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Health & Sexuality Info

menstrual pain

Menstruating people experience many different levels of period-related pain and cramping, from no cramps to severe ones. Dysmenorrhea is the medical term for menstrual pain, which includes two main types: primary and secondary. Primary dysmenorrhea is painful cramping (with or without nausea and diarrhea) not associated with any other pelvic disorder; secondary dysmenorrhea is pain associated with another pelvic problem such as endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease, or fibroids.

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Resources

How Menstrual Cycles Shed Light on Our General Health

A calendar with red markings on it and a red marker

Changes in our menstrual cycles can signal changes in our health overall, like pulse and respiratory rate and other vital signs.

Resources

The Problem of Low Menstrual Health Literacy

A girl reads a book on the floor of a library

Textbooks still don't accurately describe why we menstruate, focusing only on hormonal shifts while ignoring period pain and blood loss.

Resources

A Conversation about Environmental, Reproductive, and Women's Health with Dr. Shruthi Mahalingaiah

Video cover for interview with Dr. Shruthi Mahalingaiah

Our Bodies Ourselves menstrual cycle context experts Sasha Goodfriend and Sarah Pillone, interview Dr. Shruthi Mahalingaiah about her research looking at the intersection of environmental and reproductive health.

Resources

The Physical Effects of Sexual Trauma: Chronic Pelvic Pain

A woman sits on a bed, clasping her midsection as though in pain

In this article, a pelvic health physical therapist explains how sexual trauma affects the body and contributes to chronic pelvic pain (CPP) as well as other bodily systems and cycles.

Resources

An Overview of Endometriosis

A woman in a tan bra and underwear stands in a bedroom holding a red water bottle to her stomach

This video provides a general overview of endometriosis and the menstrual cycle, focusing closely on the personal story of Noémie Elhadad.

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Managing Endometriosis Pain while Working from Home

A Black woman sits in what appears to be her living room. She is working on a gold mac. Her hair is styled in braids pulled up, she is wearing glasses, and she is wearing an orange top.

Our Bodies Ourselves content expert Arielle Dance, PhD, discusses six ways that she manages her endometriosis while working remotely from home.

Resources

Physical and Emotional Challenges Through the Menstrual Cycle

A woman is on her bed, she leans forward with her head in her hands.

The menstrual cycle is governed by hormones that rise and fall in rhythmic patterns.

Stories & Conversations

Extreme Pain from an IUD

SD

SD discusses her experience with severe pain after insertion of a copper IUD.

Stories & Conversations

Becoming an Endometriosis Advocate

My Story: Becoming an Endometriosis Advocate

HG explains how her experience with endometriosis shaped her life.

Stories & Conversations

Coping With Heavy Periods as a Child

My Story- Coping With Heavy Periods as a Child

MT describes how she coped with the heavy and painful periods she experienced growing up before being able to take birth control.

Stories & Conversations

Dealing with Contraception Side Effects

My Story- Dealing With Contraception Side Effects

MT shares her experience using birth control to treat heavy, painful periods. She addresses problems with the first birth control pill that she tried.

Stories & Conversations

It Was Like Somebody Turned on a Faucet

Period Blood

CB discusses the process of finding a treatment for her painful periods and heavy bleeding, until discovering that they were caused by fibroids and cysts.