# Ow. Cramps. What did women do before Midol, etc.? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 20, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793 "2012-07-20T00:00:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mage-girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@mage-girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mage-girl)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/1 "2012-07-20T00:00:27Z")
See title. 😉 I just finished a bowl of chocolate ice cream, and I feel moderately better. But what about our foremothers, who didn’t have chocolate or painkillers? I read a (fiction) book where the girls (1800s era) were expected to rest during their time of the month. Counting PMS, I would be out of commission 7 days a month! Help fight my ignorance, please! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/2 "2012-07-20T00:14:48Z")
Alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/3 "2012-07-20T00:20:05Z")
I wondered about this myself. I have the super-cramps from hell, even with daily hormonal medicine. I can’t imagine how I would have survived back then. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/4 "2012-07-20T00:38:49Z")
Alcohol, various herbal remedies, heating pads. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/5 "2012-07-20T00:41:55Z")
Pregnancy? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/6 "2012-07-20T01:03:23Z")
[Grass.](http://medicalmarijuana.com/experts/expert/title.cfm?artID=63) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/7 "2012-07-20T01:19:47Z")
Suffering. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/8 "2012-07-20T03:56:34Z")
[Laudanum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laudanum#History) (bolding added). > [@](#): > > By the 19th century, laudanum was used in many patent medicines to “relieve pain … to produce sleep … to allay irritation … to check excessive secretions … to support the system … [and] as a soporific”. The limited pharmacopoeia of the day meant that opium derivatives were among the most efficacious of available treatments, so laudanum was widely prescribed for ailments from colds to meningitis to cardiac diseases, in both adults and children. Laudanum was used during the yellow fever epidemic. \*\*Innumerable Victorian women were prescribed the drug for relief of menstrual cramps and vague aches. \*\*Nurses also spoon-fed laudanum to infants. The Romantic and Victorian eras were marked by the widespread use of laudanum in Europe and the United States. Mary Todd Lincoln, for example, the wife of President Abraham Lincoln, was a laudanum addict, as was the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who was famously interrupted in the middle of an opium-induced writing session of Kubla Khan by a “person from Porlock.” ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/9 "2012-07-20T13:05:16Z")
They toughed it out. They played hurt. Same as they did before Ibuprofin, chemotherapy, Root canals, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/10 "2012-07-20T15:12:36Z")
[Prolly one of these helped…](http://www.zmescience.com/other/9-reasons-why-there-wasnt-stress-in-the-good-old-days-000007/) ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/11 "2012-07-20T19:42:51Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Pregnancy? I’d vote for that. We’ve had a couple of cousins write up family trees. If you go back 100 years, you’ll find women who had eight to twelve children. But if you go back 200 years, you’ll find a few who had eighteen. That doesn’t leave much down time. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/12 "2012-07-20T20:39:15Z")
When I was a teen, I was told to take aspirin, or I was told that menstrual pain was all in my head. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/13 "2012-07-20T20:40:16Z")
I’ll tell you something my wonderful gynecologist told me long ago, when I had heinous cramps regularly. It really works. Cramps are caused, in part, by the contractions of the uterus trying to get a clot out of the cervix. (Clotting is natural. The cervix is pretty much pinhole-sized.) So here’s what you do: make one hand flat and stiff, as if to deliver a karate chop. Put the inside edge of the hand against your abdomen, just above the pubis bone. (you can easily feel this bone, it goes to about six inches up from your crotch. The idea is to not have it in the way, but to be as close to it as you can.) Now take your other hand, and push the karate hand in firmly. It’s not necessary to hold it; you might want to do it more than once. This pushes the clot out. It doesn’t hurt. Do be prepared for increased flow, for obvious reasons. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/14 "2012-07-20T20:43:20Z")
I’ll echo what has been said above. Back in the covered wagon days, when I was a young 'un, the remedy for headaches and cramps was the almighty APC. Aspirin+phenacetin+caffeine. Wonderful stuff. The FDA removed phenacetin from the market when there was evidence the stuff destroyed kidneys. Consider the APC to be the forerunner to Excedrin, which is aspirin+acetaminophen+caffeine. Aspirin, which is the original NSAID, is effective for cramps but CAN make you bleed more. Before APCs, of course, there were hot water bottles and hootch. Early 19th century boasted Lydia Pinkham’s Compound, which was a patent medicine marketed to women. Its big ingredient was laudanum, which is an opium derivative. Lydia Pinkham’s became famous not only for the comforts it gave to women themselves, but babies given a slug of Lydia’s slept soundly. Women who worked in factory sweat shops would dope up the kids before going to work, and then sip on a bottle of Lydia’s throughout the working day. When the US Government exposed patent medicines, Lydia Pinkham’s Compound was re-formulated to an herbal concoction containing iron. I don’t know if it’s still available today. Many herbal teas have pain relieving and anti-spasmodic qualities. Willow bark tea was probably a popular selection for cramps. It contains a natural aspirin-type ingredient. At least one pregnancy can provide considerable relief from cramps. It was theorized that the stretching of the womb “killed off” the nerve endings that caused the pain from cramps. Or perhaps the experience of labor gave a woman a pain comparison? Looking back, the absence of ovulation during pregnancy and its resultant hormone fluctuation probably allowed any endometrial tissue to slough away. I’ve recently discovered chocolate wine. OMG. I bet it works wonderfully on PMS and cramps. Since that part of my life is over now, I’ll raise a glass or two in the spirit of sisterhood for my fellow cramp sufferers. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/15 "2012-07-20T21:10:48Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > I’ll tell you something my wonderful gynecologist told me long ago, when I had heinous cramps regularly. It really works. > > Cramps are caused, in part, by the contractions of the uterus trying to get a clot out of the cervix. (Clotting is natural. The cervix is pretty much pinhole-sized.) > > So here’s what you do: make one hand flat and stiff, as if to deliver a karate chop. Put the inside edge of the hand against your abdomen, just above the pubis bone. (you can easily feel this bone, it goes to about six inches up from your crotch. The idea is to not have it in the way, but to be as close to it as you can.) > > Now take your other hand, and push the karate hand in firmly. It’s not necessary to hold it; you might want to do it more than once. > > This pushes the clot out. It doesn’t hurt. Do be prepared for increased flow, for obvious reasons. This would explain why, when I have cramps and Mr. Horseshoe gives me a belly rub, it helps. He’s learned to do this slow, deep movement into my abdomen - I bet it accomplishes much the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/16 "2012-07-20T22:08:19Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > Put the inside edge of the hand against your abdomen, just above the pubis bone. Inside edge of the hand (thumb-side), or outside edge of the hand? Inside edge seems rather contortionistic (if that’s even a word). This sounds like the same type of treatment the nurses do to newly-delivered moms, to make the uterus clamp down. I call it the “Let’s see if we can make it shoot to the end of the bed” maneuver. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/17 "2012-07-21T23:24:13Z")
I doubt they were nearly so prone to them, what with more pregnancies, lactation amenorrhea, and a much higher activity level. I had terrible cramps for years, I changed my diet which helped, but exercise has really been the key for me. I hardly get cramps at all now that I am biking up to 80 miles per week on top of working an active job, walking my dogs and doing some yoga. Of course I also spend plenty of time sitting or lying with my computer. 😉 I don’t think most of us can even imagine how CONSTANT the labor was for many of the women in our recent family trees. As other posters said, non-NSAID painkillers and/or suffering were the only options. ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/18 "2012-07-23T10:09:20Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > Inside edge of the hand (thumb-side), or outside edge of the hand? Inside edge seems rather contortionistic (if that’s even a word). > ~VOW Inside (thumb-having) edge of the hand, **palm facing down.** I guess you’re pretty much pushing the heel of your hand plus your thumb into your abdomen, and down. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/19 "2012-07-23T18:22:34Z")
> [@brujaja](#): > > Inside (thumb-having) edge of the hand, **palm facing down.** I guess you’re pretty much pushing the heel of your hand plus your thumb into your abdomen, and down. Aha, okay, got it. I was envisioning keeping the thumb AWAY from the rest of the hand, and it seemed difficult to do! But by keeping the thumb close to the hand, you are nearly mimicking the technique used by the Labor and Delivery nurses. And I can see why that would be VERY effective! I would dissuade any woman from trying this little trick if she has an IUD. There could be a chance of dislodging it or even expelling it. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793/20 "2012-07-23T18:56:54Z")
My mom gave me half a shot of whiskey mixed with coca-cola. It’s all gone downhill from there. (Actually I use birth control pills and can highly recommend Lutera - my periods are less than 3 days and this past one was only a day. Still get the cramps though.)) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ow-cramps-what-did-women-do-before-midol-etc/628793.md?page=2)