Ayurvedic Home Remedies for Menstrual Problems Part 1

There are excellent ayurvedic home remedies to ease menstrual pain. Do you suffer from menstrual pain? 

Most of the females suffer from painful menstruation and dread their periods. They have to deal with PMS, cramps, or headaches around the time of their periods. These problems are usually normal and nothing to worry about. But there are a few conditions that can be more serious. If you suspect you have any of these conditions, seek your doctor's advice. They are amenorrhea (no periods),menorrhagia (excessive flow for a long time), dysmenorrhia (painful periods),endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, fibroids.

Here are some ayurvedic home remedies for menstrual problems.

The white pith of aloe vera cut into small pieces and mixed with buttermilk to be taken internally to cure leucorrhea (white discharge).

Pepper powder and neem flower powder mixed in equal quantities and taken internally cures most of the uterine problems.

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (semparuthi in Tamil) flowers consumed in empty stomach in the morning purifies blood.

Plantain and cardamom powder (a pinch) taken internally can bring down heavy menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia).

For regulation of menstrual cycle, have juice of mint leaves (pudhina) mixed with honey of equal quantity before the onset of the cycle.

Put a few hibiscus rosa-sinensis (shoeflower) in hot ghee and saute for about 5 minutes. Cool the ghee. Take out the flowers. These flowers taken internally can stop excessive bleeding.
Portulaca quadrifida or chickenweed purslane (pasalai keerai) taken internally can cure white discharge (leucorrhea).

Tender mango leaves dried in shadow powdered (1 teaspoon) mixed with honey (1 teaspoon) and taken internally regularly cures venereal diseases.

Crush 50 gm of Naaval pattai (bark of syzygium jambolanum) and prepare a decoction with 200 ml water. Reduce it to 50 ml. This decoction 30 ml to 50 ml is taken two times a day for menorrhagia (irregular profuse bleeding).

These are some of the excellent ayurvedic herbal remedies for menstrual problems.

Ayurvedic Home Remedies for Menstrual Problems Part 2

Make a powder of the bark, root and seeds of pomegranate each of equal quantity by weight. 3 gm of that powder mixed in hot water and taken internally both in the mornings and evenings can cure most of the uterine disorders.

Half of a pineapple a day can cure leucorrhea or white discharge.

Dishes made of Indian spinach (pasalai keerai in Tamil) taken regularly can cure leucorrhea. See:http://www.medindia.net/alternativemedicine/ayurvedaanddiet/Herbal-Plants/Indian-spinach.asp

Anethum graveolens or dill (English) (sadhakuppai in Tamil), black cumin or Kashmiri cumin (karunjeeragam in Tamil), and turmeric are taken in equal quantity and ground into powder. This powder (3 gm) should be mixed with palm candy (5 gm) and fennel water (one glass) and taken internally morning and evening during periods can solve uterine complications and strengthen theuterus.

Leaves of the Indian cherry tree (elandhai in Tamil) one handful, 6 pepper corns, and 4 garlic cloves all these ground together as a fine paste and taken morning and evening before food for the first two days of menstruation can cure uterine difficulties.

Juice of Erythrina Indica (kalyana murungai in Tamil) leaves 50 ml taken internally can cure menstrual pains.

Menstrual cramps can be overcome by consuming clove powder 1-2 gm with palm candy.


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Ayurvedic solution to Menstrual Problems

Ayurveda offers very effective home remedies to cure menstrual problems. Menstrual problems afflict most of the women a major portion of their life. 

Couple of my earlier posts suggested some ayurvedic herbal remedies for menstrual problems.

Black gram strengthens the womb. For girls with delayed menarche, scanty menstruation, inability to conceive, painful menstruation, etc dishes made of black gram and linseed (black gram laddu, make a judicious choice of less spicy ones from this selection, etc) are prescribed to mitigate the intensity of pain and eventually cure them.

To cure irregular menstruation, delayed menarche, painful menstruation, difficulty to lactate, etc linseed and black gram were considered the ideal remedies. Drinking linseed soaked water is one easy way to benefit. Intake of kashayam made of linseed and black cumin seeds (nigella sativa) also helps. As a result of regular and judicious consumption of dishes made of black gram and linseed females can benefit from timely and regular menstruation, and get rid ഓഫ് other general debilities related to menstruation.

Sugar candy, poppy seeds, vaal milagu (java pepper), badam (almond) of equal quantities are pounded together to make a fine powder. Honey and ghee are added as required. This formulation is prescribed for women with painful menstruation. This is mixed in milk and taken twice a day, one week before the onset of the menstrual cycle. Fenugreek kashayam complements this very well.

Kungumapoo mixed in milk and taken regularly helps scanty menstruation.

In case of excessive flow, one effective remedy is found to be taking of a soup of dill seeds and fennel seeds.

To help with body pain during those days, dhanvanthiram kashayam 3 spoonful mixed in 60 ml of warm water along with dhanvanthiram tablet is prescribed. This should be taken on empty stomach morning and evening.

To help with menstrual cramps, heat dhanvanthiram oil in an iron ladle to a bearable level and apply it on the lower abdomen, pelvic, thigh areas. A few gentle strokes downward will do the trick. Also soak a small ball of cotton in the oil and place it on top of head. Allow the oil to soak for 5 - 10 minutes. Bathe after 30 minutes in warm water. Following this regimen on Tuesdays and Fridays is found to be very beneficial.

There are some more standard ayurvedic preparations that are very effective in curing menstrual problems and my subsequent posts will deal with them.

Ayurvedic Home Remedies: Lifestyle Changes and Menopause

Women in their late 40s and early 50s face a lot of physical and psychological disturbances during cessation of their menstrual process. Some physical symptoms include hot flashes, sudden onset of sweating, sensation of heat throughout the body etc. Coupled with this is the risk of postmenopausal weight gain.

To tackle this condition and to effect a smooth transition to the postmenopausal stage Ayurveda suggests some lifestyle changes. Ayurveda regards menopause as imbalance of doshas. Its recommendations include consumption of fresh fruits and leafy vegetables and reduction of intake of hot and sour foods. An exercise regimen consisting of brisk walking in open space for 30 minutes is recommended. Meditation and prayer can help to calm the mind and provide the much needed psychological support.

To neutralize the hormonal imbalance, chandraprabha gulika is taken three times every day after food both morning and night. This preparation is available in two forms, the conventional small peppercorn sized balls and the modern tablets. In case of tablets, two of them can be taken. The conventional balls should be taken after soaking them in a few drops of milk and squishing them to a paste. To complement this, Chandanaasavam and usirasaavam are mixed together and 50 ml of this combination is taken after food both in the mornings and evenings. Application of pinda thailam once or twice a week can take care of body aches and hot flashes. Women who are in the throes of menopause can follow this regimen, even if they do not experience the symptoms mentioned above.

Observation of some dietary restrictions helps in preventing weight gain in postmenopausal women. Intake of sugar, carbohydrate and milk should be reduced to the minimum. Daytime nap is a strict no, no. The importance of consumption of fruits and leafy vegetables cannot be stressed enough. Adequate water intake is also necessary in flushing out waste products from the body.

Some of the ayurveda preparations that can help women facing menopause are asokarishtam, triphala choornam, satavari lehyam, balarishtam etc. These are some of the safer alternatives to the risky hormone replacement therapy recommended to menopausal women by the conventional system.

Flowers as Ayurvedic Home Remedies

Ayurveda uses flowers to cure certain diseases. Flowers play an important role in our lives. Flowers of various hues and colours soothe your mood and relax your mind. The fragrance of certain flowers cools you down. Certain flowers can cure diseases when eaten. Following are some flowers used for treating diseases.

Rose
Even though many colours of roses are available the original roses are the best ones suited medicinally. This alone has the enchanting fragrance. Rosewater prepared from rose flowers is used as eyedrops to keep away all eye related infections. Kulkund made from rose cures ulcers of the stomach. The powder of dried rose petals acts as excellent laxatives.

Jasmine
Jasmine falls under the category of herbs which cure diseases just by inhaling them. For example, most of the mental disorders decrease in severity on inhaling jasmine flowers. It calms your mind.

Sunflower
Oil obtained from the seeds of sunflower can be applied on acne. This promotes healing without suppuration. When applied on swollen joints it is found to reduce inflammation. Sunflower oil is used in preparing various dishes.

Shoe flower
The red five petaled shoe flower has excellent medicinal value.

5-10 petals of the shoe flower are chewed. Drink a glass of water. This is found to cure ulcers of stomach. Also white discharge or leukorrhea can be treated this way.

The petals of 4-5 flowers are ground into a paste and mixed in buttermilk. Drinking this buttermilk cleanses your blood. It also strengthens your heart.

For hair fall, premature graying, and baldness etc a preparation made of shoe flower has proved to be beneficial. This is how you prepare it. Put petals of 50 shoe flowers in linseed oil and put this oil in a bottle. Wrap it with a thin white cloth and place it in sunlight for 10 days. Stir the oil once morning and evening. Filter the shoe flower out from linseed oil and mix coconut oil of equal quantity. This should be applied everyday on the scalp to prevent hair fall.

Plantain flower

Known for its excellent diuretic property dishes made of plantain flower are good in curing most of the stomach problems. They are also good at curing hemorrhoids. Some excellent dishes can be found here.

Neem flower
Gather neem flowers during the flowering season, clean and dry them. Powder the flowers and store them. This powder can be used in preparing rasam etc, to cure pitha and vadha related diseases. It also protects the liver.