Menstruation & Exercise
Let’s be honest, the thought of doing anything other than binge watching the latest Netflix show, eating mountains of chocolate and curling up in bed while on your period doesn’t seem very appealing. However, studies into how exercise can help to ease the severity of period symptoms have shown promising results.
Exercising regularly is well recognised to have a number of advantages when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, so it makes sense that keeping active while menstruating has its benefits. So how can we integrate it into our lives?
What is Premenstrual Syndrome?
Premenstrual Syndrome, more commonly known as PMS, refers to the physical and emotional symptoms which are often experienced 5-7 days in the lead up to, and during, menstruation.
Women tend to experience PMS at various levels of severity, with a range of different symptoms and for varying lengths of time. Figures from The Victorian Department of Health and Human Services show that around 75% of women experience mild premenstrual symptoms while approximately 20- 30% experience severe symptoms. In the latter category, around 8% of women link PMS to a reduction in quality of life.
This begins when preteens first get their periods, caused by the rush of hormones teenagers experience during puberty, continuing throughout a person’s menstrual cycle until menopause.
In terms of a specific cause, Jayashri Kulkarni, a Professor of Psychiatry at Monash University, comments on “the powerful influence that hormones such as estrogen, progesterone and testosterone have on brain chemistry, which underpins emotion, mood and behaviour”.
All of which are defining factors in relation to both the cause and individual differences in the severity of PMS symptoms.
Can Exercise Ease My Symptoms?
Yes, it appears it can. A systematic review published in January 2020 in the journal of Complementary Therapies in Medicine looked at 17 different studies which were carried out on a combined total of 8817 women.
Exercise type and duration varied between the studies; however, their analysis showed that regardless of the type of exercise, regular exercise appears to be effective in relieving symptoms.
Specifically, clear improvements were seen for physical symptoms such as pain, constipation, breast sensitivity, and psychological symptoms such as anxiety and anger.
What Should I Do?
As always, it still very much depends on the individual, and you will always know your body best. With that, try more cardio focused exercises such as running, cycling or continuing with any sports that you may be involved in.
One of the studies included in the systematic review had groups of women participate in aerobic exercises three times a week for sixty minutes per session, which resulted in an easing of symptoms.
However, by simply staying active through even light activity such as walking or careful stretching every day, symptoms such as breast tenderness, anxiety and depression can be reduced.
By engaging in regular aerobic exercise, people can not only feel more comfortable during their period but can also benefit from a number of other positive health related factors such as improved fitness, mental health and assisting in boosting the immune system.
So perhaps, the endorphins released during exercise might just be enough to get us out of bed.
REFERENCES
YESILDERE SAGLAM H, ORSAL O. EFFECT OF EXERCISE ON PREMENSTRUAL SYMPTOMS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. COMPLEMENT THER MED. 2020 JAN; 48:102272. DOI: 10.1016/J.CTIM.2019.102272.
KULKARNI J. FEB 2013. PMS IS REAL AND DENYING ITS EXISTENCE HARMS WOMEN. THE CONVERSATION. ARTICLE ACCESSED ONLINE AT: HTTPS://THECONVERSATION.COM/PMS-IS-REAL-AND-DENYING-ITS- EXISTENCE-HARMS-WOMEN-11714
BETTER HEALTH CHANNEL. DEC 2019. PREMENSTRUAL SYNDROME. ARTICLE ACCESSED ONLINE AT: HTTPS://WWW.BETTERHEALTH.VIC.GOV.AU/HEALTH/CONDITIONSANDTREATMENTS/PREMENSTRUAL- SYNDROME-PMS
AUTHOR: SOPHIA PAUCHET
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