Wellness
Why period pain feels worse in winter
By Ruby Raut, founder and CEO, WUKA
If you have ever noticed that your cramps feel sharper, your mood dips harder, or your energy seems to disappear during the colder months, you are not imagining it. Winter can genuinely make periods feel more painful and more difficult to manage. The combination of cold weather, less sunlight, increased tension in the body, and reduced activity creates the perfect storm for stronger cramps and heavier emotional symptoms.
Understanding why this happens gives you the power to manage your cycle with more confidence. Here is the most digestible explanation of why winter and period pain are so closely linked.
Cold weather tightens blood vessels
When temperatures drop, your body goes into protection mode. To conserve heat, it tightens your blood vessels, especially around your hands, feet, and lower abdomen. While this is a smart survival response, it comes with an unwanted side effect for menstruation.
Your uterus is a muscle. Like any muscle, it needs good blood flow to relax and function smoothly. When the blood vessels around your pelvis tighten, circulation naturally becomes slower. Less blood flow means the uterus has to contract harder to shed its lining, and this can make cramps feel deeper, sharper, and more persistent.
This is why heat has always been one of the most effective comfort tools during a period. Warmth helps blood vessels open again, improves circulation, and relaxes the muscle of the uterus.
Your muscles tense up in the cold
Cold weather does more than chill your skin. It makes your whole body tighten without you even realising it. Think about how your shoulders creep upward when you step into the winter air or how your spine curls slightly for warmth. The same tension can build in your abdomen and pelvic floor.
Tighter muscles mean more resistance against the natural contractions of the uterus. When everything around the uterus is tense, cramps can feel more intense and more difficult to soothe. Even mild pain can feel magnified when the surrounding muscles are already stiff.
This is one of the reasons gentle movement, stretching, and warm baths can make such a difference during winter periods. Anything that eases tension also eases pain.
Less sunlight affects your mood and pain perception
Winter brings shorter days and longer nights, and that naturally reduces your exposure to sunlight. Sunlight plays a key role in regulating serotonin, the hormone that helps stabilise mood and influences how we experience pain.
Lower serotonin can lead to lower energy, stronger mood swings, and more emotional sensitivity. Because serotonin also impacts the way the brain processes discomfort, low levels can make cramps feel more intense.
This emotional shift can make PMS symptoms feel heavier too. Irritability, sadness, and bloating can all feel amplified during the colder months, creating a cycle that feels harder to manage.
Winter usually means less movement
Colder months naturally lead to less physical activity. We walk less, we spend more time indoors, and many people find it harder to stay motivated to exercise. While rest is important, the lack of movement has a direct impact on period pain.
Moving your body improves blood circulation and reduces inflammation. When you sit for longer or avoid movement due to cold weather, blood flow becomes slower and inflammation can rise. Both of these factors contribute to stronger cramps.
Even gentle activity makes a difference. A short stretch, a ten minute walk, or simple breathing exercises that open the chest and abdomen can support circulation and ease pain.
Prostaglandins may spike in colder weather
Prostaglandins are natural chemicals that help the uterus contract during menstruation. Higher levels are linked to stronger cramps and heavier flow. Some research suggests that colder temperatures and lower physical activity may increase the production of prostaglandins, although this varies from person to person.
This means that the natural winter slowdown combined with the physical effects of cold weather can lead to more intense uterine contractions, which again results in more painful periods.
How to make winter periods easier
The good news is that small, accessible habits can make a big difference to how your body feels during winter.
Use warmth generously
Heat patches, warm showers, hot water bottles and cosy clothing help open up blood vessels and soothe the uterine muscle.
Move your body even a little
Short walks, stretching routines or low impact workouts help improve circulation and reduce inflammation.
Support your mood with sunlight
Get outside during daylight hours whenever possible. Sitting near windows or using a light therapy lamp can also support serotonin levels.
Eat warming and nourishing foods
Soups, ginger, turmeric and herbal teas help comfort the body and may reduce inflammation.
Choose period products that keep you comfortable
Secure, breathable period underwear can help you feel more relaxed and confident, especially when your body already feels tense from the cold.
Winter does not have to mean more painful cycles.
With warmth, gentle movement, and an understanding of how your body responds to the season, you can navigate cold month periods with more comfort and control.
Find out more about WUKA at wuka.co.uk
Cervical cancer elimination in the EU is becoming achievable as HPV vaccination coverage rises, a new report says.
As Europe marks European Immunisation Week 2026, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said progress in human papillomavirus vaccination is continuing across the EU and European Economic Area.
All EU and European Economic Area countries now recommend HPV vaccination for adolescent girls and boys as part of their immunisation programmes, marking a major step forward in Europe’s cancer prevention efforts.
Bruno Ciancio, head of unit, directly transmitted diseases and vaccine preventable diseases at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, said: “The elimination of cervical cancer in the EU/EEA is becoming an achievable goal, thanks to the HPV vaccination programmes.
“The progress we are seeing across Europe demonstrates what can be accomplished when countries invest consistently in effective immunisation strategies.
“We are closely monitoring this progress and actively supporting countries to accelerate uptake and move faster towards cervical cancer elimination.”
According to the report, three EU and European Economic Area countries, Iceland, Portugal and Norway, have reached the 2024 EU Council Recommendation target of 90 per cent HPV vaccination coverage among girls by the age of 15.
Fifteen years after HPV vaccination programmes were introduced in Europe, a growing body of evidence confirms the vaccine is highly effective in preventing cervical cancer.
Large-scale studies from Sweden, the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as other parts of the world, have shown significant reductions in HPV infections and precancerous lesions, which are abnormal cell changes that can develop into cancer if left untreated, alongside falling cervical cancer rates among vaccinated women.
Since 2020, European countries have reported a decreased incidence of cervical cancer among vaccinated women.
Studies from Sweden, Denmark and the UK show that early administration of the vaccine increases its full protective potential.
A Swedish study suggested that vaccinating girls before their 17th birthday reduced the incidence of cervical cancer by 88 per cent.
An additional six-year follow-up found a sustained reduction in cervical cancer risk and a population-level decline in invasive cervical cancer incidence after HPV vaccination.
The report showed that vaccination programmes and health system design are critical factors in reaching high levels of HPV vaccination coverage.
Evidence from across Europe showed that school-based vaccination programmes are particularly effective and tend to reach higher levels of coverage among both girls and boys.
Mental health
Poor mental health, poverty and pollution significantly raise women’s heart failure risk – study
Poor mental health, poverty and pollution can raise women’s heart failure risk, with up to one in four cases potentially preventable, a study has found.
UK Biobank data from more than 230,000 women suggest that depression, socioeconomic hardship and exposure to polluted environments are linked to a significantly higher risk of heart failure in women.
Heart failure happens when the heart becomes too weak or too stiff to pump blood effectively around the body.
High blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and diabetes are among the better-known risk factors often targeted in public health campaigns.
Peige Song from China’s Zhejiang University and her team found that living in polluted areas, having poor mental wellbeing, facing socioeconomic deprivation and experiencing chronic inflammatory conditions such as lupus, in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, make women more prone to heart failure.
These risks, however, are often overlooked.
The researchers found that mental wellbeing, environmental exposures, socioeconomic circumstances and reproductive history together contributed almost as much risk for heart failure as all well-known risk factors combined.
The study also found that risk rises with socioeconomic hardship and chronic inflammatory conditions such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis, approaching the impact of conventional risk factors.
Song said: “[The study] is a call to redefine prevention in women’s cardiovascular health, integrating biological, psychosocial and structural determinants into a unified, equitable approach.
“One in four heart-failure cases in women could be prevented if all under-recognised risk factors were eliminated, assuming causal relationships.”
While completely eliminating all risks is not realistic, Song said “even partial reductions through better mental health services, social equity policies and environmental regulations could yield significant public health benefits”.
Catherine Pirkle, a women’s health specialist at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in the US, who was not involved in the study, said: “These calculations show convincingly that under-recognised and female-specific risk factors contribute significantly to heart failure in women, independently of the well-established ones.”
Song said: “It’s important to understand that heart health is influenced by more than just blood pressure or cholesterol.
“Factors like mental wellbeing, reproductive milestones and socioeconomic conditions all matter. Awareness and advocacy for comprehensive, gender-sensitive care are key.”
Resistance training improves hip strength, balance and flexibility during menopause and may also improve lean body mass, research suggests.
A study of 72 active women aged 46 to 57 found those who completed a 12-week supervised programme saw greater gains than those who kept to their usual exercise routines.
None of the participants were taking hormone replacement therapy.
The supervised, low-impact resistance exercise programme focused on strength at the hip and shoulder, dynamic balance and flexibility.
Participants used Pvolve equipment, including resistance bands and weights around the hips, wrists and ankles, and also lifted dumbbells of varying loads.
Women in the resistance training group showed a 19 per cent increase in hip function and lower-body strength, a 21 per cent increase in full-body flexibility and a 10 per cent increase in dynamic balance, meaning the ability to stay stable while moving.
Those in the usual activity group did not show any significant improvements.
Previous studies have assessed the decline in lower limb strength and flexibility during menopause, but this is said to be the first study to compare the effect of resistance training on muscle strength and mass before, during and after menopause.
This was done by including participants in different phases of menopause rather than following the same participants over a long timeframe.
Francis Stephens, a researcher at the University of Exeter Medical School in the UK, said: “These results are important because women appear to be more susceptible to loss of leg strength as they age, particularly after menopause, which can lead to increased risk of falls and hip fractures.
“This is the first study to demonstrate that a low-impact bodyweight and resistance band exercise training programme with a focus on the lower limbs, can increase hip strength, balance, and flexibility.
“Importantly, these improvements were the same in peri- and post-menopausal females when compared to pre-menopausal females, suggesting that changes associated with menopause do not mitigate the benefits of exercise.”
Although one of the researchers sits on Pvolve’s clinical advisory board, the researchers said the company did not sponsor the study or influence its results.
Stephens added that any progressive resistance exercise training focused on lower-body strength is likely to yield the same results.
He said: “The important point is for an individual to find a type of exercise, modality, location, time of day etc., that is enjoyable, sustainable, and improves everyday life.
“The participants in the present study reported an improvement in ‘enjoyment of exercise,’ and some are still using the programme since the study finished.”
Kylie Larson, a women’s health and fitness coach and founder of Elemental Coaching, who was not involved in the study, said the results were compelling.
She said: “This is particularly exciting for those that tend to think of menopause as ‘the end’. The study proves that if you incorporate strength training you can still make improvements to your muscle mass and strength, which will also have a positive ripple effect to your ability to manage your body composition.
“In addition, staying flexible and being able to balance are both keys to a healthy and functional second half of life.”
Participants in the study did four classes a week for 30 minutes each session, but Larson said even half that amount of strength training can go a long way, particularly if you emphasise progressive overload, which means gradually increasing muscle challenge through more weight.
Larson said: “Gradually increasing the challenge is what drives real change.
“Lifting heavier over time is what builds strength, protects your bones, and keeps your body resilient through menopause and beyond.”
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