Plagued by Painful Periods? It Could Be More than Cramps

At least 60% of women get painful cramps during their period. And up to 15% of those women report that the pain is so severe it interferes with their daily activities. 

Unfortunately, cramps are part of having your period. Your body releases a chemical known as prostaglandin to make your uterus contract and effectively shed your uterine lining. Experts aren’t exactly sure why some women have more painful cramps during their period, though higher levels of prostaglandins are likely to blame. 

Although some pain is normal during the first few days of your period, if your cramps last longer than a few days and are severe, there could be something else causing the extreme discomfort. 

At Women’s Specialty Care in Lake Forest and Grayslake, Illinois, Karen Mass, MD, FACOG, and the rest of our team of women’s health experts want you to know that if you have very painful periods, our team can help you get to the root cause and provide some much-needed relief. 

In this month’s blog, we discuss what could be causing your painful periods and how we can help. 

Possible causes of painful periods

When you experience pain during your period, it’s called dysmenorrhea. When you have cramps at the same time every time you get your period and they only last a few days, it’s called primary dysmenorrhea and doesn’t have an underlying cause. 

However, if you have a medical condition that’s affecting your reproductive organs and triggering severe and irregular pain, it’s called secondary dysmenorrhea. There are several things that can cause secondary dysmenorrhea, including: 

• Endometriosis: A condition that causes uterine tissue to grow outside the uterus

• Pelvic inflammatory disease: Uterine infection that affects your reproductive organs

• Uterine fibroids: Noncancerous growths that develop anywhere in your uterus

• Adenomyosis: A condition that causes uterine tissue to grow into the uterine muscle

Thankfully, all of these conditions have effective treatment options once the cause is discovered. 

Treating your painful periods

There are a few different ways our team can identify what’s causing your painful periods. An imaging test known as an ultrasound uses sound waves to produce images of your vagina, cervix, uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes. These images allow us to gather vital information about your reproductive organs and find signs of endometriosis, fibroids, and adenomyosis. 

Our team may also order some lab tests, such as urine or blood tests, to check for any infections that could be causing pain. 

In cases of endometriosis and adenomyosis, using some type of hormonal birth control can often relieve the severe pain associated with menstrual cramps. Using over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, can also help as needed. 

For uterine fibroids, the pain can be managed through hormonal birth control as well; however, our team may need to perform a hysteroscopy to remove the growths in order to effectively address pain. 

If an infection is at fault, our team prescribes antibiotics to clear the bacteria from your body.

Get effective relief from your painful periods

If you have severe period pain that’s long-lasting, don’t wait to seek treatment. Our team can work to discover what’s behind it and find a treatment that works best for you.

Schedule an evaluation for painful periods by calling your nearest office location or using our online booking feature today.