In part 1, I introduced the topic of period pain. In this blog post, I want to explore the topic from the perspective of functional medicine practitioners who believe that period pains are caused by certain nutritional deficiencies particularly vitamin B, magnesium and essential fatty acids.
There is evidence that magnesium can reduce the sensitivity to pain. In one study 21 out of 25 women treated with magnesium for six months saw a reduction in the period pain.
In one scientific study over 500 women aged between 12 to 21 with moderate to severe period pain took vitamin B1. 87% were completely cured after 3 months. Just 5% saw no effect at all, while 8% saw their pain reduced. There is also scientific evidence that vitamin B6 may be useful too.
Finally, there is scientific evidence that Acupuncture can be a safe and effective treatment for period pain.
References
Magnesium reference see >> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27978803, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11687013,
Vitamin B reference see >> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8935744, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1459624/
Acupuncture references see >> https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29879061 and https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2017/1791258/abs/