The State of Menstrual Health Report

Health & Wellbeing
5 Minutes

Essential Takeaway:

Cycle related symptoms continue to affect 90% of people with periods—that's ~80 million in the U.S. alone and ~700 million worldwide. Yet, it still feels taboo to discuss. Elix was founded with the mission of igniting conversations around menstrual health and democratizing access to proven holistic solutions.
The Elix report summarizes findings from 90,732 completions of the Elix Online Health Assessment in 2021.
The data reveals how common it is for people with periods to experience debilitating symptoms such as pain, irregular cycles, heavy bleeding, stress, bloating, mood swings, fatigue, breast tenderness, acne, constipation, loose stools, and more.
Furthermore, the data shows that existing "solutions" (primarily birth control and pain killers) aren't working as well as we'd hope and more sustainable holistic solutions are needed.

Elix is the first platform to deliver personalized, clinically-proven, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formulas to support chronic care for stigmatized conditions, beginning with menstrual and hormone health. Our mission is to empower her to become her own best healer and provide a community to support her healing journey.

The Context:

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, premenstrual syndrome (PMS) affects 90% of females¹—that’s 80 million people in the U.S. alone and more than 700 million world-wide—so why is it still taboo to talk about it?

Nearly half of U.S. women have experienced ‘period shaming’² and a study conducted in 2019 found that 80%³ of people who called out sick due to their period did not feel comfortable telling their boss the real reason they couldn’t come into work. We can’t blame them—a separate survey conducted the same year found that ⅓ of men⁴ think it’s unprofessional to talk about periods at work.

The stigma continues beyond social norms and into clinical research: despite affecting 90% of females¹, menstrual health receives 20% of the funding⁵ that erectile dysfunction receives (which only impacts 10% of males⁶).

Talking about periods isn’t going to close the gender gap in healthcare, but it is a start. Our hope is that this report sparks conversation on the widespread challenges that exist in menstrual health, and the need for more sustainable solutions.

The Elix Health Assessment is our key to helping people learn more about the connectedness of their menstrual symptoms and enables a natural, holistic, and tailored approach to chronic care. Developed with our medical advisory board, the Assessment asks ~60 questions about individuals' cycles, current state of health, and overall wellbeing to uncover the root cause of their symptoms and recommend the best herbs to help them heal naturally. We even review a picture of respondents’ tongues to confirm their Pattern Diagnoses based on Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Collecting data from the Elix Health Assessment over the past two years has only reinforced how common it is to experience life-disrupting menstrual volatility—in addition to a wide range of symptoms related to hormone health—which is why it’s essential to have alternative solutions available.