Less known than premenstrual syndrome, intermenstrual syndrome is nevertheless relatively common. In fact, it is estimated that it could affect four out of ten women. What does it consist on ? How to recognize it? Response elements.
We don’t talk about it much when we talk about pain related to the menstrual cycle. And yet, intermenstrual syndrome is responsible for pelvic pain which affects 40% of women.
What is intermenstrual syndrome?
Intermenstrual syndrome causes pelvic pain in the middle of the affected women’s menstrual cycle. This is pain localized in the lower abdominal area, and rather lateralized.
The painful area actually corresponds to one or the other of the ovaries, at the time of ovulation. Indeed, the pain is felt either on the left or on the right, but never on both sides at the same time. And it is at this precise moment in the cycle, when one of the ovaries releases an egg, that the growth of the follicle and the ovarian distension cause pain that radiates throughout the pelvis.
In addition, rupture of the follicle often causes bleeding which will also irritate the lining of the abdomen. In total, the phenomenon can last several days and disrupt the woman in her daily activities.
How to recognize intermenstrual syndrome?
If you’ve ever felt this type of pain, you know what it is. Otherwise, intermenstrual syndrome pain has a few characteristics:
- It is unilateral, therefore, although the affected side may change or remain the same, for several months in a row;
- It lasts from a few minutes to several days, it is an acute pain;
- Its date of occurrence allows us to note that it is mid-cycle pain.
A marker of the time of ovulation in the cycle
Although these ovulation pains are annoying, they do not represent an abnormal phenomenon. It is possible to seek advice from your doctor to calm them down, if this proves necessary.
Finally, for women who wish to have a child, they represent a marker in their cycle, which certainly indicates to them the time of their ovulation.