If there is a list of all kinds of pain that human beings will encounter, the top of the list of "most annoying" must be menstrual cramps: because this pain is not a pain once or twice, but will torment people from time to time every month; It's not just pain, it's accompanied by nausea, insomnia, weakness and other conditions.
To this end, the girls exhausted eighteen kinds of martial arts: some explored the maximum flexibility of the body, twisting and twisting to find the most pain-relieving posture; Some people searched for home remedies and found that squatting on a large stone pier exposed to the sun had the most miraculous effect; There are also those who resort to metaphysics and silently recite the numbers 640 and 380 every time they have menstrual cramps.
Image source: A social platform
How painful will it be for a girl to have menstrual cramps? What's the difference when it hurts? After reading this, we will have a more intuitive understanding!
Illustrated women's dysmenorrhea
According to the degree of discomfort, dysmenorrhea can be divided into six grades.
1
Level 1 - Discomfort
Second only to the "chosen daughter" who never hurts during menstruation, there is only a slight pain in the lower abdomen, and there is no energy in the body, and she wants to sleep lazily - and this is about the same as the state of the workers all year round.
2
Level 2 - Feeling of swelling
The lower abdomen felt strongly distended, as if a ten-pound weighing weight was tied, and ordinary walking was like running with weights. Occasionally, I have labor pains, and I am listless and don't want to do anything.
3
Grade 3 - soreness and pain
The lower abdomen is sore and painful, and labor pains become frequent, and it can make people sweat slightly, and at this time, they will start to have diarrhea.
4
Fourth degree - knife prick pain
The lower abdomen seems to be pierced by a knife or an arrow, and this pain level is also known as "can't straighten the waist" pain, because the pain can only bend the body. At the same time, I was nauseous and wanted to vomit, and even painkillers sometimes vomited, so I had to lie on the bed and turn over and over, meditating over and over again that the torture would end earlier.
5
Grade 5 - Pain with a drill
The abdomen seems to be being renovated, the electric drill drills in again and again, and the day before yesterday may still be singing "Five words floating in the sky, this is not a thing", at this moment it can only hurt until the vision is blurred, and in the residual consciousness, the reasons that can be attributed to the guilt are all scolded.
6
Grade 6 - fainting pain
The highest level of dysmenorrhea, also known as "hell pain, nightmare" pain, in short, no amount of adjectives can be exaggerated. At this time, not only will the pain be unbearable, but it will also affect the whole body, the whole body will be uncomfortable, and even fainting, etc., it is really painful and numb!
There has been a pain ranking on the Internet, and there are many marketing claims that the World Health Organization has published pain ratings, but both of them are actually just fabrications based on false rumors. At present, the medical community mainly uses subjective assessment methods and objective assessment methods to measure patients' pain in order to treat symptomatic medication.
The subjective assessment method is to instruct the patient to report the pain intensity independently through visual analogue scales, numeric rating scales and other tools, in which 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates the most severe pain. (For patients who are unable to communicate autonomously, only objective evaluation can be used.)
The objective assessment method refers to the doctor's assessment of the patient's pain level by observing the patient's facial expressions, upper limb movements, and breathing patterns with reference to the Behavioral Pain Scale (BPS) and the Clinical Pain Observation Tool (CPOT).
Why is it painful during menstruation?
Data show that about 20%~90% of women of childbearing age have had dysmenorrhea. Some people say that menstruation will not hurt after giving birth to a child, but this statement is actually very simple.
There are two main types of dysmenorrhea: primary dysmenorrhea and secondary dysmenorrhea.
When medicine was not yet developed, it had a very simple criterion for judging that dysmenorrhea that occurred soon after menarche was "primary dysmenorrhea", while dysmenorrhea that was not painful at menarche and occurred several years later was "secondary dysmenorrhea".
With the development of medicine, the criteria for these two types of dysmenorrhea have become clearer. Primary pain refers to recurrent menstrual lower abdominal pain caused by no clear cause, while the latter refers to menstrual lower abdominal pain caused by certain diseases.
1
Primary dysmenorrhea
The source of primary dysmenorrhea is prostaglandins. As we have mentioned many times before, menstruation is nothing more than the result of the continuous formation and shedding of the endometrium under the action of estrogen and progesterone, in this process, the female body will release prostaglandins, which cause the uterus to contract and allow the endometrium to be excreted more completely.
But in this process, prostaglandins may also do bad things with good intentions, causing temporary ischemia in the uterus and stimulating the pelvic pain neurons, and dysmenorrhea appears. Eating cold drinks or spicy foods during menstruation can exacerbate menstrual cramps, but also because they exacerbate the contractions of the uterus, turning it into a large construction site.
2
Secondary dysmenorrhea
Some women experience worse menstrual pain every time they have a period after giving birth, most likely because they have secondary dysmenorrhea. Secondary dysmenorrhea, also known as organic dysmenorrhea, is caused by diseases such as endometriosis, adenomyosis, and uterine fibroids.
(1) Endometriosis
It refers to the appearance of endometrial tissue in the ovaries, peritoneum and other parts outside the uterine cavity, and dysmenorrhea is its most typical symptom, which will worsen year by year if not treated. Patients with endometriosis may also have symptoms of abnormal vaginal bleeding between menstruation, cycle disorders, and infertility.
(2) Adenomyosis
It is a benign condition that manifests as the invasion of the endometrium into the myometrium, and in addition to dysmenorrhea, other types of pelvic pain and even irregular lower abdominal pain can occur.
(3) Uterine fibroids
As one of the most common benign tumors in the female reproductive system, uterine fibroids are mainly divided into three categories: submucosal fibroids, intermural fibroids and subserosal fibroids. The presence of uterine fibroids means that more endometrium is produced, and every time menstruation comes, in order to remove excess tissue, the uterus will contract more and be more painful. In addition to this, menstrual abnormalities, infertility, and secondary anemia are all symptoms.
How can I relieve my period pain?
In fact, there are many ways to relieve menstrual cramps. One of the most effective is to take painkillers. It will block the synthesis of prostaglandins, thereby reducing the pain, however, it is important to note that the prostaglandins that have already been synthesized cannot be reversed. Therefore, if you have experienced menstrual cramps in the past, and the severity is not mild, it is best to eat it as soon as you feel pain, or eat it before the pain occurs. In addition, it is best not to eat on an empty stomach, as it may irritate the gastrointestinal tract.
Some people may wonder, if taking painkillers and blocking the synthesis of prostaglandins, will menstrual blood discharge be unfavorable? In fact, the prostaglandins in the human body are sufficient, if there are frequent menstrual cramps, it means that the synthesis of prostaglandins in the body has been excessive, which seriously affects the normal operation of smooth muscle, so painkillers will not cause abnormal menstrual discharge.
As for secondary dysmenorrhea, in addition to taking painkillers to temporarily relieve the pain, it is also necessary to go to the hospital for examination and further treatment to completely eradicate it. After all, for people with primary dysmenorrhea, dysmenorrhea is just a side effect of menstruation, and for patients with secondary dysmenorrhea, dysmenorrhea is an important warning sign.
In fact, drinking hot water or using warm water during menstruation will indeed have some effect, which can stretch the blood vessels, but drinking hot water really cannot solve all the problems. If a female friend around you has menstrual pain, don't just say "drink more hot water" to her. At this time, what she needs is much more than just a perfunctory verbal word, buying her some painkillers or taking her to the hospital, plus comfort and companionship, maybe it is more likely to help her relieve some of the pain.
Reprinted from: Popular Science China