Menstruation is a part of every woman’s life that comes without any exception. Periods for different women are as different as women themselves are. For some of them, it’s completely a pain-free experience and for others, periods come with their fair share of periods of pain episodes. 

I am sure most of you have experienced this. Painful abdominal cramps, heavy blood flow and nausea add to your troubles. All of this can make these days miserable for you. Further, many women experience severe mood swings during this time. 

Painful Periods – Why is There So Much Hype?

Periods of pain generally depend upon individual health and how their bodies respond to the changing hormones. However, the severe period of pain sometimes could be an indicator of an underlying health problem. I can relate to a similar incident where my sister complained about severe period pain and we took her to a renowned gynecologist in Islamabad. After a series of laboratory testing and scans, she was diagnosed with PCOS and then doctors began to treat her accordingly. 

Don’t be afraid! Not every type of period pain is due to PCOS or serious medical illnesses. Sometimes, it is how your body decides to take it. There are many home remedies that can help you to deal with period pain. Want to know what can be of great help? Here are some of the best home remedies to relieve your period’s pain. 

How to Get Rid of Period Pain?

1- Apply Heat

How many times do you hear your parents and grandparents telling you about the benefits of heat application just to get rid of the painful period pain? I am sure most of us find this relatable. Heat application is quite an effective and instant period pain relief method. All you need is an external heating source and keeping it all over the painful area every time it hurts. Heat has a soothing impact and can relax your muscles which might be resulting in period cramps. 

Other than this, taking a hot shower is also a good idea to deal with period pain. Though in many cultures, it is prohibited to bathe for a few days but bathing is good for your menstrual hygiene and even good for periods of pain relief.

2- Herbal Teas

Green tea, chamomile tea and what else can count as a good option. These herbs are nature’s cure for the problem. These herbal teas are rich in antioxidants and can help soothe your muscles. Make sure every time your period pain gets worse, start sipping this herbal tea to remove toxins from your body. 

3- Oil Massages

No matter if you are suffering from a headache or muscle stretch, oil massages come as a favorable option. Massaging the painful area can help to relax your muscles and thus relieve the pain. Further, these oils have pain-relieving properties and massaging them onto the skin leads to their better absorption. You can choose any oil for massage and can see how it relieves the worst menstrual pain. 

4- Drink More Water

You may find it surprising but do you know that water can also help you with menstrual pain. Staying hydrated serves the purpose of keeping bloating away from you. Bloating and poor digestive function are some of the most common complaints about periods. So, make sure you are taking in enough water to help yourself through this time of the month.

5- Load your Diet with Anti-inflammatory Foods

Inflammation can make periods worse for you. Inflammation can be difficult to fight but no wonder anti-inflammatory foods can surely be a great help here. You can load your diet with some of the best anti-inflammatory foods. Some of the best anti-inflammatory foods to add to your diet include ginger, flax seeds, eggs and much more. These additions can surely help you to deal with the inflammation and can lessen the severity of period pain.

6- Medicines or Supplements

When it comes to period pain relief, over the counter medications come as a great help. NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) are known to relieve the period’s pain and these medications particularly work well by fighting off the inflammation. Further, vitamin C supplement is also helpful to regulate the menstrual flow and make the period’s pain manageable. 

Bottom Line!

All these home remedies can help to relieve period pain to a greater extent. However, if nothing seems to improve the severity of pain, it is better to consult a gynecologist to identify the underlying cause of the problem and treat you accordingly. 

It has been proven that excessive salt and sugar intake by a kid under 1 year old leads to health problems. First, the kidneys are affected, then the respiratory and cardiovascular systems react negatively, and the metabolism in bone tissue is disrupted. However, parents worry that without sugar and salt, a child will not receive sucrose, which provides energy and mineral salts necessary for cellular metabolism. 

This is a big misconception because it has long been proven by scientific nutritionists, sucrose is completely unnecessary for children under one year old. Healthy sugars should enter the kid’s organism with fructose, which is found in fruits and vegetables. Regular table salt is not the kind of salt that a growing body needs. In every metabolic process, mineral salts participate that are the most complex substances in their chemical composition. 

Therefore, Holle formula does not contain sugars and table salt. The required amount of nutrients and micronutrients is calculated taking into account the age needs. Holle infant formula is as close as possible to breast milk and is enriched with additional components for comfortable digestion and full growth of a baby.

Sugar in baby formula

Consuming too much sugar often means too many calories. In case they are not used, then the body will store them in the form of fat, which will lead to weight gain. If it happens to a child, it is highly likely that it will remain overweight in adolescence and adulthood. The need for sugar under one year old is only 4g. Babies up to 4-6 months old get easily digestible sugars from breast milk or adapted formula. With complementary foods, natural sugars of vegetables and fruits are added. No more than 6g per day is advisable for children after a year.  The excessive usage of sugar into a child’s diet leads to a number of problems:

• fermentation processes in the intestines are enhanced, which provokes bloating and painful colic
• excess sugar is deposited in fat depots thus leading to the development of obesity, diabetes mellitus, and changes in the central nervous system
• tooth enamel is destroyed
• sugar provokes addiction

Sugar-free Loulouka formula guarantees that a baby will receive a sufficient amount of the necessary nutrients and will save a baby from these issues. 

Salt in the content of infant milk

There is a stereotype that the human body can get serious functional impairments without salt. However, is salt really so necessary for babies under one year old? Many pediatricians agree that a child receives all the necessary mineral salts from either breast milk or infant formula. 

The daily requirement for salt for a kid under one year old is 0.3g (0.5 g after one year old). Before starting complementary foods, this amount is obtained from the human milk or adapted formula and after that, mineral salts are received from vegetables, fruits, cereals, meat, and other food. If parents want to additionally enrich the child’s diet with salt it will create a great burden on the kidneys (since salt retains fluid) and the child’s pancreas.

If sectors have been severely affected the most by the COVID-19 pandemic, they have to be education and employment. At the height of the pandemic, people weren’t even allowed to leave their homes. This ensured that no school would continue, and work had to be stopped. When normalcy or some of it was resumed, there have been several changes that came to effect. For example, most workplaces are today set up to enable social distancing. But those are just the minor problems; you will find the major ones below. 

Work Problems

When the pandemic hit, several people lost their jobs as most companies closed down operations due to a lack of customers. Some companies required their employees to provide a sick leave certificate. Around 32% of the global workforce had their work affected in one way or the other by covid-19. Another 25% lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic too. These are just rough estimates around the impact on work that covid has had. There’s a deeper picture, though; the statistics don’t see that. For example, a few have resumed work a year after it hit the people who lost their jobs due to COVID-19.

In the US, for example, the unemployment rate remains at highs of 42% due to the pandemic. This is one of the highest unemployment cases due to the covid-19 pandemic. China has the lowest with only 17%. Most of the people whose jobs were affected by covid have, in most cases, changed employment. Only a few have returned to the same positions after the pandemic affected their jobs. Some have even gone back to the same job but with reduced wages. Overall, work has severely been affected by covid-19. The other problem that COVID has caused in the workplace is that more men are returning to work than women. The loss of jobs cuts across all genders, but 9% of men have returned to work than women. 

Impact on School

School is another sector that suffered immensely due to covid. Students had to leave the school year, and catching up hasn’t been easy. In most countries., the school calendar year has to be entirely postponed, which hasn’t done the students any favors. This prompted most parents to try out different homeschooling ideas for their kids. Around 84% of parents took it upon themselves to home school for about six months. Its impact can be felt, though, as many parents aren’t trained teachers to handle the rigorous academic needs. There have also been some major social issues that children have developed due to staying at home. The social impact, both negative and positive, has been at highs of around 31%. About 32% of parents then feel that their children have fallen back academically due to their time out of school.

 You can:  find more on the stats above here.

COVID Created Change 

There have been significant changes due to COVID both at the workplace and in educational facilities. These are some of the problems that have come from; COVID in these two sectors.