Adolescent girls advised against taking drugs to reduce menstrual pain

Adolescent girls have been advised to desist from taking painkillers and uterine relaxers to reduce menstrual pains and cramps.

Mrs Patricia Lamisi Anarfo, a Public Health Nurse at the Tamale Metropolitan Health Directorate, who gave the advice, said menstrual pains would recur monthly even after taking pain killers.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, she said taking pain killers monthly in most cases resulted in drug addiction where individuals involved were unable to do anything until they consumed the drugs.

She noted that taking such drugs might trigger certain health conditions like stomach ulcer and worsen it, given that they were mostly not prescribed by medical experts.

Mrs Anarfo, however, encouraged adolescents who experience menstrual pain to exercise to ease the pains, explaining that “exercise relaxes the muscles involved during menstruation and easing pains associated with it.”

She said there were natural ways of relieving pain aside from exercise, which included reading, listening to music and taking up a hobby during menstruation depending on the level of pain.

“You can undertake activities for diversion of the mind, take a shower or practice hot abdominal press to know what works best for you, and adopt it,” she said.