COULD YOUR LIFESTYLE BE CONTRIBUTING TO YOUR PERIOD PAIN?
90% of non pregnant women have a misplaced uterus (I learnt this in my training but in all honesty, in my 5 years of clinical practice, I have yet to come across a uterus in its proper exact anatomical position). By that I mean that their uterus isn’t in perfect anatomical position as you see in diagrams. This isn’t actually a problem unless she isn’t moving around easily and you start having issues such as bad period pain, cramps, back pain, migraines, nausea, PMS, constipation or loose stools just before and during your bleed. You may also notice that you get dark sludgy stuff in your bleed, a very light spotting rather than a bleed, a bloating feeling or pain down your one leg.
When women come to me for Well Womb Massage and Reflexology, often have me work on their uterus and then go back to their old habits reinforcing the mal-position.
If this is you, there are some lifestyle factors to consider. If you in a sedentary job all day, and your back isn’t supported into the correct shape, then this can cause mal-position of the uterus, usually a retroversion.
Equally, if you are not moving around and static, then you start losing abdominal tone which supports the structure of your abdomen and pelvic organs, helping them remain agile and preventing congestion of tissue. The lack of blood flow and circulation means that there is less nourishing, oxygenated blood, flowing to the reproductive organs, less hormonal communication and the colon can get compressed causing constipation. It then has to work overtime to remove the blockage leading to loose stools.
The other culprit I come across a lot is women who wear very high heels, or a heeled shoe for most of the day, especially if their job requires a lot of standing. This can cause the pelvis to tilt the wrong way to counterbalance and the pelvic organs change their position to compensate.
What can you do?
First of all, if you do a sedentary job, ensure that your chair is set up properly. You may need a lumbar support or coccyx cushion, but ensure you back is supported in the right position and that you are sat correctly. There are many resources on the internet for this.
Secondly, ensure you get up and move your abdomen and pelvis regularly. Even if that means going to the lady’s room and doing a few hip circles in a cubicle.
If you wear high heeled shoes, ensure you get some time with flat shoes or bare foot during the day. If you back or feet are aching, that is a sign that you need to give your body a break!
Other great things you can do include yoga, pilates, swimming, castor oil packs and womb steams. To get more information on how to do a womb steam or a castor oil pack, download my free self care guide below.
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