There are many symptoms that accompany menstruation. Normal menstruation usually has a regular cyclicity, a consistent flow pattern, and a minimal amount of clots. Travel, stress, trauma, and dietary changes can all alter the menstrual cycle. These alterations should be temporary and any persistent change should prompt you to have your body evaluated. On the other hand, how your menstruation is changed can alert you to how your body is reacting to stress.

Some discomfort associated with the onset of menstruation is normal. Pains that are increasing or require pain medications are not normal and need to be evaluated. Especially in teens whose menarche and subsequent menses are irregular or painful, this may indicate an underlying problem such as endometriosis. By first prescribing oral contraceptives for this condition without addressing the underlying imbalance - the inflammatory activity - the problem may persist even years after initial onset. This may also affect fertility when planning a family later in life. Other reasons for painful menstruation can be infection, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, IUD usage, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and uterine fibroids. Chinese Medicine believes that when we experience pain, the body is trying to communicate to us an imbalance needing treatment or care. The approach to treating pelvic menstrual pain needs to be a natural and holistic one. This means we need to not only address the pain and associated symptoms, but we also need to address the underlying cause. By identifying the nature of the condition, appropriate acupuncture treatment or herbal remedies can be administered to address the condition as a whole. The key to successful eradication of menstrual pains and associated symptoms is to treat the condition early on.