Whenever period or endometriosis pain strikes, whether it be at home, at work, or somewhere else, the first thing we want to do is find some form of relief. 

Of course, the ideal place for any pain to strike is in the comfort of our own home, where we can lay down in bed and not have to worry about anything else. And while we can’t control where our pain may strike us, we can control – to a degree – the means with which we can find some relief when it does. 

To build a pain relief routine that we can have on us no matter where we are physically starts with building a pain relief routine in our own homes. From there, we can adapt what relief can look like for different locations, such as at our workplace, in our cars, and in our bags. 

Every person experiences pain and discomfort differently, and that can change on a day-to-day basis. The following are examples of pain relief that we at pip find, and may not provide you the same level of relief. 

When endo or period pain – often for us a combination – strikes when in our own homes, we often turn to the same pain relief methods. These methods can differ slightly depending on the level of pain, and location of the pain. They were also built over time, due to figuring out what does and doesn’t work for our pain, as well as what we can afford. 

No matter the level of pain or location, when at home, the first thing we do is put on loose, comfortable clothing. This often looks like very loose sweatpants, an oversized t-shirt and/or sweater (weather depending!), and our hair up and out of our face. We forego bras and underwear, and put on the coziest socks we can find. 

Pro tip: if you are prone to swelling and bloating, and your pain is predominantly in your low abdomen and back, and you experience pain in your rectum and pelvis, either remove your underwear completely, or if you’re on your period, try wearing a pair of size-up underwear or boxer-shorts that fit loose and don’t push tightly against your body. 

For us, heat therapy works better than any Advil or NSAIDs. However, if Advil or NSAIDs work for you, then add them to your routine and be sure to take some at the onset of your pain. Our favourite heating pad to use with any level or pain is the Somedays flaxseed heat pad. It is microwave safe, and designed to fit your pelvis area. In fact, we love it so much we have an at-home and at-work pad so we always have it close to us. Plug-in heat pads also work nicely for longer-term heat therapy. We like to use a larger-sized one that we can have for our low back pain. 

Pro tip: if your pain is in multiple places, try doubling-up your heat therapy. This can look like a microwave heat pack on your pelvis and a plug-in heating pad on your low back. If you are on the go and want emergency heat relief that doesn’t need microwaves or electricity, you can put any brand’s wearable back pain wrap on your pelvis.

Running a hot bath with epsom salts is a must for us when we’re at home. We love the Dr. Teal’s epsom salts with hemp seed oil. While in our bath, we will sip some raspberry leaf tea for cramp relief, or if we are experiencing headache or migraine, or stomach issues alongside, peppermint tea is a go-to. 

Because pip is Canadian, we have the option of seeking pain relief through CBD. For us, this looks like CBD oil with 0% THC, 100% CBD, either through CBD oil we put under our tongue, or CBD gummies. You can also find CBD pain cream for topical relief. When it comes to topical relief, we love Somedays cramp cream (CBD free). We apply it on our low abdomen and back.

Pain relief also looks like laying in our bed and napping, reading our favourite book, or watching TV or movies. It also looks like doing some light yoga if we feel capable of it. The biggest thing is honouring what our body needs. Be that rest, slow movement, an easy walk, or something else entirely. It can look like asking our partners and loved ones to help us, by making us tea, prepping our bath, or warming up our heating pad. It can also look like wanting to be alone. 

Pain relief can differ day-to-day, flare-to-flare, period-to-period, which is why building a pain relief routine that you can take from as needed is so important.