International Women’s Day 2023: Raising awareness of women who experience dysmenorrhoea (painful periods)

It’s International Women’s Day 2023, so as a follow on from our activities last year on the Menopause, this year we wanted to write a blog to raise awareness of dysmenorrhoea (painful periods).

According to a fact sheet released by Women’s Health Concern, 80% of women will experience period pain at some point in their lives. But for around 5-10% of women, this pain is so severe it disrupts their daily lives.

Dysmenorrhoea – the medical term for ‘painful periods’

As the Women’s Health Concern fact sheet highlights, period pain can affect many women, but it also outlines the two types:

• Primary dysmenorrhoea is more commonly experienced during teenage and young adulthood years. And is ‘a perfectly natural condition and for many women is simply a mild monthly discomfort’, i.e. it is not caused by a specific condition.
• Secondary dysmenorrhoea often starts later in a woman’s life and can be a sign of an underlying health condition. The pain is not restricted to when a woman is menstruating, as it can happen at other times during their cycle. Periods may also be heavier and more prolonged.

What conditions cause secondary dysmenorrhoea?

According to Bupa, there are a number of conditions that can cause secondar