Natural Help for Menstrual Cramps

I had talked with doctors for years debilitating menstrual cramps. The answer seemed to be, “Take more pain meds.” As a result, it is not uncomommon for me to consume 12-20 Ibuprophen in a two to three day period, especially since I do not have the luxury of curling up in a fetal position for two days as I would like to. Since my desire is to move away from taking drugs, I decided to try something I read about in Christine Northrup’s Women’s Body, Women’s Wisdom years ago. I bought a roll of cotton and a bottle of castor oil from Publics pharmacy section in the old Albertsons location on 4th Street. At the first sign of bloating I applied a generous amount of castor oil to the cotton and applied it to my entire lower abdomen. It is a little messy so I put Saran Wrap over it and secured it with tape. I left it on for probably 3 hours. Other methods I have read suggest dipping flannel in the oil and placing it on the abdomen and then placing a hot water bottle over it. Since it is summer here I decided to leave out the heat part. The result? I was able to cut down my use of Ibuprophen 3 tablets the first month I tried it and 6 the second month. Why didn’t I try this years ago? If you would like to read more about Castor Oil and its properties and applications, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castor_oil_plant.