Beyond Cramps: When Painful Periods Become Debilitating

Most women feel some cramping during their periods, especially on the first day. In fact, more than half of women who have periods report some mild cramping for 1 or 2 days during each menstrual cycle.

Many women struggle with far more painful periods — between 5% and 15% of women who have periods report that the pain is severe enough to disrupt and limit their lives, making it a serious quality of life issue.

Called dysmenorrhea, the team of healthcare providers at Michigan Avenue Primary Care, which includes women’s health experts, understands the impact that painful periods can have, and we’re here to help. To that end, we want to cover a few of the more common culprits behind painful periods and what you should do next.

Primary or secondary issues that lead to painful periods

The first thing to understand about painful periods is that we divide this issue into two categories:

1. Primary dysmenorrhea

When you experience cramps during your period, it’s because of a chemical called prostaglandin, which causes the muscles and blood vessels in your uterus to contract. These contractions help the lining of your uterus to shed out each month.

Typically, prostaglandin levels are highest on the first day of your period and gradually fall as the lining sheds.

Some women experience more severe and longer periods of cramping than others, which may be due to higher prostaglandin levels or issues with pain perception.

2. Secondary dysmenorrhea

Another road to painful periods is reproductive health issues that exacerbate the pain during your period, such as:

• Endometriosis
• Uterine fibroids
• Adenomyosis
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Cervical stenosis

So, the first thing we want to do if you come to us because of painful cramps is to determine what’s causing the issue and whether your symptoms are primary or secondary.

Finding relief from painful periods

As we just mentioned, finding the root cause of your painful cramping is our first order of business. If we find that you have primary dysmenorrhea, which is more common, there are options to reduce the discomfort, such as:

• Medications, including aspirin and ibuprofen
• Hormone therapies, including hormonal birth controls that better regulate your menstrual cycles
• Heating therapies
• Exercise, which has been shown to relieve menstrual pain
• Complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, yoga, or massage therapy

If your painful periods are secondary and stem from an underlying gynecologic issue, then we will address this issue to relieve your discomfort. Obviously, we don’t have the space here to outline each treatment for the many conditions that count painful periods among their complications. Rest assured, however, that there are solutions and we will work with you until you find adequate relief of your painful periods.

To get started on figuring out why you’re experiencing painful cramping during your periods, please contact our clinic in The Loop, Chicago, Illinois, today to schedule an appointment.