What Does Ovulation Pain Mean?
Ovulation pain: The basics
About 20 percent of women experience ovulation pain every month. This usually happens two weeks before menstruation. Ovulation pain is experienced in form of cramps or a sharp pain in the lower abdomen and backache. Abdominal pain alternates sides every month depending on the ovary that is releasing the egg. Some women do not experience pain but become nauseous during ovulation. Ovulation pain is also known as Mittelschmerz.
During ovulation, some blood leaks from the ovary and causes irritation to the abdominal wall. This irritation is painful and is what is experienced as ovulation pain. Pain intensity varies from woman to woman. For some, it is mild and is relieved with rest and relaxation while for others it is severe and they have to take painkillers. Sometimes ovulation pain is caused when you have medical conditions like a pelvic inflammatory disease, endometriosis, fibroids, and ovarian cysts. Having sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea and Chlamydia also increases your chances of experiencing ovulation pain. Fibroids can also cause pain after ovulation.
During ovulation, a woman is very fertile and if she has intercourse the chances of conceiving are very high. You can tell you are ovulating by looking at the following signs: change in temperature, breast tenderness, abdominal discomfort, back pain, cervical discharge, and change in cervix color. To know whether your temperature has changed, take your temperature in the morning immediately after you wake up. Body temperature drops slightly before ovulation then rises and continues rising for the next two days. During this time your temperature is higher than your normal temperature by 0.4-0.6 degrees. For some women breasts become tender and the nipples become sore during ovulation.
Another way you can know that you are ovulating is when you experience abdominal discomfort or pain in your lower abdomen. Some women experience back pain during ovulation. Observe your discharge if it is white as a raw egg you are probably ovulating. The cervix changes color from pink and becomes pale during ovulation. Another simple way of knowing if you are ovulating is by using an ovulation kit.
It is important to know whether you are ovulating or not if you are either trying to conceive or are avoiding conception. However, this method is only recommended for people who have regular menstruation cycles.
You can relieve ovulation pain by taking painkillers or contraceptives, placing a bottle of water or a hot pad on your abdomen, taking a warm bath, and doing exercises. To do the exercises, lie on your back and move your legs like you are riding a bicycle. This relieves abdominal pain.
Ovulation is not harmful and you should not worry about it. Sometimes all you need to do is just relax and the pain will go away on its own. However, you have every reason to be worried if the pain is severe and lasts more than three days, you spot blood in your stool, you have a high fever, feel pain when urinating, have breathing problems or you feel dizzy. When this happens you need to see a doctor immediately because it might be a symptom of a gynecological disorder.
Pain after ovulation causes
Ovulation pain is experienced by about a fifth of all women worldwide usually two weeks before the menstrual period commences. The normal pain that arises as a result of ovulation is called Mittelschmerz, a German word with a literal meaning of middle pain. Although it is normal to experience some level of discomfort or pain during the process of ovulation, there may be cases where such pain can be indicative of some underlying problem and consequently require some sort of medical attention.
Mittelschmerz is the normal pain felt by women during the process of ovulation. According to the National Institutes of Health, about 20 percent of women experience some form of ovulation pain albeit to varying degrees. The severity of pain varies from mild pinching feeling on one side, dull ache radiating across the pelvic area or pain similar to menstrual cramps. The location of the pain will depend on which of the two ovaries is releasing an egg, and it can be the same side for months in a row or switch sides regularly each month. The duration of ovulation pain also varies, for some it all lasts for some minutes yet others have to endure it for up to two days.
If your ovulation pain is severe or prolonged, it is advisable to consult your doctor. Your doctor will then take a medical history and perform a pelvic exam. They might as well conduct some blood tests and cervical cultures. You will need to be completely honest with your doctor and let them know if there is any chance you have been exposed to a sexually transmitted infection or disease at some period in your life. It might be necessary to for an ultrasound or exploratory surgery to be done determine the exact cause of your pain.
Ovulation pain can be caused by a previous pelvic infection, including sexually transmitted infections and diseases. One likely cause of pain is Salpingitis, the inflammation of one or both of the fallopian tubes after infection. These tubes carry the egg to the uterus during ovulation, so inflammation in the tubes can cause pain during ovulation.
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease can also cause pain during ovulation. PID is an inflammation of the female reproductive organs, including the fallopian tubes and uterus. It is usually caused by previous Chlamydia or Gonorrhea infection that was not fully treated. It can cause damage to female reproductive organs; this damage eventually leads to pain during ovulation.
Another possible cause of ovulation pain is endometriosis, which is a condition in which the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus, and ovarian cyst, a pocket of fluid on the ovary that is normal except when it results in pain.
There are a variety of course of medication for ovulation pain relief depending on the cause of the pain. If the pain is normal mittelschmerz, your doctor might prescribe birth-control pills or another form of hormonal birth control, which will put to hold further menstruation and with it any chance for further ovulation pain.
When to worry about ovulation pain?
Discomfiting and in some cases very severe, ovulation pain is the main reason a sizeable proportion of women all over the world dread the approach of menses. Even without painful ovulation being thrown into the mix, the menstrual cycle is generally an unpleasant experience considering hormonal changes that are taking place in the body of a woman. These changes manifest themselves in a number of symptoms, not just limited to the days of the actual menses, but in most cases, before menses commences.
This has to lead to the coinage of the term Pre-Menstrual Syndrome (PMS) to refer to the multiplicity of problems that signal the oncoming menstruation. There is a large combination of discomforts that comprise pre-menstrual syndrome. From lower abdominal pains to headaches or migraines, to bloating and nausea; the list goes on and on depending on individual women.
Ovulation pain is one of the universal complaints that women all over the world have to deal with as part of their Pre-menstrual syndrome regimen. It is a fairly common problem with nearly 20% of all reproductive-age women enduring its rigors to varying degrees. While there is a possibility the pain you feel along your lower abdomen is as a result of appendicitis or ordinary abdominal aches, there are ways to tell if it is painful ovulation. For one, is it about a fortnight before your period is due? Is the pain concentrated on one side of your hips and alternately each month? If the answers to these questions are both yes, then you have a straightforward case of ovulation pain.
In this context, the term painful ovulation is quite relative. It could mean severe pain or cramps, for others it is just minor twinges extending to a dull, nagging pain. After a day or two, some women feel nauseous coupled with light menstrual spotting.
But what causes painful ovulation? Ovulation pain is attributed to minor blood leakage from the ovary during the process of ovulation. The leaking blood seeps to the abdominal wall causing irritation which manifests itself in discomfiture and aches of a varying degree.
As implied above, women experience ovulation pain in varying degrees of intensity. One factor that will determine the extent of the painful ovulation is the space between a woman’s ovary and her abdominal wall; the closer that space, the higher the likelihood of severe ovulation pain. The severity of the pain, however, is not indicative of some severe gynecological problems and should not cause someone undue worry.
The only reason you may need to consult a doctor is to seek relief from the pain. Your specialist will probably prescribe a course of pain relief medication. There are a number of precautions you can take on your own to ensure painful ovulation is as endurable as it can be in your life. For one, try to drink plenty of fluids. It is also important to ensure that the blood seeping into your abdominal wall does not lead to infection. This can be ascertained by constantly taking your body temperature several times a day for as long as the ovulation pain lasts.
What Does Ovulation Pain Mean? Last Update: 30/5/2017
