Herbal Remedies for Women

From the moment women have their first period, hormones play a significant role in their lives. We become ruled by our monthly cycle, for some, it’s a minor inconvenience but for others, it has significant negative impacts and is something they come to dread.  No matter how you look at its menstruation is something that affects all women. Whether it's agonising menstrual cramping to intolerable PMS that disrupts their whole household. The start of menstruation is the start of a journey that lasts for decades as we move through puberty right through to menopause.

 

Herbs can and should be our companions on this journey. They can help us to soothe the cramping of our monthly periods. They can balance our hormones to reduce the effects on our moods as they ease PMS.  There are herbs that have emmenagogue properties such as Chamomile that can help stimulate or increase menstrual flow.   This can be particularly beneficial for women who are experiencing periods that are lighter in flow than is usual for them.  We must always be aware of what is normal for a person.  What one woman will experience as light flow might be heavy for another so the important factor in deciding this is ‘what is normal for you?’ For women who experience heavy periods herbs such as ginger with its astringent and uterine properties can help reduce the flooding and discomfort. Herbs have some wonderful healing actions from being anti-spasmodic properties to diuretic properties which can help with painful cramping, bloating and water retention most women regularly experience as part of their monthly cycle.

 

Herbs can not only help with our periods but they can help us through pregnancies, ease morning sickness and water retention, most herbs are safe to be used throughout pregnancy but always check the warnings at the end of the information on specific herbs just to make sure. 

Herb can also be used to improve our fertility, boost our libidos and ease painful fibroids and cysts.  They can provide relief to urinary tract infections, helping to not only fight the infections that cause these but also provide much needed natural pain relief.

 

As we move forward on our journey of womanhood we reach the stage of peri-menopause, this is the stage before we get to our menopause.  Many women start to experience symptoms of peri-menopause as they enter their mid to early 40’s, although this can start earlier with some women experiencing symptoms in their late 30’s.   For many women, they start experiencing symptoms long before they realise they have entered peri-menopause with symptoms such as fatigue, poor sleep quality, brain fog and forgetfulness creeping upon them.  These symptoms go unnoticed because they can be easily attributed to the business of daily life, it’s not until their periods start to be that little bit less regular than usual or they miss a period here or there that they start to think it could be due to their age. It’s surprising how many women have never even heard of peri-menopause and yet this stage can last 10 years before they enter full menopause.

 

And then we come to the menopause itself. It’s no secret that many women dread this stage of their lives. In part because it’s the end of their childbearing years and at a basic level it’s a sign they are getting older.  But in part, it’s because most women have grown up hearing the horror stories of previous generations of night sweats, hot flashes, memory loss, brain fog, fatigue, weight gain and lack of sex drive.  The average age for women to reach menopause is around 51 and is marked by a period of 12 full months with no period, if a woman goes 11 months and then has a period she is not considered to have reached menopause. 

 

Despite it’s menacing reputation neither menopause nor peri-menopause should be feared, they should be embraced as part of being a woman.  Women do not have to suffer the endless night sweats and hot flashes, there are many herbs such as Sage, Red Clover and Black Cohosh to name the most well-known that can help to ease these symptoms.  There are herbs that can help with sleep and fatigue, that can boost sex drive and hormone tonics that can help as the body adjusts to the changes in hormones during this time. Many women find they can navigate safely through the turbulent waters of menopause with relatively few symptoms with the help of herbal remedies.

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Whatever stage of the journey that is womanhood you are on, one thing that is absolutely certain is that herbs and herbal remedies can benefit you and make each stage of life something to be embraced and enjoyed

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As a certified herbalist, I always advise my clients to discuss any new regime with their doctor before starting any new regime.