Ever had period pains (dysmenorrhea) so intense that you threatened to surgically remove your ovaries and Uterus?
I have heard so many testimonials from both young and older women who have had the worst kinds of menstrual pains, to the point of hospitalization.
I’m a woman, not one of ‘God’s favorite’. This term is used lightly, by women who have longest and most painful monthly periods. One time I saw a post on twitter read ‘Mother nature should just make a call …Hey, you’re still fertile and healthy, see you next month” instead of these horrific experiences that leave women feeling like they just came from the war.
To understand the intensity of dysmenorrhea (medical term for menstrual cramps), one needs to understand the menstruation process itself. Monthly period is normal vaginal bleeding that occurs as part of a woman’s monthly cycle. Every month, a woman’s body prepares for pregnancy. If no pregnancy occurs, the uterus sheds its lining. The menstrual blood is partly blood and partly tissue from inside the uterus.
Menstruation begins between the ages of 12 and 15, though in rare cases as early as 8 years. This shows the need for workshops and seminars for young girls to give them in-depth knowledge in matters female reproductive education.
Also Read: Contraceptives: Need for Reproductive Health Education for Young Girls
Periods stop during pregnancy and typically do not resume during the initial months of breastfeeding. Menstruation stops occurring after menopause which usually occurs between 45 and 55 years of age.
Dysmenorrhea has two categories, secondary and primary. This pain is mostly caused by the contraction of the uterus to release the uterine wall, usually begins immediately under the navel and spreads to the thighs and backs.
Primary dysmenorrhea is the common menstrual cramps that come back over and over and aren’t due to other illnesses. Normal period pains usually last for 2-3 days and sometimes are accompanied by nausea and vomiting, fatigue, and other times diarrhea.
Secondary dysmenorrhea on other hand is period pains caused by disorders or infections of the female reproductive organs. Such are rarely accompanied by other symptoms but tend to last longer than normal cramping. Menstrual pain differs from woman to woman.
According to researched reports, only 2%-28% of adult women experience pains severe enough to affect their daily activities.
In the case of Secondary dysmenorrhea, it can also be the result of an underlying medical condition, such as:
- Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) which is a common condition that’s caused by hormonal changes in the body occurring 1 to 2 weeks before menstruation begins. Symptoms include, mood swings, feeling upset, anxious, or irritable, tiredness or trouble sleeping, bloating or tummy pain, breast tenderness, headaches, spotty skin, greasy hair, changes in appetite and sex drive.
- Fibroids in the uterus. These are non-cancerous growths in the uterus, the cause is not yet well established but research shows that they emerge from the same cell. Treatment involves removal of the fibroids through surgery.
- Endometriosis is a condition where cells from the uterine lining grow in other parts of body such as the ovaries, fallopian tubes, or the pelvic lining tissue.
- Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a painful sexually transmitted infection that affects the fallopian tubes or ovaries.
- Adenomyosis is exceedingly rare, but in the few cases studied, the uterine lining grows into the muscular wall of the uterus causing inflammation, pressure, and heavier or longer periods.
- Cervical Stenosis is also a rare condition in which the cervix is so small or narrow that it slows menstrual flow, causing an increase of pressure inside the uterus that causes pain.
Different women on Quora responded to the question: How painful is it for ladies to have menstrual cramps?
“It’s gone to the point of being in such pain that my body can’t handle it and I pass out. It’s crippling. You can’t move from bed. You roll around your bed, trying to find a position in which it won’t hurt as much. Then there’s that brief moment in which you make some kind of movement, and it stops hurting suddenly. You blink your eyes a couple times, and the pain returns. You don’t know why it stopped. You wonder what you did for it to come back. Sometimes you just want to cry, scream, moan and bite your pillow because of the pain. Sometimes the pain is so intense that you wish you’d pass out so that you wouldn’t feel it for a while.” Mariana Ferreira Albuquerque stated
“Imagine your groin. Now imagine being repeatedly stabbed by multiple syringes or knives, next to, and around, your bladder. Your lower back/kidneys is/are throbbing, your nipples are so sore even a slight brush of the lightest, whisper-soft fabric sends a painful spasm through your body. Your breasts feel heavy and painful. Your limbs feel heavy, and you might struggle with moving around. You feel teary, miserable, and lethargic. You either want to eat everything or nothing at all.” Jel By posted.
Some women said they experienced close to no cramps at all during their time of the month.
“For me? Next to null. Not that I don’t feel any cramps at all, I still feel some cramps, it’s just that it’s more of a bit of a gassy feeling than cramps. Nothing a bit of eucalyptus oil (or heat pack) can’t fix. It’s not that I feel like this since the beginning of my period years, my period cramps started to lighten for themselves since I pursue my college education. Granted, it’s not that my period cramps are that bad at the beginning of my period years, it’s just used to be worse than now. I chalked it as my body maturing and hormonal system balancing itself that causes me to get less cramps now. And it’s not just cramps, my acnes too, get better, and no, it’s not due to long-term birth control pills, no, I’m not on any kinds of birth control, my period symptoms lighten. I’d say everybody is going to be different in these regards, and I’m the lucky ones, just like the rest of the female family members in my family, we are blessed with having a rather light period symptom that improves once we turn adult and even better after we have kids (the female elderly of my family says so).” Fionna Chiquita Morgan stated.
Dealing with intense menstrual pain every month can be traumatizing and dreadful. The positive aspect out of the turmoil women experience is the fact that there’s a particularly good chance if you are experiencing a regular monthly period, you are fertile. Almost every female has hopes of becoming a mother. However, some women struggle with fertility despite having a period every month, as lack of conception can be due to other causes.
Remedies for dysmenorrhea range from doctor’s prescriptions, therapies, over-the-counter medicine, and home remedies.
At home treatments are the most recommended in treating menstrual cramps, except for the severe cases that require a doctor’s intervention. Remedies include taking vitamins B-1, B-6, E, Omega -3 fatty acids, calcium, magnesium and eating light, nutritious meals.
Physical exercise, practicing relaxation techniques such as yoga, taking a warm bath and massaging the abdomen with a heating pad have also proven effective in reducing menstrual pain.
In cases where over the counter and home remedies don’t ease the pain, doctors can recommend or prescribe nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) usually stronger and more effective. They include ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, celecoxib, mefenamic acid, etoricoxib, and indomethacin.
Alternative medicine can include therapies that haven’t been studied enough for experts to recommend, they include.
- Acupressure which involves stimulating certain points on the body, with gentle pressure on the skin.
- Acupuncture includes inserting extremely thin needles through your skin at strategic points on your body to relieve pressure and in turn reduce period cramps.
- Studies show that transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) was more effective than a placebo in relieving menstrual cramp pain. A TENS device connects to the skin using adhesive patches with electrodes in them which deliver a varying level of electric current to stimulate nerves.
- There is no clinical study proving that having an orgasm has a direct effect on easing menstrual cramps, however a vaginal orgasm can trigger your brain to release neurotransmitters such as endorphins which can decrease pain perception.
Dysmenorrhea is quite common among primary and high school girls, therefore, health education on the normal cycle, basic concepts, and abnormal symptoms of menstruation, as well as education on dysmenorrhea, should be undertaken in school. This way, young women can get the right treatment regimens.