HEALTH

If you’ve hit puberty and begun the ~wonderful~ stages of womanhood, then it’s likely that you know and understand just how awful period pain can be—and it happens every month!

After realizing that it wasn’t being taken seriously as an issue (since it’s not a valid and acceptable excuse for missing school or work), one reproductive health expert became interested in changing this mindset.

"Men don't get it and it hasn't been given the centrality it should have," said John Guillebaud, a professor at the University College of London, in an interview with Quartz. Throughout his research and study, Guillebaud found a strong lack of research into cures for period pain and came to believe that having cramps and other various types of pain during menstruation are just “as bad as having a heart attack.” Yikes.

If you’ve experienced this pain for awhile, then you’ll know that there are temporary fixes for period pain, such as taking pain killers or finding relief in a hot water bottle, but nothing that seems to help permanently. "I do believe it's something that should be taken care of, like anything else in medicine,” said Guillebaud. Period pain affects at least one in five women, and while doctors will sometimes prescribe painkillers, treatments can be a rare occurrence.

Sounds like it’s definitely time for more research and help to come our way. It’s a good thing we have people like Guillebaud who care about issues like these, and are working on researching the topic.

Do you wish there was a better treatment for period pain? How have you learned to deal with it? Share with us in the comments below.

We want to hear from you! Send us your weirdest body questions here (seriously, we'll answer anything!) and it just might get featured.

by Alexa Matthews | 2/19/2016