Periods are different things to different people, but we can probably all agree that sometimes, periods are inconvenient, inconsistent, and irritatingly irregular. Not only can an irregular period mess up your whole week — but even a period that arrives on schedule is usually traveling with its buddies, cramps, moodiness, depression and other PMS side effects that you may just not have time to deal with during a particularly hectic week. For all these reasons, I'm sure you've wished you knew how to make your period come a million times. I mean, sure, menstruation is an essential part of a being a woman, and sometimes it can make you feel wonderfully connected to the cycle of your own body and fertility — but other times, it can be frustrating to feel like such a big part of our bodies and our lives is totally out of our control.
But there are actually ways to have greater control over when your period comes, even if you're not on hormonal birth control. Though our cycles are unique to our bodies, they also react to exterior forces, some of which can induce your period to come early. This is a reaction we can all use from time to time — whether we want to deal with our PMS before we have a big presentation at work, or if we're about to go on vacation, and want to make sure that we don't spend our whole trip in our hotel room, doubled over with cramps.
These methods aren't foolproof, and won't work for everyone every time. And if a method doesn't seem to be working for you, definitely don't take extra medication — it might just not be one that meshes with your personal body chemistry. But if you're in a tight spot, and want to try everything you can to get your period on schedule, give one of these six methods a shot.
1. Take A Birth Control Pill
If you're on the Pill, you can totally manipulate when you’ll get your period and when you won’t. According to Dr. Valerie French, if you want to get your period sooner, then just switch to your placebo pills. If you want to skip your period all together, go straight into the hormonal pills instead of taking your placebos the week you’re supposed to.
2. Try Parsley Tea
As any herbalist will tell you, emmenagogues are a family of herbs that stimulate blood flow in the pelvis and uterus, and can sometimes make your period come sooner. To safely induce your period, you can try some mild emmenagogues like parsley, ginger, yarrow, rosemary and sage. The recommended dosage for these herbs is two to four cups a day, taken in tea form. Although these herbs are not toxic to adults, you still want to be wise about using them. Don't go over the recommended dosage, and consult an herbalist before taking them.
3. Have Sex
During sexual intercourse, the stimulation of the vagina causes pelvic blood flow to head in that direction. "After the sexual intercourse, the vagina relaxes, thus triggering the shedding of the uterine lining," notes MD Health. And sometimes, this can send your period on its way.
There’s also the fact that semen softens the cervix, which can result in bringing on early menstruation (obviously, this method should only be used in couples were everyone is tested, monogamous, and using reliable birth control). Sex really is good for everything, isn’t it?
4. Reduce Stress
Yes, it's easier said than done — but since we already know that massive stress can make your period late by days or even months, then it certainly makes sense that reducing your stress can keep your period on track. In fact, according to MD Health, managing your stress could even make your period surprise you with an early visit.
Cutting down on your workload —especially working at night — taking up yoga and/or meditation, and taking hot baths or applying hot compresses to your abdomen can help Aunt Flo speed up her arrival.
5. Exercise
The endorphins released during a high-intensity workout can both relieve stress and lower estrogen levels, according to the fitness experts at LiveStrong. Both of these things are ideal when trying to induce your period.
However, you don’t want to workout too much. If you over do the elliptical, you could chase your period away, because your body may interpret all that excessive exercising as stress, making your period run late instead.
6. Drink Tropical Juices
Home remedy advocates suggest both orange juice and papaya juice as delicious and nutritious ways to get your period to come. These tropical fruits are known as “heat inducing” fruits because they cause the body temperature to rise, which can aid in menstruation. The vitamin C in orange juice can also help trigger your period’s appearance. Sure, it's not as fun as having sex — but it might be a tad more convenient.
Images: Benjamin Franck/Flickr
Source: bustle.com
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