Period cramps can be more painful than heart attacks. Placing a hot water bottle or a heating pad over your lower abdomen or lower back can help relieve the pain by relaxing your uterine muscles. Heat also helps generate better circulation or blood flow, which can give you some pain relief.
What is the term for menstrual cramps?
The article also prompted a column in Marie Claire, which acknowledged the doctor for accurately depicting dysmenorrhea — the clinical term for menstrual cramps — but decried the need for a man to validate and confirm women’s experiences.
Does period pain cause doctors to ignore women?
But, the Independent reports, there has been little research related to period pain, which means doctors often ignore or discount women’s complaints.
Is cramping bad for you?
In the original article, published by Quartz two years ago, University College London reproductive health professor John Guillebaud said cramping pain is as “almost as bad as having a heart attack .
How long does it take for a woman to feel pain during her period?
The medical term for menstrual pain is "dysmenorrhea," and there are two types you should be aware of: The first is called “primary dysmenorrhea,” and the pain associated with this is relatively short-term, lasting anywhere from 12 to 72 hours starting before, or at the very beginning of a woman’s period. According to the Cleveland Clinic, pain can “range from mild to severe” and is felt in the lower abdominal area, back, and/or thighs. The pain might be tolerable, but don't think you'd be getting off easy. Oftentimes, primary dysmenorrhea includes symptoms like nausea, diarrhea, and fatigue, on top of any pain you might already feel. Sounds lovely, doesn't it?
What to do when your abdomen hurts?
Things like applying a heating pad to the abdomen, taking ibuprofen, sipping ginger tea, and using essential oils like marjoram and thyme oil, Dixon says, are a few remedies she's found very helpful.
Is period cramps a heart attack?
Period cramps are a serious ailment, and doctors are now comparing the pain to a heart attack. While part of me wants to deliver all the sass to this article, because this is the perfect time for every woman who’s ever had someone question just how bad her period cramps were to stand up and say “I told you so,” the other part ...
Is it okay to point your fingers when you have a period?
When it comes down to it, though, there's no use in pointing fingers. Dysmenorrhea isn't a gender issue, per se, it's a medical issue, and any woman who experiences severe period pain should be treated properly, no matter who her doctor is.
Is period cramps bad?
According to a recent Elle UK article, a man by the name of John Guillebaud, a professor of reproductive health at University College London, revealed to Quartz that some of his patients describe period cramps to be “ almost as bad as having a heart attack .”.
Can men suffer pain?
Men don’t suffer the pain and underestimate how much it is or can be in some women. But I think some women doctors can be a bit unsympathetic because either they don’t get it themselves or if they do get it they think, "Well I can live with it, so can my patient."
Is dysmenorrhea a gender issue?
Dysmenorrhea isn't a gender issue , per se, it's a medical issue, and any woman who experiences severe period pain should be treated properly, no matter who her doctor is. If the pain is manageable — meaning it doesn't interfere with your ability to go through your daily tasks — home remedies can help.
How are period cramps and heart attacks similar?
The only similarity between the pain of heart attacks and period cramps is that both the heart and the uterus are innervated by the sympathetic nervous system, which is why the pain is more vague in location or difficult to describe.
What is the term for painful menstrual cramps?
Primary dysmenorrhea is the term for painful menstrual cramps not due to another cause and so I’m going to limit this discussion to primary dysmenorrhea. About 40-50% of women have primary dysmenorrhea or painful periods; up to 50% of them have severe pain.
What is the pain of primary dysmenorrhea?
The pain of primary dysmenorrhea is mediated mostly by prostaglandins, which are substances involved in the body’s response to inflammation. Prostaglandins are released from the lining of the uterus during menstruation and they cause the uterus to contract.
Does dysmenorrhea cause menstrual pain?
Recent studies tell us that most women with primary dysmenorrhea have increased secretion of menstrual prostag landin F2 (PGF2) and that menstrual pain seems directly proportional to the amount of prostaglandin F2 that is released. A small percentage of women with severe primary dysmenorrhea do not have increased prostaglandins and so it is hypothesized that they are releasing other inflammatory mediators that cause excessive contractions. It is possible that some women release a normal amount of prostaglandins but have an overly responsive uterus.
Can you compare period cramps to heart attacks?
Comparing period cramps with heart attacks isn’t useful or accurate. There is an article in Quartz about period pain (menstrual cramps or dysmenorrhea). While I agree many people, especially doctors, don’t take painful periods seriously enough I disagree with the assertion that we don’t know much about painful cramps.
Do heart attacks cause pain?
Heart attacks often produce vague symptoms or mild pain, that is why many people ignore them. Many people think they are having indigestion. In addition, more than 40% of women have no pain with heart attacks. It would be dangerous for women to think that a heart attack should be at least as bad as their menstrual cramps.
Is a heart attack worse than a cramp?
I get that is hard to wrap your brain around the idea that cramps are usually worse than a heart attack. After all the heart muscle is literally dying during a heart attack and the uterus is not dying during a period (although it may feel like that). These facts simply underscore the complexity of visceral pain.
