The average duration of a period ranges between 3 and 7 days, but it’s not abnormal for menstruation to last a couple more days than that average. The pains and cramps associated with shedding your uterine lining have caused many a woman to wonder if there’s any way to hasten the entire cycle’s process. While it’s clear that some women are bound to have longer or shorter periods, there are some lifestyle choices and medical paths that can help consistently make your periods end faster.
Exercise
Getting onto and sticking with a consistent exercise regimen can help shorten the amount of time you spend on your period. Whether you enjoy cardiovascular exercises or strength training, exercising helps your body reach and stay at its peak. That peak usually includes a shorter period, because your body is functioning at its prime and so remains balanced and at top efficiency. In addition to making your period end sooner, a good exercise regimen will help you feel better during the rest of your life as well. Don’t be afraid to exercise while on your period either – if your cramps are too painful, you can lessen the intensity and duration of your exercise, but staying on the exercise bandwagon will help you a lot in the long run.
The Pill and Hormonal Supplements
Oral contraceptives (the Pill) are designed primarily to keep you from having children by preventing ovulation. However, if taken consecutively, it can also regulate and decrease the amount of time your period lasts. There are also hormonal pills that will cause your menstruation to happen faster, and your lining to shed more quickly. That is because hormones regulate the entire process, and so by giving your body extra doses of the hormones it needs, you can hasten your period.
While some oral contraception is available over-the-counter, most of the medication that will help end your period faster will be prescriptive. Talk to your doctor about some of the options that you have to help shorten and make your period end sooner for some more specific ways to use the medical resources available to you.
Diet
As with exercise, eating a healthy diet of mostly fruits, veggies and grains will help put your body at its peak, and a body at its peak goes through menstruation more quickly. Along with general health advice, there are also some foods that you can eat that are said to help increase the rate that your period occurs at, thus shortening the total time you have to go through the pain, such as garlic, ginger, peppers, sesame, or papaya. Generally, adding extra spices to your normal diet right before your period is supposed to come is a good way to get the most out of the food’s properties. Drinking teas, such as raspberry leaf tea, ginger tea, yarrow tea or parsley tea can also help hasten the ending of your period. Get a couple of hot cups in a day for the best results, but realize that your body may not react as strongly to the teas as you would like it to.
Staying hydrated while on your period is important. Drink a lot of water when on your period – it will help you feel better in terms of cramps and back aches, and can also help end your period more quickly.
Acupuncture
The art science of pricking needles into your body to stimulate and relax yourself probably isn’t the first thing that comes to your mind when it comes to dealing with your period, but you might be surprised to hear that proper acupuncturists use many herbs in addition to their more stereotypical wares to help people with their problems. Heading down to your local acupuncturist and talking to them about your desire to shorten your period can yield good results, although they might be a little more pricey than any of your other options.
As women, we all know the pain, discomfort and inconvenience that comes along with our periods. Getting them over with sooner rather than later is a welcome idea to many of us, and while we can’t control everything about our periods, we can make lifestyles choices and take medication to influence our body and how it works, even to the point of making our periods end faster.
