Dysmenorrhea will cause severe cramps before or during menstruation.
According to webmd.com. symptoms may include:
Aching pain in your belly (sometimes severe) Feeling of pressure in your belly pain in the hips, lower back, and inner thighs Upset stomach, sometimes with vomiting, Loose stools.
So what causes dysmenorrhea?
In TCM's theory, there are several possible causes:
1) stagnatioin of qi and blood
2) qi and blood are too weak
3) too much coldness
4) too much heat and dampness
If you feel lower abdominal pain before or during mentruation, the color is dark red and the pause is thin, then you may be experiencing stagnatioin of qi and blood, in this case, we will tonify the liver in order to eliminate the stagnation of qi, as well as relieve the pain by acupuncture.
If you feel pain during or after the menstruation and you prefer to press on it; the blood color is light, also you feel tired and dizzy most of the time, then maybe your qi and blood are too weak. We should build the foundation of your body first using herbal medicine, then use the new born energy to fight the illness. Be aware that in this case the treatment course will last longer.
If you feel pain and coldness in the lower abdominal area, and there is little blood, the color is dark and there are clots, then this may be due to too much coldness. In this case, we will basically warm up the body and chase awa y the coldness using herbal medicine.
If you feel abdominal pain before or during menstruation and you prefer to NOT press on it; the color of the blood is dark and odorous, then you may have too much heat and dampness. In this case we will eliminate the dampness, relieve the heat and clear any possible stagnation.