Beware of the very painful menstrual cycle: it can hide gynecological pathologies, and for this reason it is very important to prevent chronic pelvic pain syndrome.
This was stated by Flaminia Coluzzi, associate professor of Anesthesia, Resuscitation and Pain Therapy Department of SBMC Sapienza University of Rome.
"Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome represents a disabling form of chronic visceral pain, for which women turn to Pain Therapy Centers - says Coluzzi - The causes can be multiple and not only of gynecological origin. However, dysmenorrhea, i.e. uterine pain that arises during the period of menstruation, is one of the most common symptoms.When the symptoms are so severe as to make the common activities of daily life difficult, dysmenorrhea can be secondary and hide specific pathologies of the genital system, which if not properly diagnosed can have important consequences on a woman's health, especially on the integrity of her fertility".
During menstruation, explains the expert, "
endometrial debris physiologically eliminated vaginally can partially fall back into the peritoneal cavity and generate inflammatory phenomena, which feed stimuli sent from the periphery to the spinal cord.
By hyperactivating glial cells, this cyclical monthly stimulus can generate neuroinflammatory phenomena, which clinically translate into dysmenorrhea associated with Chronic Pelvic Pain.
Modulating neuroinflammation through molecules that restore the cells to physiological function is one of the current therapeutic strategies in the management of patients with Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome". Endometriosis is one of the most frequent causes of secondary dysmenorrhea, Coluzzi underlines, but "
unfortunately it is still subject to an internationally estimated diagnostic delay of more than 6 years from the appearance of the first symptoms.
Often girls reach the diagnosis only in the phase of in-depth investigations in search of a pregnancy that does not arrive". Therefore, she concludes, "dysmenorrhea is not a symptom to be underestimated, especially when its severity prevents daily activities, because this can hide diseases of the genital system".