Why does the lower abdomen hurt so much during menstruation? When a doctor's consultation is necessary. What does it mean if there is white discharge?

Why do some women have stomach pain during menstruation? The pain is sometimes so severe that even painkillers cannot control it. A woman loses her ability to work, waiting painfully critical days. Are there ways to alleviate women's suffering?

1 Ailments due to illness

Almost every woman has a stomach ache during menstruation. However, for the vast majority, the malaise does not cause any particular inconvenience. They have moderate pain in the lower abdomen or mild discomfort. But some women have to suffer seriously. More often this condition occurs in young girls.

Pain in the lower abdomen during menstruation is a normal, physiologically determined condition. The lower abdomen hurts due to contractions of the uterus during the monthly rejection of the inner layer of its cavity. Changes in female body before and during menstruation are accompanied not only by pain, but also by other ailments. The woman becomes nervous and irritable, she may experience headache, observed increased sensitivity to smells. During this period, she is more vulnerable to infections, so she often feels like she has a cold. U healthy women all these signs appear moderately and do not lead to loss of ability to work.

A condition in which pain and other ailments manifest themselves clearly is called algodismenorrhea. Women suffering from algomenorrhea suffer not only from unbearable pain. They become weak and decrease arterial pressure, sleep is disturbed, performance is lost, decreased vitality. Nausea and severe vomiting, diarrhea, increased sweating, dizziness and even loss of consciousness.

Such symptoms, especially if they appear with enviable regularity, may indicate health problems. Visit to the doctor in in this case there is no need to put it off.

So, why does my stomach hurt so much?

2 Types of algodismenorrhea

Primary algodismenorrhea occurs due to functional disorders various systems and organs of the female body. It is not characterized by disturbances in the anatomical structure of the female genital organs. This form appears during puberty or a year after the onset of the first menstruation. It can be spasmogenic, essential and psychogenic.

The spasmogenic type of algodismenorrhea occurs due to intense spasms of the smooth muscle muscles of the uterus. Essentially conditioned low threshold girl's sensitivity. This feature of the female body may be congenital. The psychogenic form appears in overly impressionable girls, frightened by stories about unbearable suffering during menstruation, as well as in girls with mental disorders.

Secondary algodismenorrhea occurs due to pathological processes in the small pelvis. It can be congenital and acquired.

The congenital form is caused by congenital anatomical anomalies of the female genital organs. This may be infantilism of the uterus (underdevelopment of the organ) or its incorrect position. In this case, severe pain and other signs of illness appear from the beginning of puberty.

The acquired form occurs as a result of the development of the disease. Painful periods can be caused by endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian or uterine tumors, inflammatory processes in the pelvis or adhesive disease. The cause of the development of algodismenorrhea can be trauma, difficult childbirth, surgery or abortion, if they lead to a violation of the integrity of the inner layer of the uterus.

At risk are girls whose menstruation began too early (before 9 years). Various menstrual cycle disorders contribute to the development of the painful condition: irregularity, periods that are too long or too short, and large blood loss.

Some people can cause painful menstruation bad habits and unhealthy lifestyle. Smoking, alcohol, sedentary lifestyle life, unbalanced diet and addiction to unhealthy food.

3 Symptoms of pathology

Symptoms of the disease are varied and depend on individual characteristics women.

The pain syndrome begins to bother you even before bleeding begins or on the first day of menstruation. Most often the lower abdomen hurts. Cramping, nagging pain is sometimes localized in the area of ​​one of the ovaries. They can torment a woman until the bleeding stops. But, as a rule, relief occurs a day or two after the start of menstruation. In addition to the abdomen, the lower back may hurt. Some women experience radiating pain (radiating to other organs) in the intestines, perineum, or inner thighs.

Some people experience stomach pain during menstruation. The reasons for this are various disorders neuropsychic state, cyclical vegetative-vascular abnormalities and hormonal fluctuations. The latter cause excessive excitability, irritability, nervousness and increased sweating. Women often complain of dry mouth, bloating, nausea leading to vomiting, and diarrhea. There may be an increase in temperature to 37°C.

Weakness and fatigue are often so severe that they are accompanied by dizziness and fainting. However, even with constant drowsiness It is not possible to get enough sleep and rest.

Some girls suffer from hiccups, swelling and skin itching. They may experience a feeling of wobbly legs, numbness or tingling in the extremities. Signs of toxicosis characteristic of the first months of pregnancy are often observed: an aversion to certain foods and intolerance to odors.

A decrease in vitality is accompanied by a depressive and depressed state. With pronounced algodismenorrhea, women cannot lead their usual lifestyle, need rest and bed rest. Disorders in the body cause a decrease in its resistance and exacerbation of chronic diseases.

4 Seeing a doctor

Some features of the menstrual cycle are due to heredity. If the girl’s mother and grandmother had irregular periods or too heavy periods, then this feature of her menstrual cycle is most likely not pathological.

An alarming signal for a woman should be a change in the nature of menstruation, increased pain syndrome, the appearance of uncharacteristic discharge with unpleasant smell at any stage of the menstrual cycle.

Parents should pay attention to unhealthy symptoms in girls during puberty: very painful periods, heavy blood loss, fainting states, vomiting or severe headaches.

Vivid manifestations of algodismenorrhea require immediate medical examination. These signs are typical for some serious illnesses, early diagnosis which will allow them to be successfully cured.

5 Diagnostic measures

What to do if your stomach hurts a lot during menstruation? Of course, consult a doctor. He will ask the patient about the sensations she experiences, as well as when, with what intensity and frequency her lower abdomen hurts, whether she has had gynecological diseases before, surgical interventions, abortion or childbirth, how it went puberty what is heredity? Already at this stage of diagnosis, it is possible to assume why severe pain is observed during menstruation.

Examination by a gynecologist and ultrasonography pelvic organs will detect the presence of changes. To confirm the diagnosis, the doctor will prescribe the patient a colposcopy (examination of the vagina and vaginal part of the uterus using a colposcope) or hysteroscopy (examination of the uterine cavity using a hysteroscope). Colposcope and hysteroscope are medical devices, allowing you to explore in detail inner surface vagina and uterus, respectively.

During the examination, the gynecologist will take a smear from the vagina, cervical canal and urethra for examination. The woman will have a blood test to check her hormone levels and general tests blood and urine. In some cases, laparoscopy may be necessary. This is a method of direct optical examination of organs abdominal cavity. Diagnostic laparoscopy involves two small punctures into which manipulative instruments are inserted.

6 Medical therapy

If the doctor has diagnosed secondary algodismenorrhea, treatment will be aimed at eliminating diseases and changes reproductive organs women who called painful condition. Methods modern medicine can change the abnormal position of the uterus or separate adhesions. With endometriosis, it is possible to remove foci of the disease. There are gentle ways to remove fibroids.

After eliminating the causes of algodismenorrhea, methods can be prescribed conservative treatment: hormonal drugs, antispasmodics and analgesics.

The primary form of the disease is treated with analgesics, antispasmodics, sedatives and hormonal drugs. If a woman is sexually active, she will be prescribed hormonal drugs with contraceptive properties.

When diseases become the cause of algodismenorrhea nervous system, the woman is prescribed tranquilizers. These are psychotropic medications, relieving feelings of anxiety and fear. With their help it is possible to stabilize mental condition and eliminate or reduce pain. At the same time, the woman’s hysterics and depressed state disappear, her vitality increases.

7 Disease prevention

Like any other disease, algodismenorrhea is easier to prevent than to treat.

Parents of a girl need to form healthy habits in their child from the cradle. And subsequently maintaining healthy image life will not require additional effort from her. She will follow all the rules automatically.

A balanced diet rich in vitamins and minerals is the basis of a healthy lifestyle. The use of products with dyes, preservatives and flavors should be kept to a minimum. You should avoid soda, excessive amounts of sweets and processed foods. You should not introduce your child to fast food. The best way encourage your daughter to use healthy products- example of parents.

One of the reasons for painful menstruation is physical inactivity. Therefore, you need to make sure that the girl spends several hours every day in movement: doing physical education, active games, went for walks with my parents. Exercises in the pool and swimming in open water in the summer are useful.

The girl needs to be taught a daily routine (go to bed and eat at the same time) and the mandatory daily hygiene procedures. It is necessary to explain to her how to protect herself from infectious diseases, avoid hypothermia. Important point: tell your daughter about the basics of behavior with a sexual partner, methods of contraception and methods of protection against sexually transmitted diseases.

Parents need to childhood daughter to monitor her weight, and subsequently teach her to control her weight on her own. Obesity causes many diseases, including increased painful menstruation.

The signs of algodismenorrhea cannot be ignored. If there is severe abdominal pain during menstruation, the mother needs to show her daughter to the doctor. His recommendations should be followed in full and observed until the end of treatment.

In the body of any woman of reproductive age, cyclical changes occur associated with the preparation of the uterus for possible pregnancy. If pregnancy does not occur, bleeding (menstruation) occurs, which in most women is associated with abdominal pain. Minor and short-lived pain is physiological norm. A doctor should be consulted if it is severe and prevents a woman from being able to do normal activities. Such pain indicates the presence of serious diseases and should not be ignored.

Content:

Why does abdominal pain occur? What is dysmenorrhea

Cyclic processes associated with preparing the female body for a possible pregnancy depend on hormonal changes, increasing the production of estrogen, progesterone, prostaglandin. There is a so-called premenstrual syndrome, the signs of which are depressive mood, swelling of the mammary glands, pain Bottom part belly.

If fertilization does not occur, pregnancy does not occur, then the layer of the inner lining of the uterus (epithelium), to which the fertilized cell should have attached, is rejected and excreted from the body. Since the mucous membrane is permeated with a network blood vessels then bleeding occurs.

Rejection of the outer layer of the epithelium (mucous membrane) and its removal from the uterus occurs due to its spasmodic contractions, which cause pain. In addition, swelling of the epithelium leads to an increase in the size of the uterus. She squeezes nerve endings surrounding tissues. The corresponding signals are transmitted to the brain, and a pain response occurs in the abdomen.

These processes are natural. The intensity of pain depends on the individual characteristics of the woman’s body: the location and size of the uterus, the sensitivity of the pain centers of the brain, general condition health, physical and psychological stress.

Video: What is menstruation. Why does my stomach hurt?

Painful periods are more common in young women who have not given birth. Sometimes pain in the abdomen appears when using uterine contraceptives. Abdominal pain during menstruation can be severe if there is endocrine diseases leading to hormonal imbalances in the body. Menstruation is painful after surgery on the uterus or internal organs.

To understand why the stomach hurts a lot during menstruation (so-called dysmenorrhea occurs), you need to find out if the woman has the following diseases:

• endometriosis and adenomyosis (proliferation of the uterine epithelium);
• ovarian cyst (a neoplasm in the form of a cavity in the body of the ovary, which is benign in nature);
• fibroids ( benign tumor in the muscle of the uterus);
• polyps (single benign neoplasms in the endometrium);
• ectopic pregnancy (attachment of a fertilized egg not in the uterus, but in fallopian tubes).

Video: Causes of pain during menstruation

All these diseases pose a danger to a woman’s health, and in some cases become a threat to life, so if menstruation is painful, then it is necessary to consult a doctor and undergo an examination. Associated symptoms that also need to be reported are:

• increased temperature during menstruation;
• the duration of menstruation is more than 7 days;
• increased pain compared to previous menstruation;
• increased volume of menstrual flow;
• abdominal enlargement, suspicion of pregnancy.

Sometimes pain during menstruation appears not only in the abdomen, but also in other parts of the body: stomach, legs, back, and bothers discomfort during urination.

Ways to feel better during your period

If no serious diseases associated with menstruation are found in women, then some simple procedures aimed at relaxing the uterus will help alleviate the condition.

Warming treatments

They help relieve spasms and weaken muscle tone. You need to hold a warm heating pad on your stomach for 15-20 minutes. You can lie in a warm bath for 10 minutes or take a warm shower.

Physical activity

Lungs physical exercise Not only are they not contraindicated, but they are necessary to improve the condition during menstruation. Walking, cycling, and swimming improve blood circulation, prevent blood stagnation, and reduce the pressure of the uterus on the nerve endings. In addition, exercise relaxes the nervous system, strengthens muscles, and improves mood. Heavy physical activity is contraindicated.

Diet during menstruation

Bloating can increase pain, so it is recommended to limit the consumption of foods during menstruation. causing gas formation(legumes, sugar), as well as spicy food and stimulating drinks (green tea, coffee).

It's good to drink a lot clean water, use warm Herb tea calming effect and juicy fruits. It is necessary to eat foods containing a lot of vitamin E (bananas, avocados), which speeds up metabolic processes in the body, participates in the production of hormones. This will serve to prevent diseases associated with hormonal disorders. Such disturbances affect the course of menstruation. Eating foods containing vitamins A and B is beneficial.

Psychological attitude

Menstrual pain worsens under stress. Chatting with friends, participating in enjoyable activities, and doing interesting things can help take your mind off the pain. Sometimes you just need to sleep or eat something tasty to lift your mood and forget about unpleasant symptoms.

Video: How to cope with period pain

Treatment methods

In order to get rid of pain during menstruation, your doctor may recommend using reflexology (acupuncture).

In some cases, women are advised to use hormonal contraceptives to reduce the level of prostaglandin (a hormone that promotes increased uterine contractions and squeezing of blood vessels). At elevated level This hormone causes women to experience abdominal pain, sometimes nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

You can use medications for pain relief traditional medicine, for example, "Kuril tea". The extract of this plant, as well as lactose and some anti-inflammatory substances are part of the drug "Metamide" (dietary supplement), which is used for menstrual pain and for prevention inflammatory diseases uterus.

Advice: It is better to take any medications after examination by a doctor, since eliminating pain without identifying its cause can mask the symptoms of a disease that needs to be treated urgently. In addition, some drugs are addictive.

After the doctor finds out why a woman has a stomach ache during her period, diagnoses the disease using ultrasound and other research methods, and prescribes treatment with analgesic, sedative, anti-inflammatory or hormonal medications.

Very often, monthly menstrual periods in women are accompanied by severe pain in the abdominal area and other manifestations of discomfort.

Causes of abdominal pain during menstruation

Hormonal background greatly affects the activity of the uterus and female hyperesthesia. If estrogen levels are increased, which often happens when a woman is over 30, menstruation is not only painful, but also very heavy and prolonged. The woman suffers from both PMS and algodysmenorrhea.

Failure of the usual balance between sex hormones and physical active substances prostaglandins in favor of the latter is also associated with the appearance of pain. Prostaglandins are specific chemical substances, playing a major role in the appearance of negative symptoms during menstruation. They are produced in the tissue of the uterus and cause it to contract. The more prostaglandins in the body, the stronger the muscles of the uterus contract, which means the pain increases. Their excess often causes other unpleasant sensations in the form of headache, nausea and vomiting, tachycardia, etc.

Stomach pain during menstruation, when activity increases thyroid gland regulating the production of hormones.

Pain during menstruation is also observed when the uterus is underdeveloped, when inflammatory processes occur in the genitals, with endometriosis, increased excitability CNS.

Most often, pain occurs in nulliparous women and may be a symptom of infertility. With ectopic contraception, a woman can also experience pain.

Other unpleasant symptoms during menstruation

• lower back pain;
• pain in the legs;
• nausea and vomiting;
• diarrhea;
• weakness;
• severe irritability.

Algomenorrhea

Secondary algodisminorrhea is called pain during menstruation, which is caused by a number of diseases. This can be a cyst, an inflammatory process, endometriosis, fibromatous nodes, cavitary and gynecological operations.

When medical attention is needed

• Pain during menstruation lasts longer than usual.
• The pain intensifies.
• Bleeding is more pronounced than normal during menstruation.
• There are signs that indicate the presence of infection: discomfort in the genitals before menstruation, strange discharge, itching, unpleasant odor, and impaired urination.
• There are symptoms indicating inflammatory process: temperature, muscle pain, chills

Call an ambulance!

• In case of loss of consciousness.
• For dizziness when standing up.
• Sudden severe pain in the lower abdomen.
• IN menstrual blood presence of gray lumps.

What to do if your stomach hurts during menstruation

Good effect gives the painkiller ibuprofen and its analogues.

Diclofenac suppositories are also used with success.

Having reached reproductive age, every girl is faced with such an inevitable phenomenon as menstrual cycle and menstruation.

The menstrual cycle is a monthly repeating, cyclical process of egg maturation in the ovaries and evolutionary changes in the uterine mucosa under the influence of sex hormones. As a rule, menstruation comes at 12-14 years of age. The first menstruation is called menarche.

Menstruation is a physiological “bleeding” from the genital tract that occurs after the functional layer of the endometrium is rejected, under the influence of sex hormones (progesterone), if the process of fertilization does not occur.

The process of ovulation is the release of a “ripe” egg from the ovary at the moment of maximum concentration of estrogen in the blood, which occurs approximately in the middle of the cycle (on days 14-17).

However, very often in many girls and women, menstruation manifests itself not only bloody discharge from the genitals, as well as various painful sensations. According to statistics, when visiting a gynecologist, about 60% of patients complain of various pain sensations, and every 5 of them have stomach pain during menstruation.

Why can periods be painful?

The occurrence of pain associated with menstruation is called algodismenorrhea (hereinafter referred to as ADM).

ADM is a syndrome that occurs regularly pain in women at different age periods, against the background of pathology of various nature(endocrine, metabolic, neurological). ADM can occur as an independent disease, or as a accompanying syndrome gynecological disease. Depending on why ADM occurs, it can be divided into primary and secondary.

Primary algodismenorrhea

It exists as an independent diagnosis, and it is not associated with pathology and anatomical disorders in the female body. This disease is common in younger girls. age groups who have just entered the phase of puberty, as a rule, the onset of ADM occurs a year or more after the onset of menarche. At this time, the exact reasons for this phenomenon have not been established. So why does it occur?

• thin build;
• high nervous excitability;
• imbalance of the hormonal component (excess prostaglandins, decreased progesterone levels).

Diagnosis of primary ADM:

• absence structural changes, during research ( gynecological examination, ultrasound);
• characteristic appearance of girls: young, asthenic constitution, vegetative-vascular disorders, emotional lability;
• characteristic time of occurrence (after menarche).

Treatment tactics

Therapy for primary ADM should be comprehensive, that is, combine drug and non-drug methods.

• healthy lifestyle, massages, physiotherapeutic treatment;
• vitamin therapy on menstrual days;
• use of herbal sedatives(persen, valerian);
• painkillers and antispasmodics in severe cases(spasmolgon, no-shpa, indomethacin, ibuprofen);
• reception hormonal drugs from 5 to 25 days of the cycle, from high content gestagenic component, for 3-4 months.

Secondary algomenorrhea

Acts as individual symptom specific disease. Secondary ADM is characteristic of women over the age of 30-35 years.

Why does secondary ADM occur?

• endometriosis – benign disease, characterized by excessive growth of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity;
• Adenomyosis is a type of endometriosis, manifested by the growth of endometrial tissue into the muscular layer of the uterus.
• the presence of fibroids and polyps in the uterine cavity;
• anomalies anatomical structure and development of the genital organs (infantile uterus);
• ADM against the background of injuries performed earlier surgical operations, abortion, difficult childbirth, curettage;
• acute and chronic inflammatory gynecological diseases (endometritis, salpingoopharitis, adnexitis).

Manifestations of secondary ADM:

• pain syndrome is divided into several degrees:

1. Mild degree - the presence of moderate pelvic pain during menstruation. No painkillers are needed.
2. Moderate degree - characterized by pain of moderate intensity, longer lasting, which leads to mild exhaustion of the nervous system. Painkillers required.
3. Severe degree - characterized by painful, unbearable pain. Self-administered pain relief is ineffective.

Diagnosis of secondary ADM:

• gynecological examination;
• hysteroscopy, colposcopy;
• laboratory tests: PCR, smear from the cervical canal, urethra, vagina, smear culture;
• blood test for the content of female sex hormones.

Treatment tactics

Therapy for secondary ADM is primarily aimed at curing the underlying disease; pain relief is the second point.

• treatment of gynecological pathology using conservative and surgical methods;
• painkillers;
• hormonal drugs (Zhanine, Femoden, Mercilon, etc.).

Why is there a delay in menstruation and severe stomach pain?

Severe pain in the lower abdomen, accompanied by a delay in menstruation, can be caused by:

• ectopic (ectopic) pregnancy;
• risk of miscarriage ;
• approaching dysfunctional uterine bleeding;
• hemorrhage of an ovarian cyst;
• adhesive process in the uterine cavity.

Ectopic pregnancy– spicy gynecological pathology, in which the embryo develops outside the uterine cavity (in the cervix, fallopian tubes or ovary). Contributing factors: inflammatory gynecological diseases, previous uterine surgeries, a history of ectopic pregnancy, endometriosis. Of course, such a pregnancy is not normal and if there is a discrepancy between the size of the fetus and anatomical area where it develops, its inevitable interruption occurs (in the form of organ rupture or abortion of the fertilized egg into the abdominal cavity).

Manifestations ectopic pregnancy by type of organ rupture:

• delayed menstruation and positive test for pregnancy;
• sudden, very severe pain in the abdomen on one side, radiating to the lower back, shoulder, shoulder blade;
• progressive deterioration of the condition with fainting and loss of consciousness;
• signs of bleeding: pallor, low blood pressure, rapid and weak pulse.

Manifestations of ectopic pregnancy by type of abortion of the ovum:

• also a delay and a positive test;
• wave-like pain on one side, the nature of the pain is pulling, cramping;
• possible in the form of a “daub”;
• internal bleeding is a very common complication.

What needs to be done?

Immediate hospitalization and surgical treatment.

Risk of miscarriage– a condition preceding self-abortion if help is not provided in time.

Manifestations:

• delay of menstruation, accompanied by mild aching or nagging pain lower abdomen and sacral region;
• when pain intensifies and bloody discharge from the vagina appears, we can talk about the beginning of termination of pregnancy

What needs to be done?

Immediate hospitalization is required. If there is a threat of abortion and a miscarriage has begun, it is possible to continue the pregnancy. In unfavorable cases, therapeutic curettage of the uterus is prescribed.

Dysfunctional uterine bleeding - This gynecological disease, which occurs against the background of an imbalance of sex hormones, and is manifested by pain in the lower abdomen and bloody discharge from the genital tract. The regularity of menstruation is disrupted and may be delayed.

What needs to be done?

Seek help from a gynecologist. Treatment consists of taking hormonal medications.

Hemorrhagic ovarian cysts

Manifestations:

• delayed menstruation;
• nagging pain and discomfort in the abdomen, usually on one side;
• very often complicated by apoplexy (hemorrhage) of the ovary.

What do we have to do?

Hospitalization and surgical treatment.

Adhesions in the uterine cavity. The formation of connective tissue adhesions in the uterine cavity is called Asheraman syndrome. The causes of this syndrome: consequences of gynecological manipulations (abortion, curettage), previous early inflammation (endometritis).

Manifestations of Asherman's syndrome:

• delay of menstruation if adhesions completely block the exit from the uterine cavity;
• growth followed by the appearance of very severe pain due to increasing accumulation of blood in the uterine cavity (hematometra).

What needs to be done?

Surgery - the only way out.