GYN CHRONICLES
DYSMENORRHOEA:
PAINFUL PERIODS
Dr. Maureen Owiti
O
ne of the most distressing
things in This time we tackle
dysmenorrhea. Yes another
difficult word to wrap your tongues
around. I tell people we went to
school to learn difficult terminologies
and of course how to cure or improve
quality of life in the specific instances.
As you can already see I have broken
down the meaning in the title and
I’m quite sure most if not all of us
women must have had an incident of
the same at some point in their lives.
Painful periods is very simplistic
when we talk about dysmenorrhea; it
is painful menstruation that is severe
enough to interfere with the day to
day activities of the sufferer.
Generally this will occur in about
5-10% of women and if you have not
experienced the same I’m sure you
remember one or two girls in your
class especially high school who were
unable to attend classes because their
visitors (menses) had come.
Dysmenorrhoea is classified into
primary and secondary where the first
represents those whose cause cannot
be identified i.e. there is no disease
causing the pain and the latter which
would have an identifiable cause.
Primary dysmenorrhoea occurs
mostly in young adolescents within
6 months to 2 years after their first
period with a strong family history
‘‘ Various measures have been used to
manage dysmenorrhea in the outpatient
setting, including lifestyle modification
which seems helpful. Smoking cessation
should be encouraged, in that smoking may
be a risk factor for dysmenorrhea. Exercise
has also been shown to alleviate symptoms of
dysmenorrhea, though the mechanism is not
well understood.’’
64 MAL 17/17 ISSUE
i.e. mother or siblings also suffer
from the same and in more affluent
population. It usually lasts for about
2-3 days often just before the period
starts with cramping or labour-like
pain with abdominal, pelvic and or
rectal findings unremarkable. Primary
dysmenorrhoea also resolves after
child birth in a high number of cases.
Presenting Mercy: She started
getting periods at 12 years the first
few cycles were painless but as time
progressed she started noticing she
would get nausea and diarrhoea
accompanied with severe cramps
during periods. When she went to
boarding school she was the laughing
stock of the class as everyone thought
it was strange that she could not go
to class during her periods. Most
people thought she was acting so as
to avoid class.
The school administration took it
up and called her mother to take
her to see a doctor. Their family
doctor recommended a visit to the
gynaecologist. During follow up
history was suggestive of primary
dysmenorrhoea and tests showed no
obvious pathology. She was put on
oral contraceptives and some pain
relievers. Symptoms improved on the