Women Health: Women suffer through menstrual cramps every month in silence, so why is it that something so important is neglected because it’s a taboo? No, women don’t complain about the heck of it, menstrual cramps are hellish, to say the least, and now there’s a study to prove it.
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), painful menstruation interferes with the daily life of one in five women. Even with such a significant number of women suffering, very little research has been done regarding the condition.
Women are prescribed ibuprofen to ease the pain, but that’s not an adequate solution. While menstrual pain varies from person to person, John Guillebaud, professor of reproductive health at University College London, told Quartz that some patients have described their cramps as “almost as bad as a heart attack.”
Frank Tu, director of gynecological pain at NorthShore University HealthSystem says that some physicians are taught ibuprofen “should be good enough.” The AAFP claims that drugs such as aspirin and paracetamol may reduce pain in the short term, although few studies have been of good quality.
