Menstrual pain

Also menstrual abdominal pain. Smaller abdominal pain occurring before, during, or after menstruation. There are three main forms:

1. Lesser abdominal pain that occurs before or during menstruation, that in severe cases radiates into the lumbus, that likes warmth, and that is associated with scant reddish flow with clots, aversion to cold, sloppy stool, a slimy tongue fur and a tight sunken pulse is a cold-damp pattern.
2. Smaller abdominal distension and pain before or during menstruation, with distension more pronounced than pain and relieved by the discharge of clots, scant dribbling flow, distension in the breasts and rib-side, a speckled tongue, and a stringlike sunken pulse indicates liver qì depression.
3. Dull post-menstrual pain that likes pressure, accompanied by scant pale flow, aching lumbus and knees, dizziness, and tinnitus, a pale tongue covered with a thin white fur, and a fine sunken pulse indicates liver-kidney depletion.

Treatment To treat the tip, regulate the blood and relieve pain; to treat the root, treat according to the pattern identified. Acupuncture treatment for menstrual pain involves rectifying the qì and blood of the thoroughfare (chōng) and controlling (rèn) vessels on the fundamental principles of vacuity is treated by supplementation, repletion is treated by draining, cold is treated with heat, and heat is treated with cold. The methods of treatment are: dispersing cold, clearing heat, supplementing vacuity, or draining repletion. These may be combined with stimulation to move qì or quicken the blood. Care must be taken to avoid indiscriminate use of attacking stasis and expelling blood. Sometimes it is necessary to ensure fullness of qì and blood before freeing action can be effective. See the entries listed below.