This helps against abdominal discomfort
PMS (premenstrual syndrome)
The mood is bad, the bosom is tense, there is a hammering in the head ... Some women notice quite clearly when the hormone level goes down in the cellar shortly before the rule. But because of this special hormone supplements or take the pill? For many women this is the absolute last resort.
The alternative program could look like this: The homeopathic remedy Aristolochia D12 helps against premenstrual mental upset and water retention. First, take five globules or drops (or one tablet) several times at intervals of one hour, as soon as the symptoms get better, the same dose only once a day.
On bad days, a full bath with relaxing lavender oil and then a spicy tea to relax: a teaspoon of black tea with a pinch of ginger powder, cardamom and clove powder for a quarter of an hour in a quarter liter of boiling water. Pour through a sieve, add honey and milk.
Good are also yoga exercises, for example, the "rolled-up sheet": sit on your heels, let the upper body slowly sink forward until the forehead touches the ground. Slowly slide your arms backwards with your palms facing upwards. The breast is on the thighs. Stay in this posture for as long as it feels good.
Pain during sex
When sex hurts, it can have psychological and physical reasons. No trust in the partner or even the wrong partner, techniques that you do not like, fear of infection or pregnancy: this can all play a role.
But also physical causes are not so rare. A too narrow vagina is in healthy women, however, as good as never the cause of pain during sex, rather (again mainly mental) spasms of the muscles.
If the penis painfully pushes into the vagina, lowering the uterus may be the trigger. There helps a position in which the uterus slips up - for example, in a supine position with a pillow under the butt.
Burning and rubbing in the vagina during intercourse suggest an infection: then go quickly to the gynecologist. A feeling of pressure in the pelvis may indicate fibroids, ovarian cysts or endometriosis.
Malignant tumors are rare but should definitely be ruled out. Often, pain during sex is also related to vaginal dryness. If lack of arousal is not the cause, a hormone deficiency can be to blame (often the hormone level drops well before the menopause). Many women then get along well with estrogen-containing vaginal creams (prescription) or simply with lubricating gel (drugstore).
vaginal infections
Many women are embarrassed to have a mushroom. Firstly, fungal infections are very common - three out of four women occasionally have to deal with it. And secondly, you do not necessarily get them, such as during sex or swimming pool.
Every woman always has some vaginal fungus germs in her body. Especially when the normal germs in the vagina (vaginal flora) are weakened, for example, by antibiotics or by the pill, they are spreading. Fungi manifest themselves in itching and vaginal burning, sometimes in crumbly discharge, and can be well treated with vaginal creams or suppositories (active ingredients clotrimazole, econazole, miconazole). There are also no prescriptions for women who have such infections over and over again and who know the symptoms well. To be on the safe side, the sexual partner should also apply the cream to the glans on the penis for several days.
A thin, foul-smelling discharge is more likely to indicate a bacterial infection. She is treated with prescription pills. One can support the therapy itself by vaginal suppositories with vitamin C.
bladder infections
Constantly on the toilet, and then come only a few drops. It also burns hellishly. Typical symptoms of cystitis that almost every woman has ever had. Because through the short urethra in women germs can easily penetrate. These usually come from the intestine - and enter, for example, during sex in the urethra (so-called honeymoon cystitis).
The first time you pull in the bladder you should pack warm and if possible put a hot water bottle or a hot hay flower pack (pharmacy) on your stomach. And drink a lot - at least two liters a day to flush the kidneys and bladder. Especially effective against cystitis is birch leaf tea (brew one tablespoon of birch leaves per cup, infuse for 10 minutes, drink 3 cups per day). Also cranberry or cranberry juice helps - it contains germicidal substances.
If the bladder irritation is not over after one or two days, you should go to the doctor. Often, the inflammation can already get a handle with a single antibiotic tablet.
Uterine depression and bladder weakness
If coughing, sneezing, laughing or sports accidentally causes urine to slip into the panty, the cause is usually a weakness of the pelvic floor and / or a lowering of the uterus, which additionally presses on the bladder. One in ten women between the ages of 25 and 40 is affected, older people are even more common.
Many women then prefer to experiment with panty liners and bandages instead of going to the doctor. You can do something against such incontinence. For example, targeted pelvic floor training. Courses are offered at many folk high schools and in the sports club, and a physiotherapist can also show effective exercises.
For pronounced incontinence, there is recently a drug with the active ingredient duloxetine, which improves the function of the bladder sphincter. If you prefer to try it gently, homeopathic drops (Aletris Oligoplex) are worth a try. There has been a lot of surgery recently. Today, for example, a supporting net can be inserted into the pelvic floor, the procedure is less stressful than the conventional operation for attaching the uterus.
Brand new (and feasible only in very few clinics) is the ability to remove a small piece of muscle from the upper arm and to grow muscle cells, which are later injected into the bladder sphincter for reinforcement. Also a fairly new method: a small sling that is used in local anesthesia and supports the urethra so that it closes better.
Here you get help
Fortunately, over the past few years, counseling services for women with sexual or gynecological problems have improved. Virtually every university gynecological clinic today offers counseling sessions on topics such as unwanted childlessness, sexual problems or contraception, some also on special topics such as endometriosis (for example, the endometriosis consultation of the University Gynecological Clinic Heidelberg, contact: Tel. 062 21/56 79 34) or PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome, eg at the University of Essen, personal counseling on tel. 02 01/723 35 03). Further information, advice and treatment offers can be found here:
Pro Familia, Stresemannallee 3, 60596 Frankfurt / M., Tel. 069/63 90 02. On www.profamilia.de you will find lots of information and brochures to download, as well as online advice and addresses of counseling centers throughout Germany. There is psychological and social counseling around sexuality and gynecology, in some centers also medical treatment.
German Society for Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology, Office Heidestraße 26, 39112 Magdeburg. On www.dgpfg.de you will find a list of gynecologists with a psychosomatic orientation (click on "About Us", then "Members").
www.femaleaffairs.de is a new, entertaining website with information about sexuality and contraception (especially about hormonal contraception, sponsor is the pill manufacturer Organon). A great offer: the opportunity to ask personal questions online to renowned experts.
www.maedchensprechstunde.de provides information about the first visit to the gynecologist and addresses of gynecologists who offer a special girl's consultation.
www.gesundheitsinformation.de. Independent, expert-reviewed information and testimonials, including hormones and menopause.
Individual advice For all abdominal problems, women's health centers, www.frauengesundheitszentren.de, are available at several locations throughout Germany
