You are going about your daily activities as usual. Suddenly you start feeling back pain, bloating, tiredness, low mood etc. You look at the date on your calendar and remember that it is nearing your “that time of the month” and hence all these symptoms have again started! If you have only these symptoms and they pretty much disappear after your periods start, then consider yourself lucky as some women can experience pretty severe cramps, pain just before and during their periods. Let us learn more about these painful cramps during periods, what causes them and what the treatment is.
What Is Dysmenorrhea?
Painful period in medical term is called as “dysmenorrhea.” These painful cramps are caused by contraction of uterine muscles due to release of hormone-like substance called prostaglandins during menstruation. Contraction of uterus press against nearby blood vessels there by cutting off oxygen supply to the muscle tissues, causes pain. There are 2 types of dysmenorrhea.