menstrual health

Menstrual health does not have a unified standardized value for the whole society. It is a dynamic evaluation indicator based entirely on your personal physiological basis. The core reference for judging whether you are healthy or not is your own long-term menstrual normality, not the general standards circulated on the Internet.

To be honest, I have seen too many people stuck with the template of "28-day cycle, end in 3-7 days, dark red with no blood clots". A while ago, my best friend was so anxious that she took menstruation supplements for half a month because she had her period every 35 days. As a result, she went to the hospital to find out that all six hormone tests were normal. The doctor checked her menstrual records and was immediately amused: "You have had a 33-37 day cycle since menarche. It is as regular as an alarm clock. What's wrong?" ”

I have been volunteering at a gynecological clinic for half a year, and I have met too many girls who use common standards to criticize themselves. Some girls take progesterone indiscriminately to make up for the 28-day cycle and mess up their endocrine system. There are also girls who drink brown sugar and ginger tea as soon as they have their period, regardless of their hot and dry constitution. In the end, they drink so much that their menstrual flow increases and their face is covered with acne. In fact, menstrual health is essentially your body's "monthly physical examination report". You don't need to compare your own values ​​with other people's reports. The fluctuation range is the signal that needs most attention.

When it comes to evaluation dimensions, the judgment logic of Western medicine and Chinese medicine actually has its own reasons. There is no one who is right or wrong. You can refer to it as needed. Western medicine pays more attention to objective fluctuations: for example, if your normal cycle is stable at 30 days, and suddenly it becomes 20 or 45 days for two consecutive months, you need to be vigilant. ； The amount of bleeding is also compared with my own. In the past, 3-4 pads were enough for daily use. Suddenly, I have to use 7 or 8 pads and still leak, or I end up using only 1 pad. This is abnormal. ； As for dysmenorrhea, as long as it does not affect normal work and life and can be relieved by taking ibuprofen, it is not considered a pathological problem. After all, everyone's pain threshold is different. The evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine is more focused on the physical level: for example, there are basically no blood clots in normal times, but suddenly there are a lot of dark purple blood clots in two consecutive menstrual periods, or there was only slight soreness in the previous menstrual period, and this time the waist and abdomen are cold and painful to the point of being unable to stand up, accompanied by cold hands and feet, and diarrhea. It is most likely that the qi and blood are not smooth due to recent cold or disordered work and rest. The two judgment logics are actually complementary, and there is no need to take one side.

Speaking of which, I have to mention the issue of menstrual taboos that everyone has argued about eight hundred times. This is also the place where cognitive differences are most likely to occur. For example, can I eat ice during menstruation? The point of view of Western medicine is that as long as you don’t feel uncomfortable after eating it, it’s totally fine. I know a girl from Inner Mongolia who has been eating popsicles in the winter since she was a child. She has no problem eating ice cream during her menstrual period. If she has to avoid eating it, she will feel uncomfortable. ； However, the advice of traditional Chinese medicine is that if you usually have a weak spleen and stomach, and you have diarrhea and dysmenorrhea when you eat cold food, you must avoid it. There is no absolute "can" or "can't", it all depends on your own body reaction. The same goes for whether you can exercise during menstruation. My friend is a yoga teacher. Low-intensity stretching during menstruation can relieve pelvic swelling. But I feel pain when I move on the first day of menstruation, so I just lie down for a day. No one will say you are lazy.

Oh, by the way, some people also ask if they want to download a special APP to record menstrual periods? I have tried three or four models myself, and finally found that the most practical one is the memo that comes with the phone. You don’t have to fill in a bunch of fancy options. You can simply record the start and end dates, whether there is obvious pain, whether the amount is different from usual, and whether there are any special circumstances such as staying up late, traveling on business, or being stressed this month. After three or four months of continuous recording, your own "health standards" will come out, which is more accurate than all the general comparison tables on the Internet.

There is really no need to bother yourself for the so-called "standards". If two or three consecutive cycles are very different from your own normal, going to the hospital directly to see a doctor is much more useful than blindly searching Baidu and eating Internet celebrity health products. After all, your body will never lie to you. Those subtle feelings are the most accurate yardstick for menstrual health.