what is dysmenorrhea?
Dysmenorrhea is the medical term for painful periods or menstrual cramps and is subdivided into primary and secondary menstrual pain. Primary period pains are milder and can be relieved with natural remedies and a healthy nutrition. The pain is unpleasant, but still bearable and usually harmless. The causes of primary menstrual pain are not disease-related and are very individual. Reasons for menstrual pain can be, for example, the early onset of the first period, a low body weight, a long menstrual cycle, or a genetic predisposition. Secondary menstrual pain, on the other hand, is based on an underlying gynecological or organizational disease. These may include endometriosis, adenomyosis, myoma (polyp), ovarian cyst, or PCO syndrome. Endometriosis is the most common cause of secondary menstrual pain. The symptoms are sometimes so severe that sufferers are unable to cope with their normal daily lives for several days a month. To alleviate secondary dysmenorrhea, the focus is on treating the underlying disease.
what is endometriosis?
Endometriosis is a common, chronic condition associated with severe cycle-dependent and cycle-independent pain. Severe menstrual pain is a very common symptom. In endometriosis, cells of the lining of the uterus (endometrium) settle outside their natural location. This leads to cysts and inflammation (endometriosis lesions) that settle on the ovaries, in the intestines or in the peritoneum. Their tissue is similar to that of the endometrium and can grow and bleed with the hormonal cycle. Endometriosis lesions - although categorized as benign - can metastasize and permanently damage organs. It often leads to infertility. Only a laparoscopy diagnoses endometriosis. During laparoscopy, the abdominal cavity is first inflated with carbon dioxide (CO2), to create a kind of working and examination space. Then an optical instrument with a light source and camera (laparoscope) is inserted into the abdominal cavity through a small skin incision.