Stress may be responsible for painful periods

Stress might be responsible for the abdominal or low back pain experienced by many women during their monthly menstrual periods. Painful periods or dysmenorrhoea is the most common gynaecological disorder in women during their reproductive age. Up to 90 per cent of women experience dysmenorrhea. For some women, the pain is so severe that it can cause them to miss school or work. Researchers from the Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, USA, found a possible link between stress and dysmenorrhea. The investigators, studied 388 Chinese women between the ages of 20 and 34, all of them were newly married and intended to conceive. These women were asked to keep a daily diary for 12 months, in which they recorded their level of work-related or personal stress and each instance of pain that occurred during their menstrual periods.The risk of dysmenorrhoea was twice as great among women with high stress levels as compared to those with low stress levels in the preceding cycle. Twenty two per cent of women with low stress levels experienced painful periods, as compared to 29 per cent of those with medium stress and about 44 per cent of women with high stress. Women who reported higher stress levels during the follicular phase i.e. the first two weeks of the menstrual cycle, were twice as likely to report painful menses during the following cycle as compared to those with low stress levels. Those who experienced medium or high levels of stress during both the follicular and luteal phases, or the entire menstrual cycle, were more than six times as likely to report painful menses in the following cycle. The risk of dysmenorrhoea was the greatest i.e. 10 times higher among women with both high stress and a history of dysmenorrhoea as compared to women with low stress and no history of dysmenorrhoea.

The reason for painful periods is unknown. It could be a combination of both environmental risk factors, such as stress, and individual susceptibility. According to the findings of the study, the researchers recommend that stress reduction programs can help women reduce the pain during menstruation.