Why do joints hurt during menstruation?

Menstruation is a normal physiological behavior for women. It is a process of cyclical growth and expansion of the ovaries, which then causes the shedding of some useless accessory tissues and is accompanied by bleeding. When women have their period, their bodies will experience some adverse reactions, such as lower abdominal pain, loss of appetite, and physical fatigue, etc. Some women will experience joint pain during menstruation. So what is going on?

Menstrual joint pain is closely related to the disorder of water and salt metabolism. Before menstruation, the hormone levels in women's bodies change significantly. At this time, the incoordination of estrogen and aldosterone secretion can cause water and salt retention. Excessive water and salt accumulate in the body's tissues, causing varying degrees of edema, which is most obvious in the face, hands, and feet.

When the abdominal organs and abdominal wall are edematous, there is often a feeling of abdominal distension and fullness. Gastrointestinal mucosal edema can cause symptoms such as loss of appetite, diarrhea, and soft stools. Pelvic organ edema can cause lower abdominal distension or pain. Breast edema can cause breast pain and fullness. When edema is obvious, it can also cause a significant increase in premenstrual weight. There is a triangular gap in the human knee joint, which is filled with fat tissue, called the infrapatellar fat pad. It plays an important role in the function of the joint. The retention of water and salt makes the fat pad prone to swelling, which in turn compresses nerve endings and causes pain.

Menstrual knowledge

1. Harmonize Qi and blood before menstruation

Before menstruation, you should harmonize qi and blood in time, and avoid eating too hot food. You can take some iron maple vine, rice ribs, yam (to strengthen the spleen and stomach), angelica, lotus root (to supplement iron), and kelp (to resolve phlegm, promote diuresis, and promote bowel movements and detoxification).

2. During menstruation, Yin blood flows down and Yang Qi is strong. At this time, you should not eat things that are hot in Yang Qi, such as red dates, donkey-hide gelatin, etc.

3. After menstruation, you need to nourish yin and blood. After menstruation, you need to nourish yin and blood to replenish the qi and blood lost before. [2] You can cook some nourishing soups, such as black-bone chicken with wolfberry and red dates soup, etc. You can also eat pork ribs, yam, lotus root. Of course, it is best to take Chinese medicine that nourishes yin and qi and blood. At the same time, you can also eat more "black" foods during this period, such as black fungus, black beans, black fish, and loach.

4. Some foods with cool properties, such as ice cream, winter melon, eggplant, loofah, cucumber, winter melon, crab, snail, kelp, bamboo shoots, orange, pear, grapefruit, watermelon, etc., and sour foods, such as sour plums, unripe sour fruits, or some spicy foods, such as fried foods, chili, pepper, mustard, etc., should also be avoided during menstruation to avoid blood flow problems. 5. Foods you should eat more during your menstrual period: You should eat more green onions, peanuts, walnuts, dates, longans, and roses. If you accidentally eat cold food during your menstrual period, or can't help eating ice, you can drink more brown sugar boiled with ginger to balance the blood circulation in your body and promote blood flow.