Period Pain Relief (Period Pain Tablets)

Period Pain

Period pain is the name used for the abdominal pain that women often experience at the end of their menstrual cycle, and throughout the length of their period. The severity of the pain is usually at its peak on your heaviest day of bleeding. The pain can affect all women differently, with some experiencing very mild pain (or none at all), while others can have very severe, debilitating pains that disrupt their daily lives.

It's usually felt as painful muscle cramps in the stomach (and sometimes back) and it can either come as short, sharp spasms or a longer, dull ache. Most women will experience period pain at some point in their life, although it can often be most intense in your adolescent years and your twenties, rather than as you get older. It’s also normal to notice differing degrees of pain on each menstrual cycle, with some being worse and others being much milder.

Your period is caused when the hormones in your body thicken the lining of your womb, ready for pregnancy, but no egg is fertilised. Because the thick lining of the womb is not needed (to house and nurture a growing baby), the body sheds this - which you experience as a period.

In order for your body to shed the lining, the wall of the womb contracts, compressing the blood vessels and temporarily cutting off the oxygen supply. This releases chemicals that trigger pain, and the contractions are why a lot of women experience period pain as spasms, rather than a continuous ache.

Like with many things, the reason that women experience different levels of pain during their period is likely due to the individuality of each woman’s hormonal and chemical balance.

Period Pain Tablets

Most women’s period pain can be managed at home, with the help of period pain tablets from UK Meds. You can either opt for general painkillers, or for Naproxen, which is specifically designed to target inflammation and ease pain. The medication can be ordered safely and efficiently with the help of our online prescribers and flexible delivery options.

There are also a number of home remedies and lifestyle choices that you can make to aid in the easing of painful periods. This includes applying heat (e.g. a hot water bottle) to the stomach or lower back, meditating to relieve stress and doing exercise to release endorphins (a natural, pain-fighting chemical in the body).

If you are continually experiencing heavy, painful periods, then you may also want to explore some longer-term relievers. Contraception methods such as the combined pill and the IUD can relieve heavy symptoms of your menstrual cycle, by releasing oestrogen and progestogen into the body.

For those who are still frequently experiencing severe painful periods after trying these treatments, you should consult your doctor to make sure that there are no other health complications or underlying conditions.

Sildenafil has been shown to successfully reduce menstrual pain in women who have primary dysmenorrhea (Oladosu et al, 2019). Similarly, Dmitrovic et al (2013) found that vaginal preparation of sildenafil citrate alliviated acute menstrual pain in PD patients, with no adverse effects observed. Whilst viagra (sildenafil) may improve sexual experience in healthy women, by acting on the different sexual pathways, additional studies are recommended to define the use of sildenafil in clinincal settings (Caruso et al, 2003). Your doctor or GP will be able to advise you on if Viagra (sildenafil) is a suitable period pain treatment for you, or whether an alternative treatment could be better suited to you.

There are many alternative treatments to Viagra (sildenafil) for the relief of period (menstrual) pain. Prescription treatments such as Mefenamic Acid help to relieve period pain, reduce bleeding and act fast (Kintis & Coutifaris, 1980), though may not be suitable for long term usage (Gomathy et al, 2019). Natural remedies such as ginger can be similarly effective as mefenamic acid as a treatment for period pain (Ozgoli et al, 2009) with no limitation on usage. Before starting any medical treatment it is important to consult your doctor, GP or pharmacist as they will be able to advise if a particular medication is suitable for your needs.

Studies into period pain relief could be limited by factors such as a lack of funding, a shortage of participants willing to take part in research studies and the various causes of cramps being unclear in themselves (McMurray, c., 2023).

Is there a larger issue around research into women's health?

There may be a lack of menstrual education standards according to a study assessing dysmenorrhea in Irish students (Chéileachair et al, 2022) More research is needed to help women identify suitable treatments for the root cause of menstrual pain (Everyday Health).

Medically Reviewed by:
Dr. Alexis Missick MBChB. MRCGP
GMC reference no: 7151419
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