What causes period pain?

Period pain happens when the muscular wall of the womb tightens (contracts). Mild contractions continually occur in your womb, but they're usually so mild that most women cannot feel them.

During your period, the wall of the womb starts to contract more vigorously to help the womb lining shed as part of your period.

When the wall of the womb contracts, it compresses the blood vessels lining your womb. This temporarily cuts off the blood supply – and oxygen supply – to your womb. Without oxygen, the tissues in your womb release chemicals that trigger pain.

While your body is releasing these pain-triggering chemicals, it's also producing other chemicals called prostaglandins. These encourage the womb muscles to contract more, further increasing the level of pain.

It's not known why some women have more period pain than others. It may be that some women have a build-up of prostaglandins, which means they experience stronger contractions.

Period pain caused by a medical condition

Less commonly, period pain can be caused by an underlying medical condition.

Period pain linked to an underlying medical condition tends to affect older women. Women aged 30 to 45 are most commonly affected.

Medical conditions that can cause period pain include:

Endometriosis – where cells that normally line the womb grow in other places, such as in the fallopian tubes and ovaries; these cells can cause intense pain when they shed.

Fibroids – non-cancerous tumors that can grow in or around the womb and can make your periods heavy and painful pelvic inflammatory disease – where your womb, fallopian tubes and ovaries become infected with bacteria, causing them to become severely inflamed.

Adenomyosis – where the tissue that normally lines the womb starts to grow within the muscular womb wall, making your periods particularly painful.

Period pain caused by contraceptive devices

An intrauterine device (IUD) is a type of contraception made from copper and plastic that fits inside the womb. It can also sometimes cause period pain, particularly during the first few months after it's inserted.

You may notice a change in your normal pattern of pain if your period pain is linked to a medical condition or a contraceptive IUD. For example, the pain may be more severe or it may last much longer than normal.

You may also have:

• irregular periods
• bleeding in between periods
• a thick or foul-smelling vaginal discharge
• pain during s*x

How long will my period pain last?

How can I treat period pain?

Simple remedy for menstrual pain

1. Just take warm water to melt the thickened blood into a fluid form for easy passage or regular exercise few days before you experience your menstruation.

2. Applying heat

Applying heat to your abdomen and lower back may relieve pain. A 2018 review of studies found that heat therapy (usually a heat patch or pack) was as effective at treating menstrual pain as NSAIDS. It also may cause fewer side effects. However, the authors noted that more research is needed.

If you don’t have a hot water bottle or heating pad, take a warm bath or use a hot towel. Or, you can make your own heating pad:

Cut and sew together two pieces of fabric, leaving a hole at the top.

Fill with uncooked rice and sew up the hole.

Microwave for a few minutes to the desired temperature. Don’t overheat!

Let it cool, if necessary. Or, wrap your homemade pad in a towel to reduce heat transfer. Apply on your lower abdomen while lying down. Reuse as necessary.

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