A large part of women suffer from period pain from time to time, which is one of the most common reasons for women to seek medical advice. The pain associated with menstruation can range in intensity from moderate to severe due to dysmenorrhea.
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| Menstrual Cramps |
Menstrual pain may appear in the lower abdomen, back or thighs, and may be accompanied by headache, nausea, dizziness or fainting, diarrhea or constipation during menstruation .
Why does menstrual pain occur?
During menstruation, the inner lining of the uterus produces a hormone called prostaglandin, which causes the uterus to contract, often accompanied by pain.
The reason some women experience very severe cramps and pain during menstruation may be that their bodies produce more than normal amounts of this hormone or that their bodies are more sensitive than usual to the hormone.
Types of dysmenorrhea
Types of dysmenorrhea include:
1. First dysmenorrhea
It is a term commonly used to describe pain associated with menstruation without any known or visible physical problems that could cause the pain.
This phenomenon appears to be more common in women aged 20-24 years, and usually disappears after 1 to 2 years when the body reaches a state of hormonal balance.
Secondary dysmenorrhea
A term used to describe menstrual pain caused by a physical disorder other than the menstrual cycle.
Symptoms of menstrual pain
Symptoms of menstrual pain include:
fever.
Nausea and vomiting.
Vaginal secretions.
back pain.
stomach ache.
Soreness in the legs and feet.
Causes and risk factors for menstrual pain
Misconceptions about the menstrual cycle
Causes of period pain are especially common in teenage girls and those who have recently started menstruating.
Other disorders and physical problems that can cause dysmenorrhea may include:
The presence of cells that look and act like endometrial cells within other parts of the abdominal cavity, or these cells develop into muscle tissue and uterine mucosa that penetrate the uterine muscle fibers. The pain usually appears one or two days before menstruation and continues throughout the bleeding days.
Benign non-cancerous tumors in the pelvic area, such as: ovarian cysts, polyps in the cervix or inside the uterus itself, or the emergence of a muscle tumor, or benign fibroid.
Infections in the pelvic area, where the possibility of infection with these infections increases after the start of the menstrual cycle, because the opening of the uterus expands during menstruation, and pelvic infections caused by sexually transmitted diseases can appear at any time.
The use of the IUD, as the use of the IUD can aggravate the pain during menstruation, especially during the first month of its use. alternative contraceptive.
problems during pregnancy.
Congenital malformations of the uterus, such as: narrowing of the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina.
Dysmenorrhea may also appear after medical procedures such as burning, cooling, conization or cone biopsy, radiotherapy, endometrial biopsy, or insertion of an intrauterine device (IUD).
There are other problems associated with the menstrual cycle , such as weight gain, headaches and stress, it is possible to show the start of the menstrual cycle and this may be caused by premenstrual syndrome (PMS - Premenstrual syndrome).
Diagnosis of menstrual pain
If your doctor suspects a disorder is causing your period cramps, he or she may recommend other tests, such as:
Ultrasound: This test uses sound waves to create a picture of the uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes, and ovaries.
MRI: To produce detailed images of internal structures.
Laparoscopy: Although not usually necessary to diagnose menstrual cramps, a laparoscopy can help detect an underlying condition such as endometriosis, adhesions, fibroids, ovarian cysts and ectopic pregnancy.
Menstrual pain treatment
The treatment of menstrual pain can be divided as follows:
Alternative therapies
Include the following:
The use of heat, using hot water bottles, heating pads or a hot bath in order to relax, and care must be taken not to burn the skin.
Exercising, doing regular physical activity may help relieve pain.
Behavior changes through treatment with interventions to make behavioral changes in the patient to relieve pain, such as hypnosis and desensitization sessions.
Changes in the diet, such as eating foods rich in vegetables and low in fat and taking vitamins such as vitamin D, vitamin B, and vitamin E.
Alternative or complementary therapy such as Chinese acupuncture.
Transcutaneous electroneurological therapy of the pelvic nerves.
Surgical treatment to cut the nerves in the pelvis that cause menstrual pain.
drug therapy
It is done by the following:
Treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.
Contraceptive medicines that contain the hormones estrogen and progesterone that are given orally, injected or inserted into the genital tract.
Phosphodiesterase inhibitors.
Prevention of menstrual pain
A woman with dysmenorrhea may be able to prevent it by:
Reduce consumption of caffeine, alcoholic beverages, salt and sugars.
Maintain a consistent regimen of moderate exercise and 30 minutes of physical activity four or five times a week.
Reducing stress and daily stress in life, although stress and psychological stress are not major factors in the emergence of dysmenorrhea, relieving stress and psychological stress can contribute to reducing the severity of dysmenorrhea pain.
Avoid smoking or consuming other tobacco products.