DYSMENORRHOEA – Painful menstruation

DYSMENORRHOEA

Dysmenorrhoea is the term used for painful menstruation. Around 50 to 60 % of females suffer from pain in relation to menses. The extent of pain may vary from a mere discomfort to sever pain incapacitating the patient from her normal daily activities. The pain is usually experienced in lower abdomen but may extend to back and thighs.

TYPES OF DYSMENORRHOEA

• 1. Primary Dysmenorrhoea: It usually occurs in girls and young females and tends to improve with increasing age. The patients have complaints of pain ever since the periods started. The pain is usually spasmodic or colicky in character and is worse on first 2, 3 days of menses and eases as the flow establishes. There is usually no underlying medical problem.
  

  Causes:

  The pain is due to the spasm of uterine muscle caused by excessive secretion of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are the hormones secreted by the cells in the uterus. Patients suffering from primary Dysmenorrhoea have high levels of prostaglandins.
  Stressful events in life, anxieties, fears, grief etc leave an impression on human mind and are often the culprit behind the physical diseases.

• 2. Secondary Dysmenorrhoea: The secondary Dysmenorrhoea is due to some underlying pelvic disease. Symptoms of Dysmenorrhoea usually appear after few
  years of painless menstruation. The pain experienced is very variable but is usually dull aching pain.

  Causes:

  The common causes of secondary Dysmenorrhoea are:

  • Endometriosis: It is a common condition in which the tissue similar to the lining of uterus (endometrium) is present outside the uterus.
  • Pelvic inflammatory disease
  • Uterine Fibroids
  • Ovarian Cysts
  • Abnormal positioning of uterus e.g. retroverted uterus or adhesions of uterus.
  • Intra uterine contraceptive devices can also cause painful menses in some females.

SYMPTOMS OF DYSMENORRHOEA

Pain: is the leading symptom of Dysmenorrhoea.It is usually felt in lower abdomen and may extend to thighs and back. Pain is spasmodic, colicky or dull in character.
Other concomitant symptoms like headache, vertigo, nausea, vomiting, fatigue,
irritability can also be associated. In secondary Dysmenorrhoea the symptoms
of underlying medical problem are also present.

TREATMENT

Most of the conventional modes of treatment aim to palliate the pain rather than curing the cause behind it.

HOMEOPATHIC APPROACH

Homeopathy being an individualistic science tries to find an individual remedy
for each case. Different females suffering from Dysmenorrhoea present with
different symptoms regarding the character, localization, extension and severity of pain. Also varying are the accompanying symptoms like nausea, vomiting, headache, vertigo, diarrhea, constipation etc. Some females will have complaints much before menses while others are worse only during it. The character of blood, its color, presence or absence of clots, the underlying cause like fibroids, cysts, endometriosis etc differentiate one case from another.
Most importantly the disposition and mental state of each person is different. A female reproductive system releases various hormones for its normal
functioning which are further controlled by hormones released by brain. Any past or prevailing stress, grief, anxiety, fear etc lead to an imbalance in normal hormonal regulation.
Hence a Homeopathic remedy is selected by considering the physical, mental
and emotional state of each person in order to cure safely and effectively.