Painful menstruation

Every month in anticipation of a fertilized egg, the walls of the uterus grow at the expense of nutrient-rich blood. If conception does not occur (or if there was a miscarriage), the blood filling the mucosa is no longer needed and is removed. Although monthly menstruation is a normal process, it often causes otherwise healthy women to feel miserable and experience pain (dysmenorrhea). Dysmenorrhea - among other unsolved mysteries of medicine, doctors consider it psychosomatic, caused by stress. But many disagree with this, if there is no evidence of another local cause, painful menstruation is the result of the action of prostaglandins on the tissue of the uterus. Prostoglandins are secreted by the uterine mucosa, and their release can now be blocked by appropriate agents.

Whatever the reason, menstrual cramps are so common that most women find them unavoidable. This is not so, because after careful research, the cause of too much pain is often found, which can be eliminated.

Here are examples.

Anything that prevents the removal of menstrual blood, will cause pain. Remember that the blood must flow out of the uterus through its narrow neck . Sometimes the cervical opening is too small, and it is difficult to get out of the blood. Some of its amount lingers in the uterus, where it forms clots. When the uterus then tries to push them out (similar to how it happens when a baby is born), the cuts cause pain. Expansion of the neck with the help of special tools eliminates these phenomena. Sometimes one or more polyps in the neck can also prevent the flow of blood from the uterus and give painful menstruation.

Endometriosis is another common cause of painful periods. In this case, the tissue, which should be only in the uterus, for unknown reasons, appears somewhere else in the pelvis. Each menstruation is accompanied by painful pains, as this "lost" tissue reacts to hormones.

While all diseases transmitted sexually (from chlamydia to gonorrhea), thrive in our society, inflammatory diseases in the pelvis are very frequent. The presence of such chronic diseases will almost certainly cause or will intensify menstrual pain.

Polyps or fibromas in the uterus themselves can cause a woman to feel uncomfortable if they interfere with the uterus contract. Also, menstruation can be painful if the uterus is incorrectly located - tilted or too far back, or too forward. Finally, some ovarian diseases , including benign cysts , can give menstrual pain as they respond to cyclical changes in the level of female hormones.

Intrauterine contraceptive devices (spirals, etc.) often provoke sharp spasms during menstruation, probably because they cause mild inflammatory processes in the pelvic cavity.

In women who use birth control pills and then stop taking them, deciding to become pregnant, the first few menstrual periods will be more painful than usual. This is again a hormonal effect.

If your menstrual period is always painful, do not delay careful examination by a gynecologist to find a reason that can be removed. Do not agree with the false assertion that menstruation should be a "curse" of a woman every four weeks.

Symptom: painful menstruation