The commonest complain in my Out Patient Department I encounter from all age group of patients is cyclical pain associated with menstruation. The medical term for this condition is dysmenorrhoea. The condition is very common and most of the time, not always, it is nothing serious. In this article you will have some idea how and why such cyclical pain occurs and what one should do?
More than 90% of women some time or other, in their life experience pain during her menstruation. In clinical terms we have two types of dysmenorrhoea.
a) Primary dysmenorrhoea
b) Secondary dysmenorrhoea
Primary dysmenorrhoea : It is a condition where the girl/ woman having cyclical pain at menstruation, and on investigation no disease is found in the genital organs. This is the commonest form of dysmenorrhoea see in young adults. These usually appears within one to two years after girls starts menstruating and usually lasts for few years and in most cases subside after having a baby. Sometimes it may also continue up to 40 years of age.
Typically the pain starts few hours before or, at the onset of menstruation and last for 48 to 72 hours. The main is similar to labor pain to some extent. The affected girl have cramps in lower abdomen along with backache . Most girls can tolerate this very easily and none of their daily activities are hampered due to this. In few others, it is severe enough to detain her from normal activities and may be associated with nausea, vomiting, dizziness, headache and even fainting attack in severe cases.
Pain sensitivity varies with the individuals. Some can tolerate pain better than others. This may be one of the causes for such condition in some girls. The intensity of the process of pain may also be greater in few of them. Whatever may be the reason, be assured that this is not any dangerous condition and in no way it is going to affect her future sex life or child bearing.
Why pain during menstruation happens?
Prostaglandin, a chemical is produced while a girl is menstruating is the culprit for these symptoms. It produces contractions in the uterine muscles and affect the other organs to produce different kind of symptoms. Girls who are having increased sensitivity to prostaglandins get more symptoms.
What to do when I am in pain during my period (menstruation)?
If this problem is bearable and not detaining you from any activity of yours, don’t worry at all. Have nutritious food and do regular exercises and enjoy your life. In case, you are incapacitated for few days each month, you should visit a gynaecologist. He will probably order a ultrasonography to exclude any other problem in your genital organ. If nothing found abnormal, which is true for most cases, nothing to worry about.
Treatment of Primary dysmenorrhoea:
Analgesics work by inhibiting the prostaglandins, the culprit chemical causing this. Any nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) for 2 – 3 days (deliberately I am not writing the name – get it prescribed by your doctor) will relieve the symptoms. The common mistake done by many general practitioners, medicine shops, and the patient is they prescribe or take antispasmodics like Buscopan. This will not help alone. You have to take NSAID along with it.
Know about Secondary dysmenorrhoea here.
No comments:
Post a Comment