Now, you are hugging a pillow while biting your inner cheeks in sheer agony. Your trusty remedy, Ibuprofen, isn’t helping, and your uterus is in absolute turmoil. Out of nowhere, someone wraps their arms around you in a warm, snug, and supportive hug. You can’t believe it, but suddenly, something shifts. Maybe your body goes limp. Maybe your pain has reduced. Maybe the cramps have mercifully ceased.
It’s almost absurd. Hugging helps more than the pain relief would. How do you tell the doctor that without him rolling his eyes at you?
Pain, as a neuro-emotional experience, is not simply the physical sensation of hurting, and some forms of comfort from loving, safe people can be so much more effective than medicine for soothing menstrual discomfort. Providing care through listening to someone’s reality experience, even when at odds with dominant medical narratives, can empower patients.
First: What Causes Period Pain?
Menstrual pain – or primary dysmenorrhea – is caused by:
• The release of prostaglandins, which animates contractions of the uterus.
• Constriction of blood vessels, resulting in temporarily low blood flow (ischemia) to the uterine tissues).
• Tissue inflammation and muscle spasm in the pelvic area.
These biological mechanisms create:
• A sharp or cramp-like discomfort in the pelvis
• Lower back pain
• GI disturbance (nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea)
• Decreased muscle strength
Taking Ibuprofen helps to relieve:
• sharp or cramp-like pelvic pain.
• Lower backache.
• Gastrointestinal discomfort.
• Muscle fatigue.
Ibuprofen works by:
• Blocking production of prostaglandin.
• Reducing inflammation.
• Providing dampening of the chemical signals modulating pain.
However, that’s only one example of how pains are relieved, not the most efficient one.
Is Pain Relief Associated with a Warm Hug?
Pain is not only tissue damage — you’re hurting and what surrounds you- but also an experience linked to your nerves and feelings.
Hugs activate multiple pain-regulating pathways that Ibuprofen do not touch directly.
Pain Relief Through Touch
1. Oxytocin Release
• Hugs – comfortable, protected, and gentle for a prolonged time, warms up the body, reduces fighting, HEAD WAYS with “healing hormone.’’
• It regulates lifting social pressure while amplifying the ability to weaken hurt.
• Moreover, it helps elevate the limits placed by the muscles on holding negative hurts after a positive touch.
**NOTE**: Stick on one specific item and avoid comparing it with anything else, as these will hurt the bones.
2. Activation of the Parasympathetic Nervous System
• Getting a hug activates your parasympathetic system, which is a “rest and digest” mode, calming the nervous system from sympathetic or fight-or-flight mode.
• This calms the smooth muscles, like the uterus and other tissues in the pelvic region.
• Less tension means less discomfort.
3. Temperature and Pressure Modulation
• Localized heat increase from a warm hug enhances blood circulation.
• Mechanoreceptors, receptors that respond to pressure or distortion, are activated by a firm touch on the back of the hips.
• This is explained in the Gate Control Theory of Pain. A pleasant touch can close the gate for pain signals getting to the brain.
‘Pain and Safety’ What is the Emotional Brain’s Function
The brain thinks of your security on a 24/7 basis: Am I safe or not? Pain and comfort are evaluated in the context of “Where am I on the safety continuum?”
If you’re:
• Alone bracing for pain
• In a stressful period
• Dismissing or unsupported
Then, your bodily protection system resets, ramping up tension and pain.
A hug from a trusted person communicates, “I’m safe now.” Pain becomes relaxed without feeling threatened or urgent when the brain eases the threat response.
Why Doesn’t Ibuprofen Help as Much?
It works for some, but not all. Here are a few explanations why:
• Its action is limited to inflammation, which only involves prostaglandins.
• It does not influence the pain caused by tension, trauma, or stress.
• Ibuprofen’s effect is inconsistent and depends on whether the person has eaten or drunk water and digestion, taking 20-30 minutes.
• It does not affect emotional discomfort, which is known to enhance pain significantly.
Emotional and somatic tension likely amplifying pain means Ibuprofen may not work while it steps where comfort, presence, and regulation cannot.
Is This in My Head?
In a way, yes, but not how you view it.
Pain is interpreted through the context, so it is always the brain doing so. That does not make it nonexistent. When we talk about context, the environment and emotions you feel are contextual, while sensory and emotional aspects shape pain.
This isn’t pseudoscience; it’s neuroscience. Research in the science of pain consistently demonstrates the following:
– When people feel safe, connected, and heard, they experience less pain.
– In some cases of chronic pain, touch-based therapies outperform medications.
– The emotional context of pain profoundly influences the brain’s processing of it.
How Do I Explain This to a Doctor Without Sounding “Unscientific”?
Language-based nervous system science might work for you. For example:
“Physically, I find that the cramps I have are more easily dealt with when I have warm hugs as opposed to the other medications. This makes me feel better, so it could be how my nervous system interprets the pain.”
Or:
“It seems that the pain of my periods is influenced by emotional context and stress. I notice that it reduces a great deal when I feel safe and supported. Can we look at treatment options that address the physical and nervous systems, which are also supported? Assuming there is a change that can be made to regulate.”
You are not being dramatic but advocating for the full range of what your body tells you.
Balance: There is Always Two Sides to Everything
What If I Don’t Have Someone to Hug Me?
There are still different activities that can be self-imposed, which will work with the same structures:
- Use a weighted blanket or body pillow.
- Wrap a heating pad around your abdomen and back.
- Practice self-hugging (wrap your arms around your body, breathe deeply)
- Resting your hand overlaying a womb or heart while saying something comforting aloud
- Humming, rocking, or swaying all stimulate the Vaski nerve.
Your nervous system, alongside the warmth of the touch and presence- even if self-sourced, can act positively to the commands given.
What Other Things Are Useful for a Body Sensitive to the Nervous System?
Daily aid:
• Magnesium Glycinate: Helps relax the nerves and muscles of the body.
• Omega 3: Helps in lowering inflammation
• Ashwagandha or Rhodiola: Adaptogens for regulating stress.
• Body calming strategies such as yoga nidra or guided meditations.
During your period:
• Dim the lights and reduce the input of sensory stimuli.
• Use breathing techniques such as inhale for four counts and exhale for eight counts
• Take warm baths using Epsom salts.
• Avoid using caffeine as it elevates tension in the uterus.
Is it Okay for me to Take Ibuprofen?
Of course not, but taking Ibuprofen self-handling the pain is beneficial. Pain management that emphasizes the softer side of pain neglects the reality of people suffering from pelvic discomfort. It does, however, undermine the whole idea of emotional tools.
Having focused on its boundaries and regarding its use as a pharmacological intervention leaves a lot. Pain-taking interventions, for instance, emotionally driven regulation tools or non-sympathetic approaches such as presence, caress, stillness, or being warm to it, considering the psychological effects of pain is fundamentally different from ruling out emotional aspects down supports holistic pain management without needlessly belittling its tools.
To rephrase, summary: Your Body Responds to Safety, Not Just Medication.
If your cramps ease more from a warm hug than from a pill, it’s not silly. It’s wise. Your body is saying,
“I hurt less when I feel safe, supported, and cared for.”
This isn’t just a personal preference. Period pain is not only caused by inflammation but alleviating it also means tending to the emotional body and meeting the softened body’s need for comfort.
