sufferers are more prone to brain damage, which can lead to strokes. The larger the number of migraines experienced, the greater the extent of brain damage.
Causes of headache during menstruation This may be related to changes in estrogen concentration in the blood. Before and after menstruation, the concentration of estrogen in the blood decreases, causing changes in intracranial and extracranial vascular tension, leading to headaches in some sensitive women.
Menstrual headaches are mostly caused by excessive blood loss leading to blood deficiency. From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, the head is the meeting point of various yang energies and is also where the marrow sea is located. During menstruation, excessive blood loss leads to deficiency of qi and blood, resulting in inadequate nourishment of the marrow sea.
Excessive dieting while losing weight can easily lead to malnutrition. Eating too little can result in insufficient water and salt intake, causing not only weakness in the limbs but also inadequate secretion of cerebrospinal fluid, leading to low intracranial pressure, which in turn causes menstrual headaches.
Frequently staying at home, lack of exercise, and low metabolic levels can lead to low blood pressure, which ultimately causes low intracranial pressure and resulting headaches. Women who experience long-term work stress and cannot alleviate their psychological pressure are prone to menstrual headaches, and they should learn to regulate themselves in order to avoid affecting their normal menstrual cycle. Lack of sleep or irregular sleep patterns can lead to mental or physical fatigue. Inadequate sleep not only affects normal life and triggers menstrual headaches, but severe cases can also lead to the occurrence of heart disease and digestive system disorders.
Menstrual period headaches often have a familial tendency, and experts believe that this may be related to genetics. If there are individuals in the family who experience menstrual period headaches, it is even more important to avoid the above factors in daily life. What to do for menstrual period headaches:
1. Soothe the liver and nourish the blood: Acupoints *** Before and during the menstrual period, massage the temples on both sides and the Baihui acupoint on the top of the head for 2-5 minutes every day. This technique *** can change the circulation of Qi and blood in the body, make the body's Qi and blood abundant, and the meridians smooth, thus effectively preventing and relieving menstrual period headaches.
2. During the menstrual period, it is recommended to have a light diet, avoid spicy food, and refrain from consuming alcoholic and caffeinated beverages such as alcohol, coffee, cola, and tea to prevent the dilation of blood vessels that can trigger menstrual headaches. 3. Ensure sufficient sleep to prevent excessive fatigue.
During menstruation, it is important to rest well and prevent overexertion as this is helpful in preventing menstrual headaches. If the headache is severe and accompanied by irritability and insomnia, it is advisable to take appropriate pain medication and find a quiet place to rest for a while. 4. Maintain a happy mood: a bad mood can lead to headaches more easily
If emotions are affected during menstruation, it can lead to liver qi stagnation, qi stagnation and blood stasis, and blockage of the brain's blood vessels, resulting in menstrual migraines. Therefore, during menstruation, it is important to learn to control one's emotions and maintain a happy mood.
How to relieve menstrual headaches: 1. Daily health care: Maintain a regular lifestyle, balance work and rest, avoid high-fat foods and beverages that can trigger migraines. During menstruation, avoid intense exercise and cold foods. 2. Physical therapy: Find a quiet environment away from bright lights. Take a hot bath. Get plenty of rest. Applying a wrapped ice pack or a chilled water bag on the temples can have a certain effect.
3. Change your lifestyle. Don't be too tense and overworked in work and study, pay attention to the combination of work and rest, listen to music, read books you like, and adjust your mood. 4. Outdoor activities. It is a good choice to engage in some aerobic exercises appropriately. Imagine your negative emotions being expelled from your body with each breath, and let yourself completely relax.
Menstrual headache is a common and frequently occurring disease during menstruation, which severely affects women's physical health and falls within the category of premenstrual tension syndrome in Western medicine. What is the cause of menstrual headache? What should I eat for menstrual headache? If women do not pay attention to their diets during menstruation, it can worsen their physical discomfort. Women who suffer from menstrual headaches should pay even more attention. What should they eat for menstrual headaches?
During menstruation, headaches can be relieved by consuming warming foods such as lamb, chicken, red dates, tofu skin, apples, coix seed, milk, brown sugar, and longan. If accompanied by poor appetite and lower back pain, it is recommended to consume nutrient-rich, spleen-invigorating, appetizing, and easily digestible foods like jujubes, noodles, and coix seed porridge. To maintain nutritional balance, fresh vegetables and fruits should also be consumed simultaneously.
According to traditional Chinese medicine, when the blood is hot, it flows smoothly; when it is cold, it stagnates; when it is painful, it indicates different conditions; and when the conditions are different, it indicates a blockage. Consuming cold food during menstruation can hinder digestion and damage the body's yang energy, leading to the production of internal coldness. Coldness can cause blood stagnation, resulting in symptoms such as scanty menstrual flow and migraines. Therefore, even during hot summer seasons, it is not advisable to consume cold drinks when experiencing menstrual headaches.
Although menstrual headaches are mostly related to cold qi in the body, it is also important to avoid consuming overly sour and stimulating foods such as hawthorn, pickled vegetables, vinegar, chili peppers, mustard, and pepper. Otherwise, the heat toxins in the body will not only fail to warm up the cold qi but also worsen the symptoms of headaches.
To prevent menstrual headaches, in daily life, it is advisable to avoid consuming foods such as milk, ice cream, processed meats, foods containing nitrates and nitrites, as well as coffee and chocolate, as they can all trigger headaches. When selecting food, it is also important to strive for lightness and freshness, and avoid spicy and stimulating foods. Additionally, it is important to learn to control emotions, ensure sufficient sleep, and prevent overexertion, as these also have significant implications in preventing headache attacks during menstruation.
Although there are many types of medications for treating menstrual headaches, such as Western painkillers, over-the-counter headache remedies, and medications for regulating the menstrual cycle, most of them only provide temporary relief from headaches, and the headaches may recur during the next menstrual period.
What precautions should be taken for menstrual headaches? During menstruation, it is important to pay attention to hygiene and diet, avoid getting cold, and prevent worsening of headache symptoms. 1. Avoid swimming in pools and taking baths, as well as getting wet in the rain, as it may cause cold and dampness retention and hinder blood circulation, worsening headaches.
2. It is best not to wash your hair, but if you have to wash it, do not spend too much time on it and dry it immediately after washing. 3. For those who suffer from menstrual headaches, there are 4 types of food that should be avoided during menstruation. (1) Chocolate: Not only is chocolate easy to cause weight gain, but it also contains tyramine, which is the main suspect in causing migraines.
(2) Meat: Including beef, pork, fish, and turkey meat, among others. (3) Fruits: including citrus fruits, apples, and bananas. (4) Beverages: certain beverages and their additives may also cause menstrual migraines. Alcoholic beverages such as various high-concentration liquors and red wine; caffeinated beverages such as coffee, cola, and strong tea; alcohol and caffeine can cause blood vessels to dilate, easily leading to menstrual migraines.
Frequent severe headaches before and after menstruation, what is the reason according to traditional Chinese medicine? Headaches occurring in women before and after menstruation may be related to changes in hormone levels in the body. When the estrogen levels in a woman's body decrease to a certain extent, it can cause headaches. In traditional Chinese medicine, it is believed to be caused by stagnation of liver qi and deficiency of qi and blood, which can also lead to headaches in women before and after menstruation.
What causes premenstrual migraines? Premenstrual migraines can be caused by factors such as premenstrual syndrome, migraines, and anemia. 1. Premenstrual Syndrome: In clinical practice, this condition appears periodically. The disease may be caused by hormonal imbalances in the ovaries, abnormalities in neurotransmitters, etc. It can manifest as physical discomfort during the luteal phase, such as breast tenderness, abdominal pain, headache, back pain, irritability, anxiety, and depression. Some patients may also experience difficulty concentrating, decreased memory, etc. The headaches generally disappear gradually after menstruation.
2. Migraines: Migraines are recurrent pulsating headaches that occur on one or both sides and are common in female patients. Due to hormonal and metabolic imbalances before menstruation, patients experience headaches, dizziness, and sometimes accompanied by symptoms such as nausea, sweating, and fatigue. Migraines usually occur during menstruation, decrease during pregnancy, or gradually decrease in symptoms.
3. Anemia: Anemia refers to a decrease in red blood cells in the peripheral blood, leading to insufficient oxygen supply to the organs and tissues. It can be caused by insufficient red blood cell production or excessive blood loss. Symptoms include fatigue, dizziness, headaches, and easy fatigue. When anemia is severe, the brain cells do not receive sufficient blood and oxygen supply, the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood decreases, resulting in symptoms such as premenstrual migraines, tinnitus, and lack of concentration.
The above is a complete explanation of the causes and remedies for headaches before and after menstruation. I hope it is helpful to you.
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